Angelo v. People

Citations

• 96 Ill. 209
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 22

Syllabus

<p>1. Criminal law—capacity to commit crime. By the statute an infant under the age of ten years is incapable of committing crime, and can not be convicted of any crime or misdemeanor. At the age of fourteen the law presumes capacity, without proof of a knowledge of good and evil, but between these ages the evidence of that malice which is to supply age must be strong and clear beyond all doubt and contradiction, as the prima facie presumption is that the party is doli incapaz.</p> <p>2. On a charge of homicide against an infant a little more than eleven years old, the legal presumption being that he was incapable of committing any crime, it devolves on the prosecution to make strong and clear proof of capacity before a conviction can be had, and without such proof a judgment of conviction will be reversed.</p> <p>3. Same—commenting on fact that accused did not testify. It is highly improper and unprofessional in counsel for the prosecution in his argument to the jury to refer to the fact that the accused was not placed on the stand as a witness, as one of the reasons why he should be convicted, and the fact that such counsel was stopped by the court and the jury directed to disregard that portion of the argument, may not cure the wrong done, in the minds of the jury.</p>