Commonwealth v. Carson

Citations

• 166 Pa. 179
• 30 A. 985
• 1895 Pa. LEXIS 1172

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Felonious entry—Indictment—Information—Pleading and practice—Act of April 22, 1863.</p> <p>Under the act of April 22, 1863, §2, P. L. 531, it is not necessary to state, in an indictment for entering a dwelling house with felonious intent, whether the offence was committed in the night time or in the day time.</p> <p>An indictment charged that the defendants “ willfully and feloniously did break and enter the dwelling-house of M. J. Baker, there situate, with intent the goods, chattels and property of M. J. Baker, in the said dwelling-house then and there being, then and there feloniously to steal, take and carry away,” and “ did then and there the goods, chattels and property above mentioned in the said dwelling house, feloniously steal, take and carry away.” Held, (1) that the indictment did not charge the crime of burglary at common law, as it did not show that the felonious breaking was done at night; (2) that the indictment was good under the act of April 22, 1863, P. L. 531; (3) that the fact that the commission of the felony intended was also charged in the count, did not vitiate the count; (4) that it was a good count for larceny; (5) that the use of the word “ feloniously” instead of the word “ maliciously” was not fatal to the count.</p> <p>• In the above case the second count of the indictment charged that the defendants “ did willfully and maliciously break, injure and destroy a certain window,” in the dwelling house of M. J. Baker. Held, that there was no misjoinder of counts, since the matters charged in the second were a part of the affairs to which the first related.</p> <p>The fact that the information upon which an indictment is based does not contain as fulband specific a statement of the offence as the indictment, furnishes no ground for quashing the indictment.</p>