Frisbie v. United States

Citations

• 157 U.S. 160
• 15 S. Ct. 586
• 39 L. Ed. 657
• 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2187

Syllabus

<p>The omission of the formal indorsement of an indictment as “ a true bill,” signed by the foreman of the grand jury, is not necessarily and under all circumstances fatal, although it is advisable that the indictment should be endorsed.</p> <p>Such a defect is waived if the objection be not made in the first instance and before trial.</p> <p>Pleading to an indictment admits its genuineness as a record.</p> <p>The provision in the act of June 27, 1890, c. 634, 26 Stat. 182, forbidding an agent, attorney, or other person engaged in preparing, presenting, or prosecuting a claim for a pension under that act from demanding or receiving a greater fee than ten dollars for his services is constitutional.</p> <p>An indictment for violating that provision which describes the defendant as a “ lawyer ” is sufficient.</p> <p>The offence against that act is committed when a sum greater than ten dollars has been taken, without regard to the fact whether the pension money has or has not been received.</p> <p>When the amount of the excess so taken is unknown to the grand jury, it is proper to allege that fact in the indictment.</p> <p>It is unnecessary to aver a demand for the return of the money wrongfully taken.</p> <p>The omission to charge that the offence was “ contrary to the form of the statutes in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the United States ” is immaterial.</p>