Jenkins v. State

Citations

• 36 Tex. 638

Syllabus

<p>1. An indictment under a statute which, under certain circumstances, permits the acts complained of, need not negative the idea that the act was committed under circumstances not amounting to an offense. This would be matter of defense, and the indictment need not negative such possible defense.</p> <p>2. The defendants were indicted for carrying concealed weapons, and, on the trial, the court below instructed the jury that they might find the defendants guilty if the act was proved to have been committed within one year before the indictment was found. The statute being a recent enactment, the court should have explained to the jury when it went into operation; but, in the present case, the evidence showing conclusively that the acts complained of were committed after the law went into operation, the appellants suffered nothing by the omission. The defendants should have asked- such explanation in the court below; it is too late to raise the objection in this court, unless it was manifest that they had suffered some prejudice by the omission.</p>