Markham v. United States

Citations

• 160 U.S. 319
• 16 S. Ct. 288
• 40 L. Ed. 441
• 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2368

Syllabus

<p>An indictment for perjury in a deposition made before a special examiner of the pension bureau which charges the oath to have been wilfully and corruptly taken before a named special examiner of the Pension Bureau of the United States, then and there a competent officer, and having lawful authority to administer said oath, is sufficient to inform the accused of the official character and authority of the officer before whom the oath, was taken.</p> <p>In such an indictment it is not necessary to set forth all the details or facts involved in the issue as to the materiality of the statement, and as to the authority of the Commissioner of Pensions to institute the inquiry in which the deposition of the accused was taken.</p> <p>The provision in Rev. Stat. § 1026 that “ no indictment found and presented by a grand jury in any district or circuit or other court of the United States shall be deemed insufficient, nor shall the trial, judgment, or other proceeding thereon be affected by reason of any defect or imperfection in matter of form only, which shall not tend to the prejudice of the defendant,” is not to be interpreted as dispensing with the requirement in § 6396 that an indictment for perjury must set forth the substance of the offence charged.</p> <p>An indictment for perjury that does not set forth the substance of the offence will not authorize judgment upon verdict of guilty. Dunbar v. United States, 156 U. S. 185, affirmed.</p>