People v. Lee

Citations

• 107 Cal. 477
• 40 P. 754
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 778

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Demurrer to Indictment—Submission of Case to Another Grand Jury — Appeal by People—Dismissal.—The people have a right to appeal from an order sustaining a demurrer to an indictment where the order is excepted to; and the fact that the court of its own motion or volition directed a submission of the case to another grand jury cannot affect the right of appeal, and a motion to dismiss such appeal upon the ground that the court directed such submission will be denied.</p> <p>Id.—Offense Against Election Laws—Sufficiency of Indictment.—An indictment charging a defendant with willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously interfering with election officers of a precinct, who were conducting the canvass of the lawful votes cast in said precinct, by willfully and unlawfully acting as a clerk in tallying the votes, and willfully preventing the canvass of the votes from being fairly had and lawfully conducted, sufficiently states an offense, under section 23 of the act of 1893, to promote the purity of elections.</p> <p>Id.—Pleading—Following Language of Statute—Averment of Specific Acts.—While many offenses may be charged in the strict language of the statute, yet a defendant is entitled to be apprised with reasonable certainty of the nature and particulars of the crime charged against him; and, where the statute enumerates separate and distinct acts, the commission of each or any of which constitutes the crime contemplated by the statute, the pleading must charge the commission of the particular act or acts upon which the crime is based, and it is for the court to say whether or not the act charged comes within either of the classes enumerated in the statute.</p>