People v. Ward

Citations

• 110 Cal. 369
• 42 P. 894
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 1065

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Bribery—Sufficiency of Indictment.—An indictment charging a defendant with willfully and feloniously giving a bribe to a member of a board of supervisors, with intent to corruptly influence him in a certain matter, but not containing any averment of any act or acts bringing the alleged conduct within the legal- meaning of bribery, and not stating the particular circumstances of the offense charged, is insufficient, and a demurrer thereto should be sustained.</p> <p>Id.—Averment of Bribery—Conclusion of Law.—A general averment in an indictment that the defendant bribed a certain person to do a certain thing is the averment of a legal conclusion only.</p> <p>Id.—Following Language of Statute—Exception to Rule — Circumstances Constituting Offense.—The general rule that an indictment is sufficient if it substantially follows the language of the statute prohibiting the offense charged does not apply to a case where particular circumstances of the offense are necessary to constitute a complete offense, but only applies when such statute defines or describes the acts which constitute the particular offense; and it is not sufficient to follow the general words of section 165 of the Penal Code, providing that “every person who gives or offers a bribe” to one of several officers named, etc., is punishable in a certain manner; but it is essential that the acts constituting the bribe, as defined in subdivision 6 of section 7 of the Penal Code, be specified with reasonable certainty, so as to enable the defendant to answer the specific charge described in section 7 as constituting the offense of bribery.</p>