Rhodes v. Commonwealth

Citations

• 78 Va. 692
• 1884 Va. LEXIS 42

Syllabus

<p>x. Criminal Proceedings-Indictment-Time laid-Perjury.-As a general rule, time of commission of offence, as laid in indictment, is not material, and confines not proof to time laid; but where time laid is provable by record, and in indictment for perjury, time must be truly and precisely laid, and failure so to state it renders indictment demurrable. Code 1873, ch. 201, | 5.</p> <p>2. Idem-Indictment for perjury.-Where one is indicted for swearing contradictorily on two occasions, prosecutor must elect which oath he holds to be perjured, and that oath he must affirmatively prove to be false. If defendant is shown to have sworn contradictory oaths without mqrrd; non constat which is false.</p> <p>3. Idem-Idem-Materiality.-The matter of the false oath must be material. If it be not material, the fact that it is false will not sustain the conviction.</p> <p>4. Idem-Idem-Idem-Case at bar.-R swore that M had stolen bacon and offered to sell it to him November 15th, 1875. Later, R swore that M had stolen bacon and offered to sell it to him just before Christmas, December, 1875. Qn indictment against R for perjury, it was not proved that M did not steal bacon ; but it was proved that R made contradictory statements as to the date. R was convicted. On error-</p> <p>Held :</p> <p>1. The'stealing of the bacon was the material matter of the charge.</p> <p>2. The date of the offer to sell was not material to the offence.</p> <p>3. The oath as to the date was not material to the issue, and was not likely to induce the jury to give the readier credit to the substantial part of the evidence.</p> <p>4. R was not guilty of perjury.</p>