State v. Alva

Citations

• 18 N.M. 143
• 134 P. 209

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS (BY THE COURT)</p> <p>1. It is a general rule that an indictment for a statutory offense is sufficient when it charges the offense as the statute defines it.</p> <p>P. 146</p> <p>2. Corroborative evidence, whether consisting of acts or admissions, must at least be of such a character and quality as tends to prove the guilt of the accused by connecting him with the crime.</p> <p>P. 147</p> <p>3. As a general rule, where an act is prohibited and made punishable by statute, the statute is to be construed in the liglft of the common law, and the -existence of a criminal intent is essential.</p> <p>P. 151</p> <p>4. The legislature may forbid the doing of an act and make its commission criminal without regard to the intent of the doer, and if such legislative intent appears, the courts must give it effect although the intention of the doer may have been innocent.</p> <p>P. 151</p> <p>5. In a criminal prosecution the State is not required to prove a motive for the crime, if without this the evidence is sufficient to show that the act was done by the accused.</p> <p>P. 151</p> <p>6. It matters not how two words are spelled, what their orthography is; they are idem sonans within the meaning of the books, if the attentive ear finds difficulty in distinguishing them when pronounced, or common and long continued usage has by corruption or abbreviation made them identical in pronunciation.</p> <p>P. 150</p> <p>7. Pronunciation and not spelling is the test in the application of the rule.</p> <p>P. 150</p> <p>8. If two' names spelled differently necessarily sound alike, the court may, as a matter of law, pronounce them to be idem sonans, but if they do not necessarily sound alike,the question whether they are idem sonans is a question for the jury.</p> <p>P. 150</p> <p>9. Exceptions to instructions must be specific.</p> <p>P. 152</p>