State v. Elliot

Citations

• 34 Tex. 148

Syllabus

<p>1. An indictment (for an infraction of the estray laws) laid the time of the offense as “ on or about ” a certain day. Held, in view of the provisions of our code, that this averment is sufficiently certain and specific. (Paschal’s Digest, articles 1611,2491 and 2863.) No distinction is made in the opinion between, felonies and misdemeanors, or between capital and other cases.</p> <p>2. Our statutes have greatly modified many of the irrational rules of the. common law ; and one of their most important modifications is the abrogation, by article nine of the Penal Code (Paschal’s Digest, article 1611), of the distinction usually made between the construction of penal laws and laws upon other subjects.</p> <p>3. The averment of time in an indictment is quite uniformly held in this. country to be a matter of form, and not generally material; and it seems that, under our statute (Paschal’s Digest, article 2977)., it is to be regarded as a matter of form, and amendable as such.</p>