State v. Lankford

Citations

• 29 Del. 594
• 6 Boyce 594
• 102 A. 63
• 1917 Del. LEXIS 35

Syllabus

<p>1, Husband and Wife—Assault—Criminal Responsibility.</p> <p>A husband may inflict an assault and battery upon his wife notwithstanding the marriage relation.</p> <p>2. Husband and Wife—Assault by Husband—Criminal Responsibility.</p> <p>A wife in confiding her person to her husband does not consent to cruel treatment or infectious diseases, and a husband, knowing that he had syphilis, an infectious disease, and ocncealing the fact from his wife, communicates the infection to her, is guilty of an assault and battery; the intent to communicate the disease being inferred from the actual result.</p>