State v. Lindsey

Citations

• 26 N.M. 526
• 194 P. 877

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Section 1775, Code 1915, wliicli provides for the punishment of any person convicted of bigamy or polygamy, is sufficient to authorize the conviction of one of the crime of bigamy, as the statute provides the punishment for the doing of an act which has in all English-speaking countries a well-understood meaning. P. 529</p> <p>2. Under the statute, the good faith or honest purpose of the defendant is not a defense, if in fact he or she had a wife or husband living at the time and presumption of death had not arisen by reason of absence for the necessary length of time. P. 530</p> <p>3. A confession, in a legal sense, is restricted to an acknowl-edgement of guilt made by a person after an offense has been committed, and does not apply to a mere statement or declaration of an independent fact from which such guilt may be inferred. A statement by a defendant in a bigamy case that he had been manned at a certain time,, and place and to a person named, all being before the marriage for which he was prosecuted, is an admission and not a confession. P. 531</p> <p>4. Objections to the admissibility of evidence, not raised in the trial court, will not be considered on appeal. P. 533</p>