State v. Wheeler

Citations

• 93 Wash. 538
• 161 P. 373
• 1916 Wash. LEXIS 1237

Syllabus

<p>Adultery — Evidence — Proof of Marriage — Sufficiency. In a prosecution for adultery, marriage is an essential element of the crime and cannot be inferred from circumstances; and a conviction cannot be sustained where there was no evidence that the person performing the ceremony was authorized by law to do so.</p> <p>Same. Upon a prosecution for adultery, a statement by defendant’s attorney, during the progress of the examination of a witness, that a person who performed the marriage ceremony “used to be a justice of the peace” is not an admission and does not dispense with the necessity of proof of authority to perform the ceremony.</p> <p>Criminal Law — Trial—Dismissal—Motion—Sufficiency. A motion to dismiss a criminal case upon the general ground of insufficiency of the evidence is bad, as there is no nonsuit in a criminal case; and is insufficient as a motion to direct a verdict of acquittal, since it fails to point out the particular matter as to which there was a failure of proof (Chadwick, J., dissenting).</p> <p>Criminal Law — Trial—Instructions—Assumption of Pacts. In a prosecution for adultery, it is an encroachment upon the province of the jury and reversible error to instruct, “if from the evidence of the opportunity and from other evidence of a disposition of the parties,” etc., where there was no evidence of such disposition etc., as it, in effect, tells the jury that there was direct evidence thereof, in the opinion of the court.</p>