Uecker v. State

Citations

• 4 Tex. Ct. App. 234

Syllabus

<p>1. Complaints in Justices’ Courts must charge some offense against the laws of the state.</p> <p>2. Malicious Mischief. —Article 713 of the Penal Code (Pasc. Dig., art. 2344) makes it an offense to willfully kill, maim, etc., certain animals, with intent to injure the owner, and authorizes a fine of not less than three nor more than ten times the amount of the injury done the owner. Held, that a complaint, information, or indictment based on this article is fatally' defective if, in charging the offense, it fails to use the statutory word “ willfully.” Seld, further, that the amount of the injury done the owner must he distinctly alleged, and an averment of the value of the animal will not suffice.</p> <p>3. Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace.—A justice of the peace has no jurisdiction of a criminal offense punishable by a fine of more than $200. Hence, in a prosecution based on said article 713, if the injury done the . owner exceeded one-third of that amount, the offense was not within a justice’s jurisdiction.</p> <p>4. Appellate Jurisdiction op County Courts.—No jurisdiction can be vested in a County Court by an appeal from, a judgment rendered by a justice of the peace in a case beyond his jurisdiction.</p>