246 F. 830 | 5th Cir. | 1917
John Quincy Adams was indicted for stealing from the mail. The indictment was presented on the I6th of March, 1916. It charges that:
“Heretofore, to wit, on the first day of November, A. D. 1916, at or near Attalla, in the county of Etowah, state of Alabama, the defendant did steal,” ■etc.
Among the several attacks on the indictment is a demurrer presenting the point that it charges the commission of the offense at an im.possible date. The indictment recites that the offense was committed “heretofore”; it states definitely that a definite thing was done; it recites that the package containing the registered matter alleged to have been stolen was mailed at New Orleans, on November 6, 1915, labeled “New York City”; that the bag was being carried by the post ■office establishment; that it came into possession of defendant as a railway postal clerk; that while it was being so forwarded it was stolen. There could be no question about the date intended. The use of 1916, instead of 1915, is a manifest clerical error. It is an error of a kind that occurs in thousands of writings every year. The indict-' ment sufficiently identifies the offense, if it should ever be necessary to make a plea of former jeopardy. The defendant was given ample notice of the particular charge to which he was called upon to offer a defense. He has suffered no loss; been put to no disadvantage; been deprived of no right.
Other objections to the indictment are technical; lacking substance.
The judgment is affirmed.
