2 Blackf. 8 | Ind. | 1826
A trial was had in May, 1822, in a prosecution for an assault and battery, before a justice of the peace, under the act regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, approved January the 28th, 1818. On that trial the plain
„ There were special demurrers to the first and third counts •in the declaration, which were sustained by the Circuit Court; and instructions were requested, which were in substance, “that if the jury found that the defamatory words were spoken with reference to a swearing on said trial, they should find for the .plaintiff;” which instructions the Court refused to give. A verdict was found for the defendant, and judgment was accordingly .given.
There are a variety of minor questions raised in the cáseas to the specifications of the charge in the declaration—the technical construction of the testimony—and the explaining of the docket of the justice of the peace by parol evidence—all "of which- we deem unimportant. The cause of action is sufficiently described; the testimony comports in substance with the character of the action; and the testimony relative to the •docket of the justice of the peace was not improper.
The whole case may be considered as resting on the constitutionality of the act of assembly, under which the justice of the peace acted.
This act of assembly authorises a justice of the peace to impannel a jury, and try cases of riots, routs, affrays, breaches of the peace, &c.; and to fine an offender, agreeably to the verdict of a jury, not exceeding 20 dollars
The special demurrer, and the instructions required, turn substantially on the same points; the demurrer should, therefore, have been overruled, and the substance of the instructions-have been given to the jury.
The judgment is reversed, and the verdict set aside, with costs. Cause remanded,&c.
The provision in the act of 1818, referred to in the text, was repealed in 1823. Stat. 1823, p. 51. The provision, substituted by the act of 1823 for the one repealed, is adopted in the R. C. 1824, p. 23G, sec. 2. The provision in R. C. 1824, is copied and commented on in The State v. M’Cory, the case next preceding the one to which this note is annexed. The act now in forcéis as follows:—-“In prosecutions before justices, for an assault and battery, affray, or other breach of the peace, the defendant shall be tried by the justice alone, demand a jury, or be recognized to the Circuit Court, at his election. If the defendant be found guilty before the j ustice, the fine shall not be less than one dollar nor more than 20 dollars. If, on hearing the case submitted to him, the justice shall be of opinion that it is of a nature so aggravated that adequate punishment cannot be inflicted under this act, he shall recognize the defen-dant to the Circuit Court.” R. C. 1831, p. 294.