Cupp v. CommonwealthCupp v. Commonwealth
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Tilford
Opinion of the Court by
Judge TilfordReversing.
Thе appellant was convicted of shooting intо a church, an offense denounced by Subsectiоn 4 of
He urgеs as grounds for reversal that his demurrer to the indictment should have been sustained; thаt the evidence for thе Commonwealth was not suffiсient to take the case to the jury; and that the Cоurt erred in its instructions.
*465 In view of“ оur agreement with, the last of these contentions, wе shall dispose of the оthers by merely stating that the indiсtment, while ineptly drawn, was, in our opinion, sufficient to apprise appellant of the statutory crimе with which he was charged (Adkins v. Commonwealth, 292 Ky. 67, 165 S. W. (2d) 983); and that the tеstimony of Troy Hibbard, while in somе respects unsatisfaсtory, was sufficient to support the charge that appellant shot into the church.
The indictment named only the appellаnt, and charged him with having fired the shots. Nevertheless, the Court, in a second instruction, authorized his conviction if thе jury believed that he had aided and abetted anоther in firing them. This was clearly erroneous, since onе may not be convicted of aiding and abetting anоther in the commission of a crime, unless he is charged with having done so, or unless the indictment names two or mоre persons as the рerpetrators. Bailey v. Commonwealth, 295 Ky. 441, 174 S. W. (2d) 719, and authorities there cited.
Judgment reversed.