34 S.E. 549 | N.C. | 1899
The special verdict appears in the opinion. The defendant is indicted under The Code, section (705) 1005, which makes it a misdemeanor "if any one, except when on his own premises, shall carry concealed about his person any deadly weapon" — reciting the kinds of weapons, and excepting certain classes of persons, and making the possession about the person presumption of concealment. The special verdict finds that "the defendant had in his hip pocket concealed a pistol, off his own premises." This comes within the letter and meaning of the statute. The special verdict further finds that the defendant was "carrying the pistol for the purpose of delivery to a party to whom he had sold it; that it accidentally dropped from his pocket, while engaged in catching a chicken loose upon the streets."
In State v. Dixon,
In this last case, FAIRCLOTH, C. J., says: "The offense of carrying a concealed weapon about one's person and off his own premises consists in the guilty intent to carry it concealed, and not in the intent to use it, and the possession of the deadly weapon raises the presumption of guilt, which presumption may be rebutted by the defendant." Here, the special verdict finds that the deadly weapon was, in (706) fact, carried concealed, and the jury do not find that there was no intent to "carry it concealed" — which is what the statute forbids. The jury find that the purpose of carrying it was for delivery to another, but, as the above decisions hold, the purpose of carrying it is not to the point. The question is, as to the manner of carrying, whether it was concealed or not, and it might be shown in defense that there was no intent to conceal it, which the jury might find when the deadly weapon is conveyed simply as merchandise. But the absence of intent to conceal must be affirmatively found to rebut the presumption arising from the concealment, and the jury not having found that, notwithstanding the concealment, there was no intent to conceal, judgment upon the special verdict should have been entered against the defendant. *500
The authorities upon this subject are conveniently grouped in Walser's Digest, 72; 5 Am. and Eng. Enc., 734 (2 edition).
Reversed.
Cited: S. v. Hamby,
(707)