49 S.C. 265 | S.C. | 1897
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The defendant was indicted for arson in setting fire to and burning the dwelling house of S. D. Morris. Testimony was offered tending to show that the house burned belonged to S. D. Morris, who lived in New York, but was occupied as a dwelling house byR. W. Cowan, who had leased it for a term of five years from S. D. Morris. The defendant was convicted of arson and recommended to the mercy of the Court; whereupon he was sentenced to a term of ten years at hard labor in the State penitentiary.
The fourth exception is as follows: “Because his Honor erred in charging the jury as follows: ‘The question of title cannot enter into it. It is not for you to tty whether it was the dwelling house of A or B, but is it the dwelling house of another person? Arson is the burning of a dwelling house of some other person, and you are not to try the question of property. Is it the dwelling house of some other person, or is it the dwelling house of the person named in the indictment? The indictment can be framed hy naming either the tenant or the owner of it in fee simple title, if the owner is not living there, but is elsewhere.’ ” The case shows that the title of. the property is admitted to be in S. T- Morris; furthermore, when the. charge is considered as a whole, it is evident that it conformed to the views which are herein announced. This exception is also overruled.
It is the judgment of this Court, that the judgment of the Circuit Court be affirmed.