8 Port. 447 | Ala. | 1839
— The statute on. which this, indictment is.,founded, is to tt)e following effect:
In indictments for larceny, it is necessary to allege the value of the property stolen ; not only to designate whether the offence is grand or petit larceny, but also because the owner is entitled to restitution,.of the value of the goods stolen, if the goods themselves cannot be had. It would seem that the same reason would hold in this case. The statute makes the value of the property ma-' liciously injured or destroyed, the basis of the verdict, and permits the jury to go to the extent of four fold its value; and the fine thus assessed, is for the benefit of the injured party.
It is, therefore, a quasi civil proceeding, prosecuted by the State for the benefit of the person whose property has.been thus maliciously injured or destroyed, and it would be more conosnant to the rules of pleading, and to the principles which govern analogous cases, that the