117 N.C. 716 | N.C. | 1895
The defendant was tried for breach of the following city ordinance: “Sec. 2. That all disorderly con-duct_within the city limits shall subject the offender to a fine of $10 for each offence.” “Sec. 3. That if any person shall commit a breach of the peace or engage in any riotous or disprderly conduct within the limits of the city he shall pay a fine of $50 \ provided, that this section shall not be construed to relieve the Mayor from the duty of binding over the offender, according to law, if the offence-is one properly triable before a higher court.”
The ordinances are valid under the ruling in several
In State v. Cainan, supra, MerribioN, J., says of a somewhat similar ordinance : “The ordinance has reference to and forbids such acts and conduct of persons as are offensive and deleterious to society, particularly in dense populations, as in cities or towns, but which do not se constitute criminal offences under the general law of the State.” The same is repeated and elaborated in State v. Debnam. The court told the jury that if they were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used the language testified to by the witness Burnett (the only witness for the State as to the language used) in a public restaurant in a violent and abusive manner and in a voice so loud that it could have been heard on the street, the defendant was guilty and that it made no difference if he uttered a profane expression but a single time provided it was uttered in the manner described. This brings the present casé so exactly under the ruling in State v. Debnam and State v. Cainan, supra, the facts in those cases being very similar to those in this, that no further discussion is needed. His Honor charged that, if the facts were as testified to by the defendant, he was not guilty.- Both
No Error.