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People v. Bevans

52 Cal. 470 Court Cal. Docket No. 10,291 English

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p. 470
[No. 10,291.]
THE PEOPLE v. BEVANS.

Headnote

Proof of Locus Delicti.—The plea of not guilty puts in issue the averment in the indictment of the place where the crime was committed, and imposes on the prosecution the necessity of proving the locus delicti.
Appeal from the County Court, County of Monterey.
The defendant was convicted, and appealed from the judgment and from an order denying a new trial. The other facts are stated in the opinion.
John K. Alexander and B. M. Bwimerton, for the Appellant.
Jo Hamilton, Attorney-General, for the People.

The indictment charged the defendant with the larceny of a cow in Monterey County, and the ¡ilea was not guilty. The defendant moved for a new trial, on the ground that there was no evidence tending to prove that the crime was committed in that county.

' The plea of not guilty puts in issue all the material averments

p. 471
of the indictment, including that of the locus delicti. (People v. Parks, 44 Cal. 105 ; People v. Manning, 48 Cal. 335 .) After a careful examination of the evidence given at the trial, we find none which tends to prove in the slightest degree that the crime was committed in Monterey County.

In the trial of a criminal cause, it is so well understood in practice that it is incumbent on the prosecution to prove the locus delicti, as laid in the indictment, that we can but express our surprise that, through inadvertence or otherwise, this plain requirement of the law is so often neglected by the District Attorney, thereby retarding the administration of justice and imposing upon the county the expense of another trial and upon the Courts a great additional labor.

J udgment and order reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial. Remittitur forthwith.

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