Case Name: Castle v. Commonwealth
Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Decision Date: 1923-10-23
Citations: 200 Ky. 577
Docket Number: 
Parties: Castle v. Commonwealth.
Judges: 
Reporter: Kentucky Reports
Volume: 200
Pages: 577–578

Head Matter:
Castle v. Commonwealth.
(Decided October 23, 1923.)
Appeal from Pike Circuit Court.
1. Indictment and Information — Indictment Must Show Misdemeanor Committed in County Within Twelve Months. — Prosecutions are confined to offenses committed within the county, and, in misdemeanors to those occurring within twelve months before the indictment, and these jurisdictional facts must appear in the indictment.
2. Indictment and Information — Offense Must be Described. — An indictment must describe the offense as well as charge its commission
3. Weapons — Indictment for Carrying Concealed Weapon Held Defective and Demurrable. — An indictment charging defendant with “the offense of carrying concealed a deadly weapon upon ana about his -person other than an ordinary pocket knife, to wit, a pistol, against the peace and dignity,” etc., did not describe the offense or state the time or place of its commission, and a demurrer should have been sustained.
L. J. MAY for appellant.
THOS. B. McGREGOR, Attorney General, and LILBURN PHELPS, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Opinion:
Opinion of the Court by
Judge McCandless
Reversing.
In the court below the defendant was prosecuted on the following indictment:
' ' The grand jury of Pike county, in the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, accuse Charlie Castle of the offense of carrying concealed a deadly weapon, upon and about his person, other than an ordinary pocket knife, to-wit, a pistol, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. ' '
A demurrer was duly filed and overruled, and a trial resulted in his conviction, from which he appeals. Under our statutes prosecutions are confined to offenses committed within the county, and in misdemeanors limited to those occurring within a limited period before the indictment was found. These jurisdictional facts must appear in the indictment, and it is also essential for that instrument to describe the offense, as well as to charge its commission.
This indictment charged a public offense, but did not describe it. Further, it is sufficiently comprehensive to include all time and all space.
The learned attorney general is of the opinion that the demurrer should have been sustained, and the court experiences no difficulty in reaching the same conclusion.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.