Case Name: The Commonwealth v. James Clark
Court: General Court of Virginia
Jurisdiction: Virginia
Decision Date: 1824-06
Citations: 2 Va. Cas. 401
Docket Number: 
Parties: The Commonwealth v. James Clark.
Judges: 
Reporter: Virginia Reports
Volume: 4
Pages: 286–287

Head Matter:
The Commonwealth v. James Clark.
Criminal Law — Addition of Estate of Accused — Constitutionality of. — The different estates, and de grees, known to ttie Common Law, and reauired by our Act of Additions, are not repugnant to our Constitution, and Bill of Rights, so far as regards the difference between the degree of yeoman, and labourer.
Same — Same—False Addition — How Taken Advantage of. — An Indictment may be abated by shewing that the addition is a false one. although the true addition be one of lower degree. Thus, if a Defendant be indicted by the addition of yeoman, he may abate it by pleading that he is a labourer.
This is an adjourned Case from the Superior Court of Law for Lewis county.
See foot-note to Com. v. Sims, 2 Va. Cas. 374, citing the principal case.

Opinion:
WHITS, J.,
stated the Case, and delivered the opinion of the Court:
An Indictment for an assault and battery, was found against James Clark, by the name and addition of James Clark, yeoman, to which he pleaded in abatement, that "at the time of the taking of the said Indictment, and long before, he the said James Clark was, and ever since hath been, and still is, a labourer, without that, that he the said James Clark now is, or at the taking of the said Indictment, *or at any time before, was a yeoman, as by the said Indictment is supposed, &c. " To which plea, the Attorney for the Commonwealth demurred generally, and there was joinder in demurrer. The Superior Court adjourned to this Court several questions, which may be readily understood by the following responses.
This Court is of opinion, and doth decide; 1. That the different estates and degrees known to the Common Law, are not abolished by the Constitution, and Bill of Rights of Virginia, so as to leave inoperative the 41st section of the Act of Assembly of February 26, 1819, directing the estate and degree of a Defendant to be added to his name, in all Indictments, in which the Exigent shall be awarded, except so far as any of those estates or degrees are inconsistent with the principles of our Government, or the Laws of the Commonwealth, which the degrees of yeoman and labourer are not. 2. That a Defendant may abate an Indictment, by shewing that the addition of which he is indicted, is a false one, although he should aver his true addition to be one of lower degree.
1 Rev. Code, ch. 169, § 41, p. 610.
The Commonwealth v. Sims, ante, p. 374.