3 S.W. 111


PIERCE
v.
STATE


Court of Appeals of Texas.
June 25, 1886.

Appeal from district court, Freestone county.

The indictment sought to charge the appellant and one John Shields jointly
with the murder of Wade W. Patterson, on the fourth day of January, 1867. The
appellant, being alone upon trial, was found guilty of murder in the first 
degree, and his punishment was assessed at a life-term in the penitentiary.

No appearance for the appellant. Asst. Atty. Gen. Burts, for the State.

HURT, J.

This appeal is from a conviction of murder in the first degree. The indictment
charges that "Dave Pierce did, with malice aforethought, murder Wade Patterson,
by shooting him, the said Patterson, with a gun." This court, in the case of 
Strickland v. State, 19 Tex. App. 518, held a similar indictment fatally 
defective, because it did not directly charge that the accused killed the 
deceased. That decision is conclusive of this case. Because the indictment is 
insufficient to support a conviction for murder, the judgment is reversed, and 
the prosecution is dismissed.

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Notes:

1. Reported by Messrs. Jackson & Jackson, official reporters of the Texas 
court of appeals.

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