People v. Ah Bean

Seakls, C. J. Defendant was informed against for perjury, charged to have been committed on the twenty-first day of May, 1887, at the county of San Bernardino. The appeal is from a judgment of conviction. Defendant demurred to the information, which demurrer was overruled, and this action is assigned as error.

The information, so far as essential to the present inquiry, is as follows: “The said Ah Bean, on the twenty-first day of May, A. D. 1887, at the said county of San Bernardino, state of California, having taken an oath before the superior court of the aforesaid county, Hon. H. M. Willis, judge presiding, that he would testify truly in said court, in a case then and there at issue, to wit, the case of People v. Martine, a Chinaman, said oath being and having been administered by George L. Hisom,' the clerk of said superior court, who then and there had authority to administer such oath, did in a manner material to such issue, he, the said Ah Bean, defendant, having taken such oath as aforesaid, willfully, corruptly, falsely, and feloniously state, declare, and testify the truth to be that Martine, the defendant in the above-mentioned case, was at his, the defendant’s, house for supper on the evening of February 18, 1887, and from eight o’clock of that evening all night, and that said Martine did not [14]leave his, defendant’s, house, all of which was false, the defendant well knowing such statement to be false.”

The contention of the defendant is, that the information fails to set forth the substance of the controversy in respect to which the offense was committed, as required by the Penal Code.

Section 966 is in the following language:—

“In an indictment or information for perjury, or subornation of perjury, it is sufficient to set forth the substance of the controversy or matter in respect to which the offense was committed, and in what court and before whom the oath alleged to be false was taken, and that the court, or the person before whom it was taken, had authority to administer it, with proper allegations of the falsity of the matter on which the perjury is assigned; but the indictment or information need not set forth the pleadings, record, or proceedings with which the oath is connected, nor the commission or authority of the court or person before whom the perjury was committed.”

The controversy in respect to which the offense was committed in this case was the case of People v. Martine.