Acton v. State

Page, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The information of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel Co., upon which this case was prosecuted, is as follows: “ State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County, to-wit: The State of Maryland vs. Samuel G. Acton. charged, &c. In the Circuit Court for Anne I Arundel Co. Criminal Information. The above entitled case having, &c., &c., and Edward C. Gantt, the said State’s Attorney for said county, having investigated, &c., &c., now comes into said Court, and for ⁵⁴⁸ and in behalf of the State of Maryland, upon his official oath gives the said Court here to understand and be informed, that Samuel G. Acton, late of the county aforesaid, on the tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-four, the same day. and year aforesaid being the Sabbath day, commonly called ' Sunday,’ at a building erected in the waters of a navigable river, to-wit, the Patapsco River, at a place in said river situate below the head of said river, and below the southermost great branch of said river, and on the south side of the channel of said river, and distant less than one hundred yards of the land shore of the first precinct of the fifth election district of the county aforesaid; said building, erected as aforesaid, being contiguous to the land of the said first precinct of the fifth election district of the county aforesaid, unlawfully, &c., &c.” The defendant pleaded want of jurisdiction, because the place alleged, as that where, the alleged offence was committed, was not within the limits of Anne Arundel County.

To this plea the State interposed a demurrer, which was sustained, and judgment thereon rendered. According to well-settled principles, a demurrer brings under review by the Court all the pleadings in the case. And this being so, the sufficiency of the information is before us in the same manner and to the same extent as if the demurrer'had been interposed by the traverser. The questions presented, therefore, are: ist.

Has the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County jurisdiction over that part of the Patapsco River which is described in the information ; and 2nd. If it be determined that it has, are the allegations in the information as to the venue sufficient in law. ist. By the Act of 1698, ch. 13, Baltimore County embraced a portion of what is now Anne Arundel County. By the Act of 1726, ch. 1, it was enacted, that from and after the last day of May, 1727, the land lying on the south side of Patapsco River, and contained within the bounds following, viz: From the mouth of said Patapsco River ⁵⁴⁹ with the said river to the head thereof; and from thence, bounding on the south side of the main falls, being the southernmost great branch of said river, and funning as the said branch runs' to the first main fork of the said falls; then bounding on the south side of the said southermost fork, till, See., Sec., shall be and forever hereafter deemed as part of Anne Arundel County.” In the case of Raab v. The State, 7 Md. 497 , Judge Tuck delivering the opinion of the Court, said: “It is manifest that the river, after this Act, remained as it had been for- many years, within the limits of Baltimore County, and that the jurisdiction of these counties adjoined on its southern shore, unless affected by the Act of 1704, ch. 92 (now codified as sec. 135 of Art. 75 of the Code), which provides that every county lying on any navigable river in this province shall extend its jurisdiction from the shore to the channel of such river that divides the counties, and be divided from the other county by the channel of the said river; and, under this Act, if applicable, the river, as far as the channel, remained in Baltimore County and subject to the jurisdiction of its Courts.” So that, under this decision, it is clear that if the Act of 1704, ch. 92, is applicable, the jurisdiction of Anne Arundel County must extend to