Issue

Sufficiency—going armed to the terror of the public—act committed on a public highway—not an essential element

Summary

Defendant's indictment for the common law offense of going armed to the terror of the public was sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the trial court, where the indictment alleged that defendant waved a firearm around in the parking lots of two different locations, including a private apartment complex. After overruling a prior case saying otherwise, the Supreme Court clarified that the crime of going armed to the terror of the public does not include as an essential element that the act occur on a public highway. Therefore, defendant's indictment was not fatally defective where the locations it mentioned did not constitute public highways.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →