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Criminal Law Keyed to LaFave
Commonwealth v. Poindexter
Facts
Appellees C.H. Poindexter and Frank Moore were charged with criminal sodomy. They entered a plea of guilty, admitting that they had engaged in what is modernly referred to as “oral sex.” After the jury returned a guilty verdict and imposed a punishment of 2 years in the penitentiary, Appellees entered a motion for a new trial. Their motion for a new trial was based on the fact that they had misapprehended that the acts charged in the indictment constituted the crime of sodomy. As they learned after trial, the acts did not constitute criminal sodomy. The Circuit Court ordered a new trial in which the Appellees demurred the indictment. The Circuit Court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the indictment. The Commonwealth timely appealed.
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