1. Bastardy—not a criminal proceeding. A prosecution for bastardy to compel a putative father to support an illegitimate child, is not a criminal proceeding.
2. Same—degree of evidence required to convict. It is not essential to establish the guilt of the party charged in such a proceeding, that it should be proven beyond a reasonable doubt; a preponderance of proof is saiSeient.
Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Woodford County; the Hon. S. L. Richmond, Judge, presiding.
This was a prosecution against Nelson Maloney for bastardy, to compel him to support an illegitimate child of Maria Owen, of which he was alleged to be the father. Upon a trial the defendant was found guilty, and he brings the cause to this court, insisting that the court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that they could not convict unless he was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Messrs. Ingersoll and Puterbaugh, for the plaintiff,in error.
Mr. Charles Blanchard and Mr. A. E. Stevenson, for the defendant in error.
Mr. Justice Lawrence
delivered the opinion of the Court:
This court has decided in Mann v. The People, 35 Ill., and again at the present term in Pease v. Hubbard, 37 Ill. 257, that a prosecution for bastardy is not a criminal proceeding. The instruction, therefore, requiring the defendant to be.proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, was properly refused by the Circuit Court.
Judgment affirmed.