## Facts

- Richard Oliver was indicted for assault and battery on his wife in Alexander County Superior Court.
- A jury returned a special verdict detailing the incident.
- Oliver came home intoxicated after breakfast, complained about household food, and threw a coffee cup and pot into a corner.
- He cut two switches (about four feet long) and told his wife he was going to whip her because she and her mother had aggravated him.
- Oliver struck his wife five times with the switches, causing bruises that lasted about two weeks but did not prevent her from working.
- Witnesses stated he struck as hard as he could and stopped only after others present told him to desist; he said he would have “worn her out” if they had not been there.
- The trial court adjudged him guilty and fined him $10; Oliver appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a husband had any legal right to physically chastise his wife such that the conduct described did not constitute criminal assault and battery.
2. Whether public policy limiting judicial involvement in trivial domestic disputes barred criminal liability on these facts.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed the conviction and $10 fine.
- The court held that a husband has no legal right to chastise his wife under any circumstances.
- The court concluded the facts showed malice and cruelty sufficient to warrant criminal intervention, rather than a merely trivial domestic matter.

## Legal Principles

- A husband has no legal privilege to use corporal punishment against his wife; older doctrines permitting “moderate” chastisement (including the “thumb-sized switch” notion) do not govern.
- Courts may decline to entertain truly trivial domestic complaints as a matter of public policy when there is no permanent injury and no showing of malice, cruelty, or dangerous violence.
- Where the conduct evidences malice or cruelty and causes actual injury, the assault is subject to criminal prosecution notwithstanding the marital relationship.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Oliver’s assault conviction, rejecting any marital right of physical chastisement while recognizing a narrow public-policy reluctance to criminalize minor domestic disputes absent injury or malicious, cruel, or dangerous violence.


State v. Oliver, 70 N.C. 60 (N.C. 1874)