246 P. 557 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1926
An information was filed against respondent in the superior court in and for the county of Fresno, the pleading consisting of three counts identical in form with the exception of the date on which the act charged was alleged to have been committed and the names of certain minors connected therewith. The minors mentioned were two boys both aged seventeen years and a girl of the age of fifteen years. The charge in each count, as shown by the language of the first, which we quote, was as follows: "Victor Lamanuzzi is accused . . . of the crime of misdemeanor, to wit, violation of section 21 of the Juvenile Court Laws committed as follows: The said Victor Lamanuzzi on or about the 1st day of November, 1924, at and in the said county of Fresno and state of California, and prior to the filing of this information, did wilfully, unlawfully and knowingly commit certain acts, to wit, sell and furnish wine, said wine being then and there fit for use for beverage purposes, and then and there containing more than one-half of one per cent of alcohol by volume, to Bud *303 Stoffers, which caused and tended to cause the said Bud Stoffers, a minor child of the age of seventeen years, to visit a place where intoxicating liquor was sold, bartered, exchanged and given away, to have intoxicating liquor in his possession, which said intoxicating liquor was then and there fit for use for beverage purposes and then and there contained more than one-half of one per cent of alcohol by volume. All of which is contrary to the form, force and effect of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the people of the state of California."
Respondent demurred generally and specially to each count, alleging that the facts stated therein did not constitute a public offense; that the pleading did not substantially conform to the requirements of sections
[1] The purpose of section 21 of the Juvenile Court Law (Stats. 1915, p. 1246), is to prevent minors from being brought within any of the provisions of subdivisions 1 to 13, inclusive, of section 1 of the act; and the penal provisions thereof apply to acts or omissions which in a given case tend to that result without regard to their actual effect upon the minor (People v.DeLeon,
[3] In the instant case the information charged respondent with acts which were in violation of certain provisions of section 397b of the Penal Code, reading as follows: "Every person who sells, gives or delivers to any minor child, male or female, intoxicating liquor in any quantity whatsoever . . . is guilty of a misdemeanor," it not being directly alleged therein that the acts tended to bring the minor within any of the provisions of the Juvenile Court Law, unless the allegations that the act caused or tended to cause the minor to have intoxicating liquor in his possession and to visit a place where intoxicating liquor was sold, bartered, exchanged and given away, may be said to be equivalent thereto.
[4] Following the general rule the court in People v.Robles, supra, held that although, as a matter of evidence, inferences may be drawn by a jury from circumstances indicating the guilt of a defendant, yet no inferences of facts not alleged can be invoked to aid an indictment, which must charge the crime in words, and is demurrable if it fails to charge it in express terms. In conformity with this rule it was held in People v.Salisbury, supra, that an information charging acts of sexual intercourse with a female under the age of twenty-one years not the wife of defendant was, in the absence of allegations that the acts charged tended to encourage the minor to become a person within the provisions of the Juvenile Court Law, insufficient. The one exception to the rule stated is the case wherein ultimate facts are alleged in an indictment or information from which but one conclusion can follow and such conclusion necessarily follows from the facts alleged, in which case the pleading is sufficient, though the conclusion is not directly alleged (People v.Tinnen,
[5] A defendant is entitled under any statute to a clear statement of the offense with which he is charged (People v.Bergotini,
The order is affirmed.
Tyler, P.J., and Knight, J., concurred. *306