88 Wash. 210 | Wash. | 1915
The defendant has appealed from a conviction on the charge of accepting the earnings of a prostitute. The charging part of the information, to which he unsuccessfully demurred, is as follows:
“He, said Felix Crane, in the county of King, state of Washington, on the 28th day of December, 1914, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously accept the earnings of one Gladys Bates, she, said Gladys Bates, then and there being a common prostitute.”
This information is practically the same as the information in State v. Columbus, 74 Wash. 290, 133 Pac. 455, which we held sufficient, saying:
“It is manifest that the facts charged, if proven, constitute a crime under the express terms of the statute.”
The appellant, however, urges that the sufficiency of the demurrer received scant consideration in the Columbus case, and that the force of that decision has been modified by our decisions in State v. Muller, 80 Wash. 368, 141 Pac. 910, and State v. Dodd, 84 Wash. 436, 147 Pac. 9, both of which refer to the principle enunciated by Judge Dunbar in State v. Carey, 4 Wash. 424, 30 Pac. 729, that the charge must be so specific that the defendant will be able to avail himself of his acquittal or conviction for protection against a further prosecution for the same offense. There can be no doubt of the correctness of that rule, but we do not believe that the charge here does violence thereto. In State v. Carey, supra, the statute made unlawful the practice of medicine without a
The term “earnings of a prostitute” clearly means only earnings gained by the practice of prostitution, and the charge here clearly imports that, to be unlawful, the earnings must be given by the prostitute either by herself or by some one in her behalf, that the earnings so given must be unlawful earnings accepted for an unlawful purpose, and that the appellant is charged with such an acceptance. The argument that, inasmuch as prostitutes may have earnings gained in lawful occupations the acceptance of which is not in violation of law, and as the acceptance of unlawful earnings for lawful purposes is not illegal, the information must specify that the earnings were from the practice of prostitution and received for an unlawful purpose, is technical rather than substantial. The information charges, in the words of the statute, an act which is by the statute made unlawful. The charge is not of a crime which may be committed by acts differing in character, as in the Carey and the Dodd cases.
It is contended, also, that the term “earnings” is a generic term, and that as earnings might be of money, or articles of personal adornment, or other things than money, the in
Upon cross-examination of the state’s principal witness, Rice, and Gladys Bates and Katherine Roberts, it developed that these names were not the true names of the witnesses. Appellant moved to strike the testimony on the'ground that the names of the witnesses were not indorsed on the information as required by Rem. & Bal. Code, § 2050 (P. C. 135 § 997). It does not appear that the appellant was misled by the fact that the names indorsed were aliases, nor that he was less able to prepare his defense because of this fact. The object of the statute is to apprise the defendant who will be called upon to testify against him, in order that he may prepare his defense accordingly. State v. John Port Townsend, 7 Wash. 462, 35 Pac. 367. The identity of the proposed witness is the important element; the name by which the individual is known is of secondary importance; and if the defendant has been apprised of the identities he has not been prejudiced. Bennett v. United States, 227 U. S. 333; State v. Ewing, 67 Wash. 395, 121 Pac. 834.
This conclusion also disposes of the contention that there was a variance between the information and the proof because the girl whose earnings were accepted was not in fact Gladys Bates, but only a person known by that name.
The appellant asserts that, for two reasons, the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction; first, the money was Rice’s own money; and second, even if it were not, the appel
Several minor points are raised in appellant’s brief. These have all been considered, but we do not find that the appellant was prejudiced by any of the errors assigned, nor that their importance would justify extending this opinion. We have read the entire record and examined all the authorities cited, and are unable to conclude that the appellant has been improperly informed against, or improperly tried and convicted.
The judgment is therefore affirmed.
Ellis, Fullerton, and Chadwick, JJ., concur.