138 N.W. 953 | S.D. | 1912
Lead Opinion
Upon an information duly filed by the state’s attorney of Charles Mix county the defendant was tried and convicted of the crime of seduction under a promise of marriage, and from the judgment of conviction and order denying a new trial the defendant has appealed to this court.
It is disclosed by the evidence that the prosecutrix was a young lady of 22 years of age, and that the defendant was a
We are of the opinion that the evidence was admissible upon both grounds. It is true that the prosecution in making out its case in corroboration of the statements of the prosecutrix introduced evidence of two witnesses tending to prove that the defendant was at the home of the prosecutrix on the evening of June 18th, and this evidence constituted -sufficient corroboroation of the prosecutrix, unless controverted by the defendant by claiming that he was not at the home of the prosecutrix on the-evening designated. Clearly, therefore, the defendant in making -his defense that he was not at the place that evening introduced a new issue which the -prosecution had a right to rebut by additional evidence. Even if this view were not correct, we cannot say t-hat there was any abuse of the court’s discretion in admitting the evidence under the peculiar circumstances of this case. We are of the opinion, therefore, that the court committed no error in permitting the prosecution to make the -proof objected to. State v. Watson, 102 Iowa, 651, 72 N. W. 283; Kastner v. State, 58 Neb. 767, 79 N. W. 713; People v. Mar Gin Suie, 11 Cal. App. 42, 103 Pac. 951; Lo Toon v. Territory, 16 Hawaii, 351; People v. Tidwell, 4 Utah, 506, 12 Pac. 61; State v. Webb, 18 Utah, 441, 56 Pac. 159; State v. Klein, 19 Wash. 368, 53 Pac. 364; State v. Hunter, 118 Iowa, 686, 92 N. W. 872; State v. Seligman, 127
. It is contended by the appellant that the court erred in sustaining a number of objections made by the prosecution to the introduction of evidence on the part of the defendant, but, after a careful examination of the ruling of the co.urt upon these various questions, we are of the opinion that there is not -sufficient merit-in these assignments of error to require separate consideration of them in this opinion.
The judgment of the circuit court and order denying a new trial are affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I think the court’s instruction that the finding of -certain facts would be “sufficient to constitute corroborating evidence” might have, and, in view of the extreme paucity of the evidence (other than the, evidence of prosecutrix) tending to show that these young people “kept company * * * and acted as lovers usually do,” I think it must have, led the jurors to believe that, if they found any evidence of this nature, it was sufficient corroboration, and that it was therefore not left to them to determine whether there was sufficient corroboration. Without the jurors so construed the instruction complained of, I am unable to understand how they could ever have found the verdict returned.