89 So. 888 | La. | 1921
The grand jury in and for the parish of Rapides returned a bill of indictment against defendant, in which it is
Defendant filed a motion to quash this bill on the ground that it charges no offense known to the laws of the state of Louisiana. The court overruled the motion, and the bill reserved to this ruling constitutes one of the bills of exception which this appeal brings to us for our consideration.
“That whoever shall induce, entice or procure * * * to come into the state of Louisiana, or enter any house in this state, any female person, for the purpose of prostitution, concubinage or any other immoral purpose, shall upon conviction suffer imprisonment with or without hard labor, for a period of not less than six months nor more than two years and be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.”
In our view, the indictment is fatally defective, in that, after the word “house,” it adds, “to wit, a room in the Rapides Hotel.” Under a charge so framed it makes it possible, as seems to have been done in this case, to convict one of attempting to induce a female, already in a room in the house or hotel, to enter another room therein for the purpose of prostitution; whereas, the statute makes it unlawful to attempt to induce a female to enter any house in this state, not any room, for such purpose. The act of the' defendant, as charged in the bill, was reprehensible, but nevertheless, it does not come within the letter of the law, and is therefore not a crime.
As the bill of indictment fails to charge an offense under the law, the defendant will have to be discharged.
For the reasons assigned, it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the verdict of the jury in this case, and the sentence of the court based thereon, be annulled, avoided, and set aside, and that there now be judgment maintaining said motion to quash, and discharging the defendant.