City of Milwaukee v. Beatty

• Citation: 149 Wis. 349,135 N.W. 873
• Parties: CITY OF MILWAUKEE v. BEATTY.
• Decision Date: 23 April 1912
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin

149 Wis. 349

135 N.W. 873

CITY OF MILWAUKEE

v.BEATTY.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

April 23, 1912.

Appeal from Municipal Court of Milwaukee County; August C. Backus, Judge.

Action by the City of Milwaukee against Ruben Beatty to recover a fine for violation of an ordinance. From a judgment of conviction in the municipal court, rendered on appeal from the district court, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

The appellant was convicted in the district court for Milwaukee county of having leased and let, as landlord, through his agent, a certain room, in the building occupied by him in the city of Milwaukee, to be used for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness, contrary to an ordinance of the city. The trial, on appeal to the municipal court for Milwaukee, resulted in a conviction.

There was evidence before the court that the appellant stated that he, as occupant of the premises in question, had rented out rooms for the night and by the hour. There was evidence, also, that the appellant was occupying the premises at the time he is accused of having committed the offense, and that he had been in possession of them for two years previous thereto. It was admitted that the appellant had a verbal lease from month to month of the premises. The evidence of the specific violation of the ordinance upon which the conviction rested was that a man, accompanied by a woman, not his wife, had gone to the premises in the nighttime, had rented a room from the wife of the appellant, and had occupied the room and the bed therein with the woman who came with him. Knowledge of the purpose for which the room was rented was supported by the evidence that the man asked the woman who accompanied him, in the presence of the wife of the appellant, what her charges were for occupying the room with him, that she gave the amount thereof, and that the man replied, “All right.” There was evidence, also, that the appellant had stated that his wife rented the rooms that were rented at night, and that he was the proprietor of the place. There was evidence tending to show that men and women would meet near this house, go into it, and occupy a room for the purpose of prostitution. The court found appellant guilty of the offense charged and imposed a fine of $50. Judgment was awarded in the city's favor for this amount and for the costs of the action. This is an appeal from the judgment.

H. L. Eaton, for appellant.

Daniel W. Hoan, City Atty., and E. L. McIntyre, Asst. City Atty., for respondent.

SIEBECKER, J. (after stating the facts as above).

[1] The offense charged is that the defendant violated section 36 of chapter 20 of the General Ordinances of the city of Milwaukee, which provides: “All persons are hereby prohibited from leasing or letting, either as landlord or agent of the landlord, or agent of the tenant, or as landlord through any agent or sub-agent, any house, room or other premises in the city of Milwaukee, to be used for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars.”

The evidence is clear that the defendant, through his wife as his agent, did, at the time charged, lease and let a room in the house he occupied as tenant for the prohibited purpose. It is argued that the offense charged, that he so leased the room as landlord, is not established, because the evidence fails to show that he was a landlord, within the meaning of the ordinance. This claim is based on the facts that he was not the owner of the house and premises occupied by him, and that he occupied them as a tenant from month to month under a verbal lease. The word “landlord,” as used in the ordinance, is not restricted in its meaning to an owner of an estate in lands and the improvements thereon greater than a leasehold estate. It clearly embraces tenants of houses and...