Commonwealth v. Altenhaus
| Decision Date | 29 November 1944 |
| Citation | 317 Mass. 270,57 N.E.2d 921 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. ALTENHAUS (two cases). |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Exceptions from Superior Court, Bristol County; R. M. Walsh, Judge.
Philip Altenhaus was convicted of knowingly permitting premises under this control as a licensed innholder to be used for immoral conduct, and of knowingly permitting names other than those in ordinary use by persons registering to be written in hotel register in his charge, and he brings exceptions.
Exceptions sustained.
Before FIELD, C. J., and LUMMUS, QUA, RONAN, and SPALDING, JJ.
Benjamin Horvitz, Asst. Dist. Atty., of Fall River, for the Commonwealth.
V. J. Deponte, of Taunton, for defendant.
The defendant, a hotel proprietor, was found guilty by a jury on two complaints. In one he was charged with having knowingly permitted, as a licensed innholder, the premises under his control to be used for immoral conduct, in violation of G.L.(Ter.Ed.) c. 140, § 26. The other complaint alleged that while in charge of a hotel register he knowingly permitted ‘to be written is said register another or different name * * * than the true name or name in ordinary use of the persons registering,’ in violation of G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 140, § 29.
At the close of the evidence the defendant moved for a directed verdict on each complaint and excepted to the judge's denial of the motion. Exceptions were also saved to the denial of a motion to quash the complaints, and to the denial of a motion for a new trial.
The motion for directed verdicts raises the question whether there was sufficient evidence of the defendant's guilt to warrant the submission of the cases to a jury. The statutes involved are G.L.(Ter.Ed.) c. 140, §§ 26, 29, the pertinent portions of which are as follows: * * *’
The following is a summary of the pertinent evidence. The defendant and his brother as partners own and operate a hotel of twenty-six rooms in the city of Taunton. Sometimes the defendant works at the desk where guests are registered and at other times his brother performs this duty. On July 8, 1943, at about 10 p. m. a police officer observed two girls at the window of a room on the second floor of the defendant's hotel. One of the girls was whistling to attract the attention of some soldiers who were passing. There was no evidence tending to show that the defendant had knowledge of this. Later that evening the officer observed some soldiers in the room, one of whom was ‘KISSING AND HUGGING’ ONE OF THE GIRLS. on the following night, july 9, at midnight the officer (accompanied by his captain) called at the hotel and told the defendant what he had observed. The defendant and the two officers then proceeded to the room, which was occupied by two women. Upon questioning by the police officers, the women admitted that since registering on July 8 they had engaged another room and that each had entertained a soldier in her room the night before. Both denied having participated in any immoral conduct although their explanation was such that it might well have been disbelieved. They accompanied the officers to the police station where, after further questioning, they were placed under arrest. It does not appear that the soldiers had registered or that the defendant knew of their presence in the rooms.
Five days later on July 14 around 2 a. m. a sailor and a girl ...
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... Page 296 ... 393 N.E.2d 296 ... 378 Mass. 392 ... COMMONWEALTH ... George E. CLARK ... Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex ... Argued March 6, 1979 ... Decided July 5, 1979 ... Page 297 ... (1978) at 218 ... 15 The defendant's reliance on Commonwealth v. Fancy, 349 Mass. 196, 207 N.E.2d 276 (1965), and Commonwealth v. Altenhaus, 317 Mass. 270, 57 N.E.2d 921 (1944), is misplaced. Unlike the situation in Fancy and Altenhaus, here the evidence presented by the Commonwealth ... ...
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