Dunn v. United States, 4234.

• Decision Date: 28 June 1951
• Docket Number: No. 4234.,4234.
• Citation: 190 F.2d 496
• Parties: DUNN v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

190 F.2d 496 (1951)

DUNN v. UNITED STATES.

No. 4234.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

June 28, 1951.

Arthur Woolley, Ogden, Utah, on the brief for appellant.

Scott M. Matheson, U. S. Atty. and Bryant H. Croft, Asst. U. S. Atty., Salt Lake City, Utah, on the brief for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and BRATTON and HUXMAN, Circuit Judges.

BRATTON, Circuit Judge.

The first count in the indictment in this case charged Jack Abner Dunn with the transportation of a named woman in interstate commerce from Helper, Utah, to Missoula, Montana, for the purpose of prostitution and debauchery, in violation of the White Slave Traffic Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2421. Found guilty of the charge and sentenced to imprisonment, the defendant appealed.

The Act makes penal the transportation of a woman or girl in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery. It is directed at the transportation of females in interstate commerce for such illicit practices. It has for its purpose the prevention of the use of interstate commerce as a calculated means of effectuating immoral conduct of that kind. An essential constituent element of offense is an intent and purpose on the part of the accused that the female transported in interstate commerce shall engage in such immoral conduct. And without that necessary intent, purpose, and motive, an accused is not guilty of an offense under the Act. Hansen v. Haff, 291 U.S. 559, 54 S.Ct. 494, 78 L.Ed. 968; Mortensen v. United States, 322 U.S. 369, 64 S.Ct. 1037, 88 L.Ed. 1331.

But it is not necessary to a conviction under the Act that the sole and single purpose of the transportation of a female in interstate commerce was such immoral practices. It is enough that one of the dominant purposes was prostitution or debauchery. It suffices if one of the efficient and compelling purposes in the mind of the accused in the particular transportation was illicit conduct of that kind. The illicit purpose denounced by the Act may have coexisted with other purpose or purposes, but it must have been an efficient and compelling purpose. Long v. United States, 10 Cir., 160 F.2d 706; Simon v. United States, 4 Cir., 145 F.2d 345; Mellor v. United States, 8 Cir., 160 F.2d 757, certiorari denied, 331 U.S. 848, 67 S.Ct. 1734, 91 L.Ed. 1858. The necessary intent, purpose, and motive on the part of the accused may be proved by circumstantial evidence. And as bearing upon that essential element of the offense, the conduct of the parties within a reasonable time before and after the transportation may be taken into consideration. Long v. United States, supra; Tedesco v. United States, 9 Cir., 118 F.2d 737; United States v. Reginelli, 3 Cir., 133 F.2d 595, certiorari denied, 318 U.S. 783, 63 S.Ct. 856, 87 L.Ed. 1150.

Evidence was adduced upon the trial of this case which tended to establish these facts. Appellant was a married man. The woman was employed as a waitress in a cafe in Ogden, Utah. They became acquainted there. After associating together for a short time, he asked her how she would like to go to work as a prostitute and make some money. She agreed, and they went to Helper. A man named Bill Tami and his wife went with them. The trip was made in appellant's automobile. Upon arriving in Helper, appellant and the woman went to a place called the Cozy Rooms. He went in first. He returned and told her that the woman in charge wanted to talk with her. She entered, talked with the woman, and began working as a prostitute. He left the next day, telling her that he was going to some place in the State of Washington. Sometime later in the month he contacted her by long distance telephone, inquired how she was getting along, and told her that he was coming to Helper. He came and asked her if she liked it there or preferred to go to some other place. She replied that she did not know. They went from Helper to Salt Lake City. Either in Helper or in Salt Lake City, she gave him some of the money she had earned as a prostitute. While in Salt Lake City he made some telephone calls to inquire if any girls were needed. And he gave her a book containing some names and telephone numbers and suggested that she see if she could get herself a job. Using the names...