Liegois v. State

• Citation: 164 S.W. 382
• Parties: LIEGOIS v. STATE.
• Decision Date: 25 February 1914
• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

164 S.W. 382

LIEGOIS v. STATE.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

February 25, 1914.

Appeal from Wichita County Court; C. B. Felder, Judge.

Mrs. J. B. Liegois was convicted as a lessee of a house which she knowingly permitted to be disorderly, and she appeals. Affirmed.

W. F. Weeks, of Wichita Falls, for appellant. T. R. Boone, Co. Atty., of Wichita Falls, and C. E. Lane, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

HARPER, J.

Appellant was prosecuted and convicted as a lessee of a house which she knowingly permitted to be kept as a bawdyhouse.

The evidence would show that J. H. Weideman was the owner of what is known as the Gem rooming house in Wichita Falls, and he leased it to appellant for 12 months at $45 per month, and then at $47.50 per month. Appellant furnished the rooming house, and let it to various tenants at the rate of $30 per week; one of her tenants being Miss Jessie Miller. The state used Miss Miller as a witness, and she testified to renting the place from appellant, and then by Miss Miller's testimony and the testimony of other witnesses sought to prove that the house was run as a bawdyhouse during Mrs. Miller's occupancy. Appellant insists that this made Mrs. Miller an accomplice in law, and the court erred in not so instructing the jury at his request. In the American & English Encyclopedia of Law, the rule is said to be: "The term `accomplice' signifies in law a guilty associate in crime, and is strictly defined as one who is associated with others in the commission of a crime; all being guilty. The general test by which to determine whether one is an accomplice is the inquiry: Could such person be indicted and punished for the crime for which the accused is being tried? If he could be indicted and punished, he is an accomplice; otherwise he is not an accomplice." Tested by this rule Mrs. Miller is not an accomplice of appellant, for she could not be prosecuted and convicted of the offense for which appellant was tried. A great number of cases are cited by the Encyclopedia, among which are Peeler v. State, 3 Tex. App. 533; Ham v. State, 4 Tex. App. 645; Watson v. State, 9 Tex. App. 237; Lawrence v. State, 35 Tex. Cr. R. 114, 32 S. W. 530; Hamilton v. State, 36 Tex. Cr. R. 372, 37 S. W. 431; Parker v. State, 40 Tex. Cr. R. 119, 49 S. W. 80; Stone v. State, 47 Tex. Cr. R. 575, 85 S. W. 808—the case against Stone being a bawdyhouse case, and this court holds in that case: "The testimony shows that the witness was an inmate of the...