McGhee v. District of Columbia, 2054.
| Decision Date | 21 January 1958 |
| Docket Number | No. 2054.,2054. |
| Citation | 137 A.2d 721 |
| Parties | William L. McGHEE, Appellant, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Appellee. |
| Court | D.C. Court of Appeals |
Richard W. Barton, Asst. Corp. Counsel, with whom Chester H. Gray, Corp. Counsel, Milton D. Korman, Principal Asst. Corp. Counsel, and Hubert B. Pair, Asst. Corp. Counsel, were on the brief, for appellee.
Before ROVER, Chief Judge, and HOOD and QUINN, Associate Judges.
Appellant was convicted on a charge of committing a "lewd, obscene, or indecent act."1 The complaining witness testified that she and a male companion were sitting in an automobile parked in an alley at the rear of the apartment house where she lived, and that at about 1:00 o'clock in the morning appellant drove a delivery truck into the alley and parked it, walked to the rear of the apartment house, peered into one of the windows and then committed the act. She blew the horn of the car in which she was seated and appellant ran to the truck and drove away. On the following day she saw appellant enter the apartment building to make a delivery, and recognized him. The police were notified and appellant was arrested and charged. Her companion corroborated her testimony as to the occurrences in the alley but did not identify appellant as the one who committed the act. Appellant took the stand and denied being in the alley on the occasion and several witnesses corroborated his testimony.
Appellant argues that, because complaining witness's companion did not identify appellant, it is possible that complaining witness was mistaken in her identification of appellant. Of course, such was possible, but this possibility simply presented a question of fact for the trial court. Appellant further argues that the evidence was as consistent with his innocence as with his guilt. The Government's evidence, which obviously was accepted by the trial court, was in no way consistent with appellant's innocence. The case simply presented a disputed question of fact, and we cannot find error in the trial court's ruling that appellant's guilt was established beyond a reasonable doubt.
Finally, appellant claims that the testimony of the complaining witness was not sufficiently corroborated within the ruling laid down in Kelly v. United States, 90 U.S.App.D.C. 125, 194 F.2d 150. In Price v. United States, D.C.Mun.App., 135 A.2d 854, we held...
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District of Columbia v. Walters
...(undercover police officer got into defendant's home on pretense and induced defendant to touch him); and, McGhee v. District of Columbia, D.C.Mun.App., 137 A.2d 721 (1958) (committed "an act" in front of a window of an apartment house). In rejecting the avenues of statutory interpretation ......
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Haynes v. District of Columbia
...facts surrounding the offense. See Goodsaid v. District of Columbia, D.C. App., 187 A.2d 486, 487 (1963); McGhee v. District of Columbia, D.C.Mun.App., 137 A.2d 721, 722 (1958). Here the record discloses there was ample circumstantial evidence by other witnesses to substantiate the testimon......
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Campbell v. District of Columbia
...for the prosecution if accepted, as it was, by the trier of the facts was sufficient to sustain a finding of guilt. McGhee v. District of Columbia, D.C.Mun.App., 137 A.2d 721. Appellant, however, also urges us to reverse his conviction because of the alleged government failure to prove that......
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Parker v. United States, 2112.
...and some of the circumstances. Affirmed. 1. Price v. United States, D.C.Mun.App., 135 A.2d 854, 856. See also McGhee v. District of Columbia, D.C.Mun.App., 137 A.2d 721. 2. See also Howard v. District of Columbia, D.C.Mun.App., 132 A.2d ...