Rodgers v. State
| Decision Date | 03 July 1916 |
| Citation | 72 So. 198,111 Miss. 781 |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Parties | RODGERS v. STATE |
March 1916
APPEAL from the circuit court of Jones county, HON. P. B. JOHNSON Judge.
Bud Rodgers was convicted of crime and appeals.
The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court.
Judgment reversed and appellant discharged.
Gavin & Garner, for appellant.
Ross A. Collins, Attorney-General, for the State.
Bud Rodgers was convicted in the circuit court of the Second district of Jones county, upon an indictment charging that he "then and there being a male person over the age of twenty-one years, did willfully, knowingly, and feloniously have carnal knowledge of, by having sexual intercourse with, Miss Allie A. Valentine, an unmarried female person of previous chaste character and younger than he, and over twelve years and under eighteen years of age, against the peace." etc., and appeals here, assigning and urging two grounds for reversal, viz.: First, that the proof introduced by the state showed affirmatively that the female was not of previous chaste character; and, second, that the testimony of the female established the fact that she was unchaste in character prior to the sexual intercourse charged in the indictment. The indictment is based on chapter 171, Acts of 1914, which reads as follows:
Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi, that any male person who shall have carnal knowledge of any unmarried female person of previously chaste character younger than himself, and over twelve and under eighteen years of age, upon conviction, shall be punished either by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not longer than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment or by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding five years; and such punishment, within said limitation, shall be fixed by the jury trying each case.
Sec. 2. In the trial of all cases under section 1, of this act, it shall be presumed that the female was previously of chaste character, and the burden shall be upon the defendant to show that she was not; but no person shall be convicted upon the uncorroborated testimony of the injured female.
The testimony introduced by the state at the trial showed, in substance, the following facts: Bud Rodgers, a man twenty-five years of age, persuaded and induced to go with him Allie Valentine, a girl sixteen years old, from the latter's home in Jasper county, afoot, into the Second district of Jones county, a distance of about eighteen miles; that on this trip, while the appellant and the girl were traveling together, the state's witness, Melvin Rodgers, testified that he saw the appellant and the girl engaged in sexual intercourse as they lay by the side of the road, ostensibly to rest. That this intercourse by the parties took place in Jasper county, while they were en route to Jones county. That after the parties arrived in Jones county, several weeks afterwards, they were seen sleeping and living together, and indulging in sexual intercourse with each other.
It appears from this record that this sexual intercourse between the parties in Jones county was the basis of the indictment in this case. When the state rested its case, the defendant in the lower court, moved the court for his discharge, urging as a reason therefor that the state's evidence had shown affirmatively and conclusively that at the time the defendant had sexual intercourse with the girl, in Jones county, for which he was indicted, she was not then and there of previous chaste character, as the testimony showed that she had had intercourse with appellant in Jasper county a few days prior, when the parties were traveling on their way from and through Jasper county to Jones county. This motion was overruled by the court. The defendant then introduced his testimony, denying the charge in all particulars. Among the witnesses introduced by him was the girl, Allie...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hunter v. State
... ... and also because the evidence as to previous chastity was ... quite unsatisfactory. See State v. Dacke, 59 Wash ... 238, 109 P. 1050, 30 L. R. A. (N. S.) 173, and cases cited; ... Bailey v. State, 57 Neb. 706, 78 N.W. 284, 73 Am ... St. Rep. 540; Rodgers v. State, 111 Miss. 781, 72 ... So. 198; People v. Nelson, 153 N.Y. 90, 46 N.E ... 1040, 60 Am. St. Rep. 592; State v. McMahon, 234 Mo ... 611, 137 S.W. 872; Carpenter v. People, 8 Barb. (N ... Y.) 603; State v. Foster (Mo. Sup.) 225 S.W ... [85 ... Fla. 96] In the ... ...
-
Kolb v. State
...it must be alleged to have been committed after that day." Com v. Maloney, 112 Mass. 283. Under the decision of this court in the Rogers Case, 72 So. 198, the appellant did have an act of sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix in the month of April, then after that the prosecutrix was not ......
- Lee v. State
- McKenzie v. State