Sharp v. People
| Decision Date | 07 March 1932 |
| Docket Number | 12986. |
| Parties | SHARP v. PEOPLE. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
In Department.
Error to Routt County Court; John M. Childress, Judge.
Joseph C. Sharp was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and he brings error.
Affirmed.
Gooding & Monson and Gilbert A. Walker, all of Steamboat Springs, for plaintiff in error.
Clarence L. Ireland, Atty. Gen., and W. S. Porth, Asst. Atty. Gen for the People.
Joseph C. Sharp was found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor; motion for a new trial denied; and the judgment of the court was that he pay a fine and serve a term in the county jail. His assignments of error are: (1) Insufficiency of the evidence; (2) refusal of court to grant a continuance and (3) misconduct respecting the jury.
The charging part of the information was: '* * * That Joseph Sharp on to-wit, the 15th day of June, A. D 1931, at the said County of Routt was responsible for any by his act did encourage, cause and contribute to the delinquency of _____ who as (was) then and there a delinquent child and juvenile delinquent person, as defined by the statute of the State of Colorado; by then and there unlawfully aiding and encouraging the taking of photographs in the nude or seminude of the said _____, and by his acts did then and there unlawfully encourage, cause and contribute to the delinquency of the said _____, and did then and there by his acts unlawfully encourage, cause and contribute to the said _____ becoming immoral, and performing immoral acts ans (and) associating with immoral persons. * * *'
The statute under which defendant was charged and with a violation of which he was found guilty reads: * * *' Session Laws of Colorado 1923, c. 76, p. 201.
The term 'delinquent child' shall include: '* * * Any child eighteen years of age or under such age who violates any law of this State or any city or village ordinance; or who is disorderly, immoral or incorrigible; or who knowingly associates with thieves, vicious or immoral persons; or who is growing up in idleness or crime; or knowingly visits or enters a house of ill repute. * * *' Session Laws of Colorado 1923, c. 75, p. 197.
1. The girl involved herein was, prior to the trial of defendant, charged with being a juvenile delinquent child, and adjudged to be such, and at defendant's trial testified that defendant had taken some pictures of her in the mude or seminude; defendant and his wife testified that the pictures were not taken by defendant, but were taken by the wife of defendant. The jury must have found, as a matter of fact, and one entirely within their province and for their exclusive determination, that the testimony of the girl was entitled to weight, credit, and belief, while that of defendant and his wife was unworthy of these attributes. There were but three witnesses who testified to the principal facts in the case: The girl, defendant, and his wife. There was ample evidence to support the jury's finding that defendant took pictures of the girl in the nude or seminude, and, under these circumstances, we should not disturb the verdict. Citation of authorities should be unnecessary.
Under this assignment, defendant also contends that the evidence is insufficient to justify the jury's verdict of guilty because, he says, in order to be guilty of contributing to juvenile delinquency, 'he must have encouraged, caused or contributed to the delinquency of _____ in committing one of the various acts set forth in chapter 75 of the Session Laws of 1923, heretofore set forth.' We may assume that this is a correct statement of the law, and yet it will not justify a reversal herein. The girl was fifteen years of age, unmarried and enceinte, and her known derelictions in other respects brought her well within the definition of a juvenile delinquent child. The defendant was a mature man, married, and resided with his wife and three children in the same community in which the girl lived, and, at the time of the offense, was occupying a position of importance in that community. He testified that the girl was wayward in some respects; that she had lived at his house for some time, and eventually he had objected to her continuing to reside there; that he had focused the camera for his wife so that she might take pictures of the girl in her bathing suit, and was in the adjoining room while the pictures were being taken, and had never seen the developed pictures nor was he aware of the fact that pictures of the girl in the nude or seminude had been taken. His wife testified that she took the pictures, developed them, and gave them to the girl. The girl testified that some of the pictures were actually taken by defendant, and endeavored to separate those taken by the wife and by defendant. The jury found, by its verdict, that defendant aided and encouraged the taking of the pictures in the nude or seminude, and that this act induced or caused the girl to become immoral, to associate with immoral persons, and to perform immoral acts. When a muture man indulges in such questionable practices with a child, and the pictures are...
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