State Of West Va. v. Zitzelsberger, 9861
| Decision Date | 15 October 1946 |
| Docket Number | No. 9861,9861 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | State of West Virginia v. August Zitzelsberger |
State of West Virginia
v.
August Zitzelsberger
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Submitted September 24, 1946.
Decided October 15, 1946.
1. Indictment
The statutory offense of contributing to the delinquency of a child being described in the statute in general terms, an indictment charging that offense must amplify the statutory description by alleging the specific act or conduct constituting the crime and such allegation must be proved beyond all reasonable doubt.
2. Infants
A verdict of guilty on an indictment charging that defendant contributed to the delinquency of a child by enticing and encouraging her to absent herself from home without reason or cause and without the consent of her legal custodian; by enticing and encouraging her to stay in defendant's home; and by enticing and encouraging her to knowingly associate
[129 W.Va. 230]
with immoral persons, is not sustained by proof that on one occasion she was found in defendant's place of business, wherein beer, soft drinks, candy and. similar merchandise were dispensed and sold.
Error to Circuit Court, Putnam County.
August Zitzelsberger was convicted of a statutory offense of contributing to delinquency of a child and he brings error.
Judgment reversed; verdict set aside; new trial awarded,
B. T. Clayton, for plaintiff in error.
Lovins, Judge:
August Zitzelsberger was found guilty by a jury in the Circuit Court of Putnam County of a misdemeanor and was sentenced to confinement in the jail of that county for sixty days and to pay a fine of one hundred dollars and costs. The case comes here by writ of error.
Defendant was tried on an indictment charging him with unlawfully contributing to the delinquency of a female child under the age of eighteen years, by doing acts tending to encourage and cause her delinquency. The general charge is amplified by allegations of defendant's specific conduct as follows: (a) That defendant enticed and encouraged the child to absent herself from the home of her grandmother and legal custodian without reason or cause and without the consent of her grandmother; (b) that the defendant enticed and encouraged the child to stay in his home; and (c) that he enticed and encouraged the child to knowingly associate with immoral persons.
Defendant was the owner and operator of a place of business in the Town of Bancroft wherein he sold, in the same room, nonintoxicating beer under a State license, as well as soft drinks, candy and similar merchandise. Defendant also maintained pool tables and a "pinball...
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