State v. Butts

• Decision Date: 05 April 1899
• Citation: 78 N.W. 687,107 Iowa 653
• Parties: STATE OF IOWA v. F. L. BUTTS, Appellant
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

78 N.W. 687

107 Iowa 653

STATE OF IOWA v. F. L. BUTTS, Appellant

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

April 5, 1899

Appeal from Fremont District Court.--HON. N.W. MACY, Judge.

DEFENDANT was found guilty in the district court of the crime of adultery, and from the sentence imposed appeals. --Affirmed.

AFFIRMED.

Hammond & Stevens for appellant.

Milton Remley, Attorney General, and W. H. Redman for the State.

OPINION

DEEMER, J.

The indictment charges the defendant with the crime of adultery with one Laura B. Langston, the wife of F. M. Langston; and the state introduced evidence tending to show that the crime was committed on several occasions. Before the submission of the case, however, the county attorney elected to rely on certain acts said to have taken place on or about the twentieth day of November, 1896. It is now insisted that the verdict finding the defendant guilty is without support in evidence. To this proposition we cannot lend our assent. The adulterous disposition of the parties is clearly shown and the jury was fully justified in finding that defendant and his paramour had sexual intercourse on the day in question. Indeed, there is evidence of admissions of guilt, which taken in connection with the other facts in evidence, are sufficient to justify the verdict.

II. Mrs. Langston wrote a letter to the defendant, which he read and handed to a companion to peruse, and this letter was afterwards found by defendant's wife in her husband's pocket. The letter was filled with terms of endearment and expressions of love, and was introduced in evidence over defendant's objection. Had Mrs. Langston spoken these words directly to defendant, in the presence of another, there is no doubt they would have been admissible in evidence. And, in view of the whole record, we are constrained to believe that the written evidence was equally competent and relevant to the issues. The disposition of the parties towards each other was an important consideration, and it could not be more clearly demonstrated than by the production of this correspondence. That defendant reciprocated the woman's affection is clearly shown by his conduct with reference to the letter. There was no error in admitting it in evidence. Dalton v. Dregge, 99 Mich. 250 (58 N.W. 57); People v. Girdler, 65 Mich. 68 (31 N.W. 624), and 2 Greenleaf Evidence, section 55, lend support to our conclusions.

III. After stating the different elements of the crime, the trial court charged the jury that if they found each and all to have...