State v. Chase
| Decision Date | 25 March 1957 |
| Citation | 11 Terry 383,131 A.2d 178,50 Del. 383 |
| Court | Delaware Superior Court |
| Parties | , 50 Del. 383 STATE of Delaware v. Albert E. CHASE. |
Wilfred J. Smith, Jr., Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State.
Irving Morris, Wilmington, for defendant.
Defendant appeals his conviction in the Court of Common Pleas based upon the following Information:
Albert E. Chase, (hereinafter referred to as 'Chase') has been charged with violation of Title 11 Del.C. § 732, in that he allegedly 'on the Third day of August, 1955, in the County of New Castle, did then and there with force and arms, in the County of New Castle, State of Delaware, unlawfully did engage in lewdness, to-wit: did expose himself in a lewd manner in the presence of Ruth M. Tipping and Gladys Raign, against the peace and dignity of the state.'
He advances two contentions, (1) that 11 Del.C. § 732, upon which the information is founded, is unconstitutionally vague and, (2) that the statute attempts to encompass more than one subject in violation of Article 2, Section 16 of the Delaware Constitution, Del.C.Ann.
Even a cursory study discloses that the scheme of the Act (insofar as it has to do with lewdness) is aimed at lewdness in connection with prostitution or assignation. The little of the chapter is 'Prostitution and Related Offenses'. It then proceeds to define 'Assignation', 'Lewdness' and 'Prostitution'. The body of the Act, with a single exception, is obviously directed at acts of lewdness in connection with prostitution and assignations for the purpose of committing lewd acts. However, there is a final paragraph which reads, 'Whoever engages in prostitution, lewdness, or assignation by any means whatsoever * * *.'
Now, at this point it is perhaps appropriate to observe that the definition of lewdness in the Act 1 might include not only acts of lewdness in connection with prostitution or assignations for the purpose of lewdness, but also acts of lewdness wholly unrelated to those two subjects. Further, it is rather obvious that the act here charged falls within that class of lewdness having little or no connection with prostitution or assignations for the purpose of lewdness.
However, reverting for a moment to the title of the chapter, 'Prostitution and Related Offenses', and to the title of the section 'Furthering Prostitution, and bearing in mind the other types of offenses included within the chapter, namely, Pandering, Keeping or Leasing a house of ill-fame and Pimping, it seems most unlikely that the language of Section 732 was intended by the Legislature to encompass the subject matter of this information. 2
Concededly, the language of the section above mentioned, 'Whoever engages in prostitution, lewdness or assignation by any means whatsoever', might be said to be broad enough to include the offense here charged, but, as defendant argues, where the overall meaning of the Act indicates a particular association of offenses, then any ambiguity should be construed against the inclusion of an offense clearly falling outside its plain scope. 3
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City of Seattle v. Buchanan
...act should be construed against the inclusion of an offense outside the scope of the overall meaning of the act. State v. Chase, 11 Terry 383, 50 Del. 383, 131 A.2d 178 (1957). Given these definitions and rules of statutory construction I conclude it was the intent of the city council, in e......
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U.S. v. Luma
...14 V.I.C. § 1622 "was patterned" on 11 Del. Code 1953, § 732 (Repealed). The Delaware statute was challenged in State v. Chase, 131 A.2d 178 (Del.Super.Ct.1957) and held to be unconstitutionally vague on its face and as This Court is not required to defer to the interpretation of the Superi......
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State v. Ayers
...was recognized as the test of criminal statutes attacked on the ground of vagueness by the Superior Court of this State in State v. Chase, 11 Terry 383, 131 A.2d 178. We make the same It is not necessary that a statute must with absolute specificity spell out the details of all offenses whi......
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