State v. Douglas

• Decision Date: 05 November 1927
• Docket Number: 27,740
• Citation: 260 P. 655,124 Kan. 482
• Parties: THE STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. T. W. DOUGLAS, Appellant
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

260 P. 655

124 Kan. 482

THE STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. T. W. DOUGLAS, Appellant

No. 27,740

Supreme Court of Kansas

November 5, 1927

Decided July, 1927.

Appeal from Rawlins district court; EDWARD E. KITE, judge.

Judgment affirmed.

SYLLABUS

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.

1. INDICTMENT AND INFORMATION--Statement of Offense--Disjunctive Language of Statute. The overruling of a motion to quash a count in an information because the disjunctive "or" is used in the charging clause instead of the conjunctive "and," when it follows the language of the statute and refers to things as objects rather than the doing of things, and where it is used between synonymous words or terms rather than distinct alternatives, is not reversible error.

2. SAME--Allegation of Place. Where one is charged in an information with having, in the county of Rawlins and state of Kansas, advertised through the columns of a local newspaper and by circulated handbills and cards that he treats the sick, without stating in the information that he does so in the state of Kansas, the information is sufficient by reason of the second subdivision of R. S. 62-1011.

3. PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS--Practicing Without Certificate. The several assignments of error considered, and held, there was no substantial error committed in the trial of the case.

J. P Noble, of Oberlin, Forest W. Brown, of Goodland, M. V. B. Van de Mark, of Concordia, and John E. Butcher, of Kansas City, Mo., for the appellant.

William A. Smith, attorney-general, Roland Boynton, assistant attorney-general, C. A. P. Falconer and Herbert Howland, both of Atwood, for the appellee.

Hutchison J. Harvey, J. dissenting in part.

OPINION

HUTCHISON, J.:

The appellant, T. W. Douglas, was convicted in the district court of Rawlins county on four counts. The first charged him with advertising in the Herndon Nonpareil, a newspaper published in Rawlins county, and the second with passing out to the public in Herndon, Kan., handbills and cards, representing and indicating thereby that he treated the sick or others afflicted with bodily infirmities. The third and fifth counts charged him with having prescribed and recommended, for fees, drugs and medicine for the cure and relief of bodily infirmity and disease of Maude Carlson in the third count, and Francis Anderson in the fifth count; in all of the counts without having received or recorded a certificate from the board of medical registration and examination of the state of Kansas. The advertisement, mentioned in the first count as exhibit A, is as follows:

"Prof. T. W. Douglas, the great scientist, will be at Herndon, Kan., Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday, July 9, 10, 11. All that wish to see him and have a diagnosis should arrange for an appointment. The professor's headquarters while at Herndon will be at the home of Mrs. Josephine Erickson. All diagnoses are absolutely free."

The handbills and cards, mentioned in the second count as exhibits B and C, are as follows:

"Free lecture at the opera house, Herndon, Kan., Sunday night, July 11. Prof. T. W. Douglas will deliver his famous lecture, 'What can be done for the human body.' This lecture and entertainment is absolutely free to everyone. Don't miss this opportunity. In all probability you will never again have the opportunity to hear a man of his standing. C. E. Wray, state agent for Kansas.

"MRS. M. DOUGLAS, Pres.

PROF. TOM DOUGLAS, Vice Pres.

OFFICE HOURS, 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. daily.

Phone Elmridge 3151-J.

PROPRIETARY MIXTURES SYNDICATE, INC.

4420 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, Missouri.

FORMULATION FROM GREEN ROOTS AND HERBS.

For Rheumatism, Liver, Stomach, Kidney and Lung Trouble.

Uterine Diseases a Specialty.

Send Birth Date to Ascertain Cause of Complaint.

PROF. TOM DOUGLAS, Demonstrator.

YONGA YOGA, Scientist.

Join His Class Now."

The motions of the appellant to quash the first and second counts and strike out exhibit B were overruled; likewise his demurrer to the evidence. He was acquitted on the fourth count. The statutes of Kansas under which this action is prosecuted are as follows:

"Any person shall be regarded as practicing medicine and surgery within the meaning of this act who shall prescribe, or who shall recommend for a fee, for like use, any drug or medicine, or perform any surgical operation of whatsoever nature for the cure or relief of any wounds, fracture or bodily injury, infirmity or disease of another person, or who shall use the words or letters 'Dr.,' 'Doctor,' 'M. D.,' or any other title, in connection with his name, which in any way represents him as engaged in the practice of medicine or surgery, or any person attempting to treat the sick or others afflicted with bodily or mental infirmities, or any person representing or advertising himself by any means or through any medium whatsoever or in any manner whatsoever, so as to indicate that he is authorized to or does practice medicine or surgery in this state, or that he is authorized to or does treat the sick or others afflicted with bodily infirmities, but nothing in this act shall be construed as interfering with any religious beliefs in the treatment of diseases . . . nor to prohibit gratuitous services. . . ." (R. S. 65-1005.)

"From and after the 1st day of September, 1901, any person who shall practice medicine and surgery in the state of Kansas without having received and had recorded a certificate under the provisions of this act, or any person violating any of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. . . ." (R. S. 65-1006.)

It is earnestly contended that the first and second counts of the information should have been quashed because of the use of the disjunctive "or," as in the statute, instead of the conjunctive "and," as it should have been charged. We are inclined to think the use of the word "and" might have been preferable in the charging clause, but the use of the disjunctive, we think, is well within the rule, especially when it follows the statute. It would not be within the rule if it were concerning the alleged doing of something by the defendant, as in the case of State v. Seeger, 65 Kan. 711, 70 P. 599, but here it concerns the objects--the ones whom the defendant treated. When that which follows the disjunctive explains the word preceding it or connects synonymous words it is within the well-established rule. (51 L.R.A. N.S. 135; 31 C. J. 707; 3 Words and Phrases, 759.) The word "sick," as used in ...