State v. Gardner
| Decision Date | 06 March 1923 |
| Docket Number | No. 34828.,34828. |
| Citation | 192 N.W. 132,195 Iowa 439 |
| Parties | STATE v. GARDNER. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from District Court, Van Buren County; D. M. Anderson, Judge.
Having been indicted and convicted upon a charge of seduction, the defendant appeals. Affirmed.Walker & McBeth, of Keosaqua, for appellant.
Ben J. Gibson, Atty. Gen., and John Fletcher, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
The appellant is a young unmarried man, 24 years of age, and the prosecuting witness is a young unmarried woman, of 19, both residing at or near Bentonsport, in Van Buren county, Iowa. As witnesses on the trial, both defendant and prosecutrix admit that they indulged in sexual intercourse on several occasions during the summer of the year 1920, and it is the claim of the young woman that as a result of such relations she became pregnant and was delivered of a child in April of 1921. Nothing is to be gained by rehearsing in detail the story of their shame. Reduced to briefest terms, the sole question presented is whether complainant was a woman of previous chaste character, and yielded to the intercourse with the defendant by reason of seductive influences exercised by him.
The state charges, and there is evidence tending to show, that the young woman was of previous chaste character, that defendant sought her company, professed to love her, promised to marry her and protect her, and that, induced thereby, she yielded to his solicitations for intercourse. On the other hand, if the defendant's story be true, the complainant was a shameless harlot, and sought the intercourse for the gratification of her unbridled sexual passion, being herself the aggressor, and practically forcing herself into his reluctant embraces. The argument of his counsel is largely based upon the assumption of the truth of his testimony, and, if it could fairly be said to be admitted or undisputed, the judgment of conviction could not be permitted to stand.
[1][2][3][4] The complainant comes into court clothed with the presumption of previous chaste character, and, except as the same is challenged by the appellant himself, that character is in no manner impeached. She testifies, and is corroborated to the effect, that defendant sought her company, paid her attention, and cultivated her society and favor, after the manner of lovers. In the nature of things, corroboration of this kind can be shown circumstantially only. Protestations of love and affection are more often than...
To continue reading
Request your trial