State v. Haner
| Decision Date | 10 July 1919 |
| Docket Number | 32659 |
| Citation | 173 N.W. 225,186 Iowa 1259 |
| Parties | STATE OF IOWA, Appellee, v. JEFF HANER, Appellant |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from Harrison District Court.--THOMAS ARTHUR, Judge.
THE indictment accused defendant of the crime of having carnal knowledge of an imbecile, who is described in the charge as a "female naturally of such imbecility of mind as to prevent effectual resistance." There was a plea of not guilty. Upon trial to a jury, defendant was convicted, and appeals.--Reversed.
Reversed and remanded.
Burke & Welch, and Frank Tamisiea, for appellant.
H. M Havner, Attorney General, and F. C. Davidson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction is challenged on several grounds; but, without attempting to set out the testimony, generally we find that, with a single exception, the facts constituting all the essential elements of the crime charged find ample support in the record.
The exception referred to which requires serious attention is the proof relied upon by the State to support the allegation that the young woman, Mabel Palmer, is an imbecile, within the meaning of the statute. The provision of the statute under which the indictment was returned is as follows:
"If any person * * * have such carnal knowledge of an idiot or female naturally of such imbecility of mind or weakness of body as to prevent effectual resistance, he shall be punished * * *." Code Section 4758.
The term "imbecility of mind" is one hardly capable of exact or comprehensive definition. It is generally applied to a lack of normal mentality not so complete or absolute as exists in the condition we call idiocy, but greater and more marked than in cases to which, in ordinary parlance, we apply the milder term "feeble-mindedness." Though this distinction or gradation may not have recognition in the terminology of science, it does exist in popular usage, and has had judicial approval. In Francke v. His Wife, 29 La.Ann. 302, dealing with this subject, the court says:
"'The term idiot is applied to those who, from original defect have never had mental power.'" It is " "
In the same case it is further said that "imbecility is idiocy in a minor degree." The Illinois court speaks of an imbecile as being one "destitute of strength either of body or mind; weak, feeble, * * * decrepit." Campbell v. Campbell, 130 Ill. 466, 22 N.E. 620.
In Delafield v. Parish, 1 Redf. 1, 115, it is said that imbecility "is that feebleness of mind which, without depriving entirely the person of the use of his reason, leaves only the faculty of conceiving ideas the most common, and which relate almost always to his physical wants and habits."
But, in construing our statute, we are not disposed to go to the full extent suggested by some of these authorities, and may concede that the protection of the law is not restricted to cases of complete or absolute imbecility, but includes, as well, those who, while having some degree of intellectual power and some capacity for instruction and improvement, are still so far below the normal in mental strength that they can offer no effectual resistance to the approach of those who take advantage of their weakness to have or attempt sexual intercourse with them. This would, of course, include those who, by reason of mental inferiority, are incapable of knowing or realizing the moral quality of their act, and are, therefore, also incapable of giving rational consent.
On the other hand, it manifestly does not include those who are endowed with mental capacity to know the right and wrong of their conduct in sexual matters, but yield to intercourse under the influence of temptation or passion or inclination to vice. In other words, it is lack of mental capacity, and not lack of moral quality and strength, which calls the statute into action. For the purposes of the law, a normal mind is one which, in strength and capacity, ranks reasonably well with the average of the great body of men and women who make up organized human society in general, and are, by common consent, recognized as sane and competent to perform the ordinary duties and assume the ordinary responsibilities of life. In this great body of individuals there are to be found, of course, many grades and degrees of mental capacity and an infinite variety of mental qualities, and a person is not to be classed as imbecile or subnormal, simply because he or she is found to be, in some small degree, below the ideal standard, nor is it for such that the legislature undertakes to provide special protection. Such protection is provided for those individuals who fall so far below the average in mental strength that the statutes which are found reasonably sufficient for the community in general do not afford them an adequate shield against outrage.
We have read with care the record in this case, and are strongly impressed with the view that the young woman against whom the alleged offense was committed is not a person of imbecile mind, within the meaning of the statute, and that, because of this defect in the proof, the verdict of guilty cannot be sustained. We cannot attempt to set out the testimony as a whole, but will outline in brief so much as is required to indicate the reasons for our conclusion.
The young woman, Mabel Palmer, is 31 years of age, and, as a witness on the trial, she testifies with unusual clearness as to the principal facts. As to the following, there is little, if any, dispute, except as it is put in issue by the defendant's plea of not guilty.
Mabel's home was in Logan, Iowa. She first met the defendant on July 4, 1916, at a celebration, where they were introduced by her niece. During the interim between that date and the following November, they met several times. On two or more occasions, he called at her home, and once, at least, they went nutting together. During all this period, she says, defendant treated her respectfully, and made no improper approaches. In November, Mabel and her mother had put up a quantity of fruit, which they desired to send to a niece, Mrs. Meyers, living some distance away; and Mabel, with the knowledge and apparent consent of her mother, asked defendant, who had a team and wagon, to take the fruit to the Meyers home. This he consented to do; and, when he drove to the house for that purpose, Mabel says she asked or volunteered to go along. This, she says, was for the purpose of visiting her niece. No objection is shown to have been made by the mother. Defendant and Mabel did not complete the trip that night, but stopped at the home of one Brooks, where they remained until the following day, and then proceeded to the Meyers place. On the same day, or the next day, they started on their return to Logan. That night, they camped by the roadside, and there, she says, an act of intercourse took place from which she became pregnant, and in due time gave birth to a child. The defendant did not testify. As we have already said, the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the fact of intercourse is, in our judgment, not open to question.
In support of the theory of Mabel's imbecility of mind, the State relies solely upon the story which she herself tells, aided, to some extent, by that of her mother and the testimony of one physician.
Turning now to Mabel's own statement, it must be said that it is clear, consistent, coherent, and convincing, and is not in the least suggestive of mental incapacity. It is, perhaps, to be said that she does not show that degree of compunction or shame which might be expected in some girls or women under the circumstances; but, on the other hand, there is nothing in her words or conduct to suggest that she is a wanton, or is in any sense hardened in vice. It is easy to read between the lines of her story that, during the period between their first meeting and the act of intercourse which she admits, she had acquired a feeling of affection for the defendant, and believed that he would marry her, and still believes he would have done so, but for the interference of others; and if, swayed by that affection and influenced by that belief; she has come to feel that her sin was not altogether unpardonable, and ought to find some degree of palliation in the minds of others, her thought is by no means unparalleled in the hearts of many unfortunate girls as to whose normal mentality no question has been raised.
Until 17 years of age, she attended a country school, where she says she went as far in her books as the course of studies in such schools permitted. Thereafter, she took a correspondence school course in bookkeeping, and received a certificate of graduation. Letters written by her to the defendant are in evidence. Barring a grammatical slip or two, they are well written, well composed, and are in all respects fully up to what one could reasonably expect in letters from a young woman of ordinary good sense and ordinary common school education, addressed to a man with whom she was in love. They contain...
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State v. Callender
...rule for feeble minded persons was either the lack of mental capacity to know the right or wrong of the sexual conduct, State v. Haner, 186 Iowa 1259, 173 N.W. 225 (1919), or so defective as to lack power to give or withhold consent, Lee v. State, 43 Tex. Crim. Rep. 285, 64 S.W. 1047 (1901)......
- State v. Haner