State v. Keller

• Decision Date: 28 March 1950
• Parties: STATE v. KELLER. STATE v. GLASER.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

77 N.D. 165
42 N.W.2d 319

STATE
v.
KELLER.
STATE
v.
GLASER.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Cr. 219.
March 28, 1950.

Gabriel Keller, and Robert Glaser, were convicted in the District Court, Wells County, George Thom, Jr., J., upon separate informations charging defendants with the crime of rape in the first degree, and defendants appealed. Cases were consolidated for trial. The Supreme Court, Burke, J., held that the evidence was sufficient to sustain convictions.

Affirmed.

Syllabus by the Court.

Questions of the weight of evidence and the credibility of witnesses are for the jury, and a verdict rendered upon substantial, though contradicted, evidence will not be disturbed upon appeal.

Sinness & Duffy, Devils Lake, for appellants.

Wallace E. Warner, Attorney General John J. Tebelius, State's Atty., Harvey, for respondent.

BURKE, Judge.

Separate informations charging the defendants, Keller and Glaser, with the crime of rape in the first degree were filed in the District Court of Wells County. Since the charges against both defendants concerned a single transaction, the cases were consolidated for trial. Verdicts of guilty were returned against both defendants and judgment of conviction was entered against them. Their subsequent motion for a new trial was denied by the trial court and they have appealed both from the judgment and from the other denying a new trial. The only question raised upon the motion for a new trial and upon this appeal is that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury.

At the time of the trial the prosecuting witness was a young woman, aged 19 years. She had been raised on a farm and had at times been employed as a waitress in Harvey and Minot. Upon the night of the occurrence of the events which led to the filing of the charges against these defendants, she had gone with friends to the Harvey Cafe for a midnight lunch. According to her version of the facts she became impatient at a delay in obtaining service and decided to leave for home. On her way out of the cafe she stopped at a booth in which the defendant, Robert Glaser, was sitting with some other young people with whom she was acquainted. One of them asked her to tell Gab Keller, if she saw him outside, to wait for them because they wanted to ride home with him. On leaving the cafe, she went first to the car of the young man, with whom she had come to the cafe, to get her purse. She then met a young man named Knutson who offered to take her home. She accepted his offer...