State v. Letz

Citation242 S.W. 681,294 Mo. 333
Decision Date08 June 1922
Docket NumberNo. 23393.,23393.
PartiesSTATE v. LETZ.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Appeal from Circuit Court, Wright County; C. H. Skinker, Judge.

William Letz was convicted of carnal knowledge with an unmarried female of previous chaste character, between the ages of 15 and 18 years, and he appeals. Affirmed.

S. B. Warren, of Mountain Grove, and Lamar & Lamar, of Houston, for appellant.

Jesse W. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and Henry Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

HIGBEE, P. J.

The defendant was charged on information with having had carnal knowledge of Ethel Reeves, an unmarried female of previous chaste character, between the ages of 15 and 18 years, in Wright county, on June 20, 1920; he then being a person over the age of 17 years. The jury found him guilty as charged, the court assessed his punishment at 3 years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, and the defendant appealed.

The evidence shows that Ethel Reeves was an unmarried female, 18 years of age on August 16, 1920, and of previous chaste character; that appellant, who was 28 years of age, visited at her father's residence in Mountain Grove on an average of two or three times a week, from about May 1 until August 3, 1920; that no other men kept company with or visited her, nor was she away from Wright county during that period; that her monthly periods ceased, and she became pregnant, in the month of July, 1920; that on August 3, 1920, appellant left Mountain' Grove and went to Montana; that at first he corresponded directly with Miss Reeves; that Miss Riley, a neighbor girl who had been from home for several months, returned on August 23, and Miss Reeves obtained permission to have her mail addressed to Miss Riley, explaining that her correspondent would write his initials, "B. L.," on the envelopes; that on November 24, 1920, Miss Riley received a sealed envelope, postmarked Montana, and with plaintiff's initials thereon; that Miss Reeves came to Miss Riley's home and received the envelope. Miss Riley testified: "I did not see her take anything out of it, but, when I looked up, she had a large slip in her hand." She saw this was a draft for $150, payable to Ethel Reeves.

The following day, which was Thanksgiving Day, November 25, the two young ladies went to Springfield, where Miss Reeves went to a bank and got the draft cashed, after which they went to Dr. Harmon's office. Miss Reeves told Miss Riley she intended to have her side treated. From the doctor's office, Miss Reeves went to Mrs. Burns' and secured a room. Miss Riley called on Miss Reeves the next day, Saturday, and also on Sunday, and on each day found her in bed. Monday morning Miss Reeves died. Miss Riley saw her body at the undertaker's that afternoon. Dr. Stone, a specialist, testified that he performed an autopsy on the body of Miss Reeves on the same afternoon, November 29, and found that she had been pregnant. The fœtus was in a mangled condition, and had passed from the uterus through a hole into the abdominal cavity. He removed the fœtus, and from measurements estimated that its age was 4½ lunar months, or 120 days. The exact date of conception cannot be given. Ten days leeway, or at most two weeks either way, should be allowed; so, assuming that the fœtus died November 26th, he gave it as his opinion that conception took place about the middle of July. He did not weigh the fœtus, on account of its torn condition and his inability to dad all the parts. If the fœtus were only 4 months old, the date of conception would have been as late as August 8th, 5 days after defendant left Mountain Grove.

Mrs. Reeves, Ethel's mother, testified that Ethel's monthly periods stopped in July. She thought Ethel had taken cold. Ralph Reeves, Ethel's father, saw her at Springfield after she was dead. On the day of the funeral he found a piece of paper, wadded up in the pocket of Ethers coat. This was a blank deposit slip of the First National Bank, Hobson, Mont. On this was written in the defendant's handwriting the following note:

"Here you are; will send more, if necessary. Better cash at Springfield, Mo.; the bankers will not get next in Mt. Grove. I had a hard time getting the money. I am sorry; so you had better go right there and see what you can do. Don't take too great a risk though. L___ to you."

This note, and the envelope with the initials "B. L." above referred to, were shown to be in the handwriting of the defendant. Mr. Reeves also testified that Ethel was not complaining of her side when she went to Springfield; that two or three years before that time she got her side hurt, but he had not heard her complain of it recently. Her body was shipped from Springfield, on the evening of November 20th, and the undertaker put Ethel's coat in the coffin box. On cross-examination:

"Your daughter was sick two or three days in bed in Springfield, and you don't know who handled her clothing during that time? A. No, sir."

Mrs. Reeves, on cross-examination, testified that, on the day her daughter went to Springfield, she received a card with her daughter's and the defendant's names on it. In that card it was stated that he (the defendant) was coming back.

The defendant was arrested at Kansas City on his way home. Mrs. Grace Brown, a counsin of Ethel Reeves, was present at the defendant's preliminary hearing. He there told her that, if he had been guilty, he: could have made his get-away at most any point of his journey to Montana, but he did not; he sent letters and cards to Ethel all along the way. She testified:

"I asked him if he sent that check to Ethel for an operation on her side; he didn't deny that he sent it to her. To the best of my remembrance, he said that he sent it for an operation on her side."

She had had a bad side for eight or ten years.

The defendant offered to prove by Dr. Daley that, about two weeks before Ethel Reeves went to Springfield, she called on him professionally and informed him that she was pregnant; that she was about three months advanced in pregancy and that a prominent man then living in Mountain Grove was responsible for her condition; that her mother did not know of her condition; and that he did nothing to relieve her condition. This was excluded as hearsay on objection by the state.

Dr. Daley testified that, in case of an abortion after three months pregnancy, it is improbable that a physician can tell nearer than 15 or 20 days of the age of the fœtus; that the size varies with different women, and no one can tell to a certainty to a day; that it might vary 10 or 15 days one way or the other and that 14 days is usually allowed. By careful examination, the date of conception can be told within 10 or 15 days.

It was shown that defendant was 28 years of age; that he was reared in the neighborhood of Mountain Grove; and that his general reputation for morality was good.

1. It is earnestly insisted that the court erred in permitting the prosecution to Introduce the harrowing details concerning the criminal operation in Springfield, which resulted in the death of Ethel Reeves. We do not see how the court could properly have excluded any of Dr. Stone's evidence, even if it tended to prove that another offense had been committed. It proved the fact of pregnancy and consequently that she had had sexual intercourse with some one. The age of the fœtus was a relevant fact to establish the date of conception. This was corroborated by the testimony of Mrs. Reeves, that Ethel's menstruation ceased in July. The testimony of Dr. Stone, with the other circumstances, was admissible as tending to prove that the defendant had sexual intercourse with Miss Reeves, as charged in the information. The evidence shows, without material conflict, that the defendant, and he alone, was a constant visitor at the Reeves home and kept the company of Miss Reeves from the 1st of May until August 3, when he left Mountain Grove for Montana; that he corresponded regularly with her from that time; at first directly, and then by sending his letters to Miss Riley. Being unable to procure an abortion at home, she evidently appealed to the defendant for money and was advised to go to Springfield. The nature of the correspondence explains why was carried on secretly. He sent her the draft for $150 and advised her to have it cashed at Springfield, so "the bankers will not get next at Mountain Grove." The evidence of the defendant's criminal agency in this double tragedy is too clear to admit of a reasonable doubt. The evidence complained of was admissible as tending to prove the offense charged in the information, even though it tended to prove the commission of another crime. State v. Hyde, 234 Mo. 200, 225, 136 S. W. 316, Ann. Gas. 1912D, 191; State v. Sherman, 264 Mo. 374, 383, 175 S. W. 73. The court properly cautioned the jury by instruction IV, infra, as to the purpose of the admission of the evidence tending to prove the abortion. If defendant desired any further cautionary instruction, he should have requested it.

2. What has been said disposes of appellant's complaint of error in overruling the demurrer to the evidence. The crumpled note found in Ethel's pocket leaves no room to doubt, if it is not a confession, of defendant's paternity of the unborn child. He knew her condition and was sorry. "Will send more if necessary." She was to go to Springfield and see what could be done, but not to take too much risk. "There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." In our view of the case, the evidence of defendant's guilt is clear and convincing. A verdict of...

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