State v. Wilson

CourtSupreme Court of South Dakota
Citation167 N.W. 396,40 S.D. 421
PartiesSTATE v. WILSON.
Decision Date01 May 1918

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from Circuit Court, Perkins County; Raymond L. Dillman, Judge.

William Wilson was convicted of statutory rape, and he appeals. Affirmed.Pat Morrison, of Mobridge, and Julius Skaug, of Ipswich, for appellant.

C. C. Caldwell, Atty. Gen., and C. G. Carrell and P. J. Tscharner, both of Lemmon, for the State.

McCOY, J.

Appellant was convicted of the crime of statutory rape, and brings the cause before this court on appeal. The sufficiency of the evidence is not questioned. The only questions presented relate to certain rulings and instructions of the trial court.

[1] By demurrer and motion in arrest of judgment appellant questions the sufficiency of the information. The offense is alleged to have been committed “on between the 1st day of March, 1915, and the 1st day of July, 1915.” Appellant contends that this designation of time is so uncertain and indefinite that he could not adequately prepare his defense in advance of the trial. We are of the opinion that the demurrer and motion were properly overruled. State v. Otto, 38 S. D. 353, 161 N. W. 340;State v. Sysinger, 25 S. D. 110, 124 N. W. 879, Ann. Cas. 1912B, 997; Coce Crim. Pr. § 225.

[2] The prosecuting witness testified that appellant was the father of the child she then had present with her on the trial. On cross-examination she was asked if at a certain date, subsequent to the date of the intercourse on which the state relied for conviction, she had not had sexual intercourse with another person, other than appellant, and that the child was the result of such other intercourse. The court sustained an objection to such question, and which ruling is now urged as error. We are of the opinion that the objection was properly sustained. Appellant made no offer to prove the fact of such other intercourse by any other witness. We are of the view that in this character of case whether or not she had intercourse with some other person, either before or after the intercourse on which the state relies for conviction, was an immaterial issue. State v. Plunkett, 72 Ark. 409, 82 S. W. 845;State v. Stimpson, 78 Vt. 124, 62 Atl. 14, 1 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1153, 6 Ann. Cas. 639.

The appellant requested certain instructions and now urges error in the refusal thereof. We are of the opinion that the court, by the instructions given, fully covered all the propositions included in such requested instructions. No...

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5 cases
  • State v. Swallow, 14378
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of South Dakota
    • April 19, 1984
    ...element of the offense, the information need not state a precise time at which the offense was committed. SDCL 23A-6-9; State v. Wilson, 40 S.D. 421, 167 N.W. 396 (1918); State v. Sysinger, 25 S.D. 110, 125 N.W. 879 (1910). Here appellant has failed to show that time is a material element o......
  • State v. Murray, 5765.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of South Dakota
    • February 16, 1926
    ...the period of gestation.” They argue that under the circumstances of this case the rule announced by this court in State v. Wilson, 167 N. W. 396, 40 S. D. 422, does not apply. They contend that in the instant case the [207 N.W. 455]birth of a child is relied upon by the state, not only to ......
  • State v. Murray, 5765
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of South Dakota
    • February 16, 1926
    ...the period of gestation." They argue that under the circumstances of this case the rule announced by this court in State v. Wilson, 167 N.W. 396, does not apply. They contend that in the instant case the birth of a child is relied upon by the state, not only to prove the corpus delicti, but......
  • Duus v. Wynea (In re Wynea's Estate), 4264.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of South Dakota
    • May 1, 1918
    ...she intended a devise by the fifth paragraph of her will; but it clearly appearing that she had in mind and did use apt and appropriate [167 N.W. 396]words in creating devises and bequests in the previous paragraphs of this will, it cannot reasonably be held that she had any intention of cr......
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