Reil v. People
Reil v. People
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Statement of the Case:
May 4, 1914, the District Attorney filed an information in the County Court of Jefferson county, charging that Boy Beil on May 5, 1913, and thence continually to April 13, 1914, at that county and state, did willfully neglect, fail and refuse to provide reasonable support and maintenance for Boy Etta May Beil Giggey, his illegitimate child under 16 years of age, and did willfully fail,
That at the November term of the District Court of Jefferson county he was tried by a jury duly empaneled and sworn, upon an information charging that August 16, 1912, he feloniously had sexual intercourse with Lois Giggey, an unmarried female person under the age of 18 years; that the state offered evidence upon three separate acts of sexual intercourse, to-wit: One August 11,. 1912, another August 16, 1912, and another on some date between August 16, 1912, and August 29, 19.12; that she testified on the trial that these were the only offenses committed upon her by him; that evidence of the birth of Roy Etta May-'Reil Giggey was offered in corroboration of the commission of the charge, and the child was produced in court, pointed out to the jury on the trial, and they heard her cry; that Lois Giggey testified she was under the age of 18 years when all of the alleged transactions were committed; that at the conclusion of the People’s evidence defendant’s, counsel moved that the prosecution elect upon which one of the offenses the state would rely to secure a conviction, which was denied, and he was forced to defend and was in jeopardy as to all three; that at the conclusion of the evidence the People elected to ask for a conviction on the offense testified to-as having occurred August 16, and the jury returned a verdict of acquittal; that the matters set out and the evidence to support the information herein were admissible, and were admitted in evidence upon the former trial wherein he was acquitted, and the evidence of the People on the former trial was such that had the jury believed it, a verdict of guilty might properly have been returned; that the jury having passed upon that evidence at the
The People demurred to the plea for the reason that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a plea and answer to the information, which was sustained and defendant ordered to plead. May 22, 1914, he pleaded not guilty, and was placed on trial. May 28, 1914, the jury returned the following verdict:
“We, the jury, find the defendant Roy Reil guilty in manner and form as charged'in the information filed herein. ’ ’
After motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment were overruled, June 20, 1914, the defendant was sentenced by the court to not less than four nor more than six months in the penitentiary, and he brings the case here on error.
Opinion of the Cotirt:
1. One Lois Giggey, an unmarried female under the age of 18 years, gave birth to an illegitimate child of which she claimed defendant, Roy Reil, was the father. She thereafter caused his arrest and trial in the District Court of Jefferson county, upon a charge of sexual intercourse with her, an unmarried female person under the age of 18 years; which is a statutory offense punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary. Upon this trial she testified that she was under the age of 18 years when all the acts of sexual intercourse occurred; that there were but three such acts with defendant, one on August 11, one on August 16, and the other some time between August 16 and August 29, 1912. In corroboration of her
2. The two alleged crimes are so clearly allied and dependent upon the same evidence, that an acquittal in the former bars the subsequent prosecution. Proof of the charge of being the father of the child depended upon the identical facts charged in the former case, and acquittal upon the merits was a bar to this prosecution charging him with being the father of the child which it is alleged he neglected to support. The same ingredient is the basis of both charges. The crime of nonsupport is grounded upon the fact of its being his illegitimate child. To prove this, it would be necessary to prove on the trial at least one of the identical acts and facts of sexual intercourse of which he had at the previous trial been placed in jeopardy. The issue upon acquittal was upon the merits as to the main acts, and
But it is said that while the facts are the same, the crimes are not, therefore defendant has not been in jeopardy of the crime charged. True, they are not the same in name, but in character and identity of evidence they are closely associated. When accused was tried and acquitted upon the merits of the charge of having sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix, he was placed in jeopardy upon all acts of sexual intercourse concerning which evidence was given at that trial, and he could not subsequently be convicted upon a charge of not supporting the child claimed to have been begotten at such time. The jury could not carve out of the evidence that he was the father of the child without proof of some identical act of sexual intercourse upon which he .had been acquitted.
In 12 Cyc. 288, it is said:
“Doubtless an acquittal upon the charge of assault and battery would be a bar to a subsequent indictment for rape, where both charges are based on the same transaction. ’ ’
The point is made that the title of the Act: “To compel men to support their wives and children,” (Laws 1911, p. 257), refers to legitimate children, and is not broad enough to include a criminal prosecution under it for the non-support of an illegitimate child and its moth-
Reversed and remanded.
Decision en banc.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Reil v. The People
- Status
- Published