Majority
p. 1139PEOPLE v. MORMON. (Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department. April 28, 1911.)
Headnote
Appeal from Kings County Court. Harry Mormon was convicted of rape, and appeals.Reversed.
See, also, 127 N. Y. Supp. 1136 .
Frank A. Crowe, for appellant. Peter P. Smith, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the People.
The defendant has been convicted in the County Court of Kings county of the crime of rape in the second degree, and has been sentenced to the state prison at Sing Sing for an indeterminate period—the minimum 7 years and 5 months, and the maximum 10 years. He is a young man, 23 years of age, and the rape consisted of voluntary intercourse with a girl under the age of 18 years. The defendant’s guilt was clearly established by the
p. 1140
evidence of the complainant, but the corroborative proof required by.the statute is unsatisfactory. The appeal was submitted without argument, and we find on the brief of the respondent that the proof of corroboration consists in the fact that the girl and the defendant were found in bed together. There is no proof in the case that the girl and the defendant were found in bed together. There is evidence that the girl was found in the defendant’s bed, but no evidence that he was there, either in the bed or in the room, at the time. Without deciding that the evidence, as we find it, is not sufficient to meet the requirements of corroboration, yet, in view of the very severe punishment inflicted, we are inclined to think that the clear, precise, and strong proof suggested by the respondent’s brief, and evidently at the command of the prosecution, should have been presented; and we therefore direct that a new trial be had in the interests of justice. Judgment of conviction is reversed.