Johnson v. United States

260 F. 783, 171 C.C.A. 509, 4 Alaska Fed. 833, 1919 U.S. App. LEXIS 2116
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 14, 1919
DocketNo. 3327
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 260 F. 783 (Johnson v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. United States, 260 F. 783, 171 C.C.A. 509, 4 Alaska Fed. 833, 1919 U.S. App. LEXIS 2116 (9th Cir. 1919).

Opinion

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

The offense of which the plaintiff in error was convicted, and for which he was sentenced in the court below to imprisonment for ten months in jail and to pay the cost of prosecution, taxed at $417.67, was that' of willfully permitting his wife to practice prostitution — the statute under which the prosecution was had reading as follows: “That any male person who may be found loitering around houses of ill fame, or who solicits, incites, induces, encourages, persuades, or prevails upon any other male person to patronize any house of ill fame or any woman commonly reputed to be a prostitute; or who shall be an inmate of any house of ill fame, or who is commonly known to consort with any prostitute, or who willfully permits a woman to whom he is married to practice prostitution, or who lives upon or receives the earnings of any prostitute, shall be deemed a pimp or macque, and upon conviction shall be imprisoned in a federal jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year.” Session Laws of Alaska 1913, pp. 120, 121.

The points made in behalf' of the plaintiff in error relate to instructions given and refused, to the inclusion of the costs of the prosecution in the judgment, and to the alleged insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict of guilty returned by the jury.

As to the last-mentioned point, we think the evidence amply sufficient. It is enough to quote a little from the testimony of the witnesses Mossman, Cavanaugh, and Sturgis, who were deputy marshals at Anchorage, the place of the offense. Mossman testified:

“It came to my knowledge that the relationship of husband and wife existed between this defendant and this woman on the line. I called him into the office — sent out for him — on the 20th of November, 1917, and asked him a number of introductory questions, as to where he had been, arid where he came from, and how long he had been here, etc., and finally asked him if he was a married man, and he told me he was. I then asked him where his wife was; and he said, ‘She is on the line;’ and I said, ‘By what name does she go on the line?’ and he said ‘Violet.’ I said, ‘Have you ever made any effort to get her off the line?’ and he said, T told her that I thought we could get [835]*835along without her working on the line;’ and I said, ‘You never made any real effort to get her off the line?’ and he replied, ‘No;’ and I asked him as to their marriage license, where it was, and he told me it was either at home in his trunk or else she had it.

“Q. Where did you locate it? A. I sent Mr. Cavanaugh out with this defendant. They went to Mr. Johnson’s room, and didn’t find it in his trunk, and they then went to the house where the woman was on the row, and Mr. Cavanaugh returned with the license.”

The witness further testified that at the time in question the defendant was engaged in running a taxicab for hire; his principal business being taking passengers from the town to the district where his wife was engaged in the practice of prostitution.

Cavanaugh having testified that he was present in the marshal’s office when Mossman had the conversation with the defendant prior to his arrest, was questioned, and answered, among other things, as follows: “Q. What was the gist of that conversation? A. Mr. Mossman asked him if he was married, and he said he was, and he asked him if his wife was down on the line working, and he said, ‘Yes,’ and asked him if he had done anything to take her off the line. I can’t recall just exactly what he said, but I believe he said he told her to get off, or something to that effect, and she didn’t do it. Q. Had he ever made any complaints to the marshal’s office to get his wife off of this line? A. No, sir. Q. You may state whether or not you secured this marriage license? A. Yes. Q. Where did you get it ? A. Why, she gave it to me. Q. Who told you where to get it? A. We asked him where the license was, and he said, if he didn’t have it, why his wife had it; so I went to his room with him, and he went through his trunk and couldn’t find it, and then he took me down to her house and she gave it to me. Q. Did it appear from his conversation at that time and the conversation you had with his wife that he and Mrs. Johnson were perfectly friendly? A. I never had any conversation with her; but the appearance was friendly when I went down to get the license, which she gave me. It was the first time I was ever in there, and I told her I wanted the license, and she [836]*836wanted to know if she could have it back again, and I told her ‘Yes.’ ”

And Sturgis testified that his particular duty was police work in “the restricted district,” having charge thereof; that he knew the wife of the defendant, who went by the name of Violet Johnson, and who was one of the prostitutes in the district; and that he had seen the defendant, whose business was that of driving a taxicab, go into the house belonging to Violet Johnson.

Mossman having testified' to certain admissions made to him by the defendant, and the latter having acknowledged in his testimony that he told Mossman that he had never said anything to the officers of the law about getting his wife to change her mode of life, the defendant requested the court to instruct the jury that “too great weight ought not to be attached to evidence of what a party has been supposed to have said,” because of possible misunderstanding or unintentional changing of the language, and thereby altering its effect. The court refused the requested instruction, but subsequently recalled the jury and gave this instruction: “In view of the evidence in this case, you are instructed that the oral admissions of a party, in this case of the defendant Johnson, ought to be viewed by you with caution. This is a rule laid down in our statute, and given in proper cases, and I believe this to be a proper case, inasmuch as there were''such admissions testified to. You will recall that one of the witnesses, I think Mr. Mossman, testified that the defendant Johnson had made certain admissions to him, oral statements, and I say to you again that this rule provides that you should view such admissions with caution. The reason of that is, if one makes admissions, another testifying to them may have misunderstood what the man said, or not get them exactly right, and things of that kind. That is the reason why you should look upon them with caution — that is the extent of the rule in that respect. You may retire.”

It is needless to cite authorities to show that the error complained of was thus cured by the court.

Complaint is also made that the court below refused to give this instruction: “The court instructs the jury that the accusation against the defendant in this case [837]*837is that the defendant on the 20th day of November, 1917, at Anchorage, Alaska, did willfully permit one Della Johnson to practice prostitution, the said Della Johnson being then and there married to said defendant; said accusation being brought under chapter 57 of the Session Laws of Alaska of 1913, p.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc.
384 F. Supp. 3d 1058 (N.D. California, 2019)
Central Manufacturing Co. v. B-M-K Corp.
160 F. Supp. 318 (D. Delaware, 1958)
United States v. Burroughs
65 F.2d 796 (D.C. Circuit, 1933)
United States v. Hoxie
8 Alaska 210 (D. Alaska, 1930)
Oehring v. Fox Typewriter Co.
266 F. 682 (Second Circuit, 1920)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
260 F. 783, 171 C.C.A. 509, 4 Alaska Fed. 833, 1919 U.S. App. LEXIS 2116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-united-states-ca9-1919.