People v. Draper

169 A.D. 479, 33 N.Y. Crim. 474, 154 N.Y.S. 1034, 1915 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9113
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided September 15, 1915·Published·Cited by 24 cases

Opinion

Woodward, J.:

The indictment accuses “Clifton C. Draper of the crime of inducing and procuring a girl for the purpose of prostitution, committed as follows: The said Clifton C. Draper, on March 23, 1914, at the town of Colónie, in this county, did feloniously induce and procure Frances Decker for the purposes of prostitution, and did advise her to have unlawful sexual intercourse for money with men and did feloniously induce and procure her to have unlawful sexual intercourse for money with a man, ■ whose name is to .this grand jury unknown, and whom he . brought to her for that purpose.”

The evidence in support of this indictment is furnished by two girls, both of whom had been previously sentenced and served terms in the House of Good Shepherd in Albany for offenses against decency, and who describe themselves as “way[481]*481ward girls.” They lived in Kingston, and on the 18th day of March, 1914, on their own motion, so far as appears, they came to Albany and took a room at the Navarre, a hotel located on Broadway. On Sunday evening, March twenty-second, taking then.' evidence for it, they were at the railroad station between ten and eleven o’clock, and were accosted by the defendant and a male companion, and after some conversation the four walked down Broadway to the foot of State street, where they took a car and went out to a roadhouse known as Hennessy’s. They danced and drank, and finally the defendant registered himself and Frances Decker as husband and wife, and the two went upstairs together and occupied a room and cohabited during the night, while the other couple did likewise. Monday the parties all returned to Albany, but the defendant is said to have told the girls that they would go back to Hennessy’s that night, and that he would supply a male companion in the place of the one who had gone out with them on Sunday evening, and who had left them early Monday morning. It is claimed that on this occasion the defendant told the girls that they must ask money from the men; that they demurred to such suggestion, when he said to them: “Don’t be a G- — d d—n fool; * * * ask for a dollar off of each fellow you get that way.” There is no suggestion that the defendant asked for or received any money from these girls, or that he expected to derive any revenue from them, the learned district attorney merely suggesting that his compensation was to come by way of a gratification of his own lusts, which is clearly not a legal consideration. On Monday afternoon, the day of the alleged crime, so the story of these wayward girls goes, they stood on a street corner, at defendant’s suggestion, while the latter went out and found another fellow for them. It appears that the defendant found his man, and that the party of four went to a Chinese restaurant, where they had lunch, and then took a trolley car for Hennessy’s. There they repeated the exercises of the previous evening, except that on this second occasion the defendant registered himself and Anna Lufkin as husband and wife, leaving Frances Decker to the unknown man, and the two [482]*482latter occupied a room adjoining that occupied by the defendant and the Lufkin girl. This night appears to be the one designated in the indictment, though the testimony includes the following day, when it is claimed that the party returned to Albany and the defendant procured a third man to make up the quartette. . The party had dinner at Keeler’s and went out to Hennessy’s, where it was intended that the defendant was to occupy the room with the Lufkin girl, leaving the Decker girl for the new man, but it appears that a quarrel arose, the new man deserted the party, and the defendant occupied the bed with both of these girls, and at breakfast time had a fit, and subsequently the girls got away and went to Troy, where they were soon afterward arrested and confined in an institution, and from whence they came to this prosecution. It is claimed that from time to time the defendant renewed his suggestion that these girls should take money from the men, and it is claimed that the Decker girl, the complaining witness, received one dollar from her companion of Monday night.

This, briefly, is the story told by these girls. They are vague and uncertain in the details, contradictory of each other, and altogether the case, upon the evidence, is most unsatisfactory. The statute provides (Penal Law, § 2460, subd. 9) that no conviction shall be had under this section upon the testimony of the female unless supported by other evidence,” and, while there is a colorable support in the evidence in this case of some of the matters alleged against the defendant, it is so utterly lacking in character that it ought not to stand as the basis of the judgment unless the supporting evidence goes to the material portions of some crime clearly defined by the statute. We come, therefore, to the consideration. of the statute, that we may determine what crime is charged, what are the elements of the crime if it is defined in the statute, and that it was necessary to have supported by the evidence. It is difficult to pursue with patience the conduct of the defendant and his companions, but the defendant is standing under a sentence of not less than four years, and not more than six years and.six months, with a fine of $500, and he is entitled here to the protection of the law.

Section 2460 of the Penal Law is derived from chapter 413 [483]*483of the Laws of 1906, entitled “An act to amend the Penal Code relative to crimes against the person and against public decency and good morals and designed to prevent compulsory prostitution of women, and the importation of women from foreign countries, et cetera, for immoral purposes and to provide penalties therefor.” While it is true that the title of an act is no part of the law, yet it may be legitimately resorted to as an aid in determining legislative intent when that intent is otherwise somewhat ambiguous (People ex rel. Commonwealth Ins. Co. v. Coleman, 121 N. Y. 542, 544, and authority there cited), and certainly no one will contend that subdivision 3 of section 2460 of the Penal Law is free from such ambiguity.

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People v. Draper, 169 A.D. 479, 33 N.Y. Crim. 474, 154 N.Y.S. 1034, 1915 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9113 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1915).

169 A.D. 479 (People v. Draper) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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