People v. Kenyon

167 N.W. 997, 201 Mich. 647, 1918 Mich. LEXIS 780
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJune 3, 1918
DocketDocket No. 127
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 167 N.W. 997 (People v. Kenyon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Kenyon, 167 N.W. 997, 201 Mich. 647, 1918 Mich. LEXIS 780 (Mich. 1918).

Opinion

Kuhn, J.

The information in this case charges that the respondent,—

“heretofore, to wit: on the 1st day of July, A. D. 1915, and on divers other days between that day and the 8th day of December, 1916, at the city of Battle Creek in the county of Calhoun aforesaid, did then and there practice medicine and surgery and did advertise and hold himself out to the public as being able to heal, cure and alleviate human ailments and diseases, he the said Levi Kenyon not being then and there the lawful possessor of a certificate of registration or license issued under and pursuant to Act No. 237 of the Public Acts of 1899 as amended, and he the said Levi Kenyon not having then and there complied with the provisions of Act No. 368 of the Public Acts of 1913.”

At the outset of the’ trial respondent’s attorney made a motion to quash the information on the ground that it failed to allege that respondent was not within any of the exceptions to the operation of the act, and further that it was bad for duplicity in that it stated more than one offense. This motion was denied by the court, but the prosecutor was compelled to elect which [649]*649of the two charges stated in the information he would proceed upon. At the conclusion of his case he elected the charge of practicing medicine without a license. The prosecution showed that Mr. Kenyon was not registered in Eaton, Calhoun or Barry counties as a physician, and also introduced the testimony of a number of witnesses to the effect that he had not merely furnished medicine, but had given treatments to a number of people in Battle Creek and elsewhere, the treatments consisting principally in rubbing on some sort or salve or oil, and occasionally giving a powder to take internally. Before giving a treatment he would “go into a trance,” as the witnesses expressed it, claiming to be under the guidance and control of an Indian spirit, who would talk to him and tell him whether or not he could cure the patient and also what to do to effect the cure. In a number of instances it was shown that he stated positively that he could cure the patients. These witnesses stated that they had gone to him for medicine or treatment because they had heard him spoken of highly by others whom he had treated; that they had seen no advertisement nor anything with the title “doctor” used in connection with his name, though they were in the habit of calling him Dr. Kenyon. During the cross-examination of Mr. Kenyon, he identified a number of letters written by his wife for him during the years 1913 and 1914 to a Miss Carrie Holmes, which were signed “Dr. Levi Kenyon,” the envelopes of which bore the return card, “Dr. Levi Kenyon, Bellevue, Mich.,” which letters were received in evidence, as was also a printed card which he identified, reading as follows:

“Clairvoyant Doctor. I diagnose Cases Anywhere in the United States free of Charge.
“Dr. Levi Kenyon,
“Bell Phone 50 3-4 “Bellevue, Michigan.
“R. F. D. No. 4.”

[650]*650The respondent endeavored to show that during the period set forth in the information he did not practice medicine and did not hold himself out at all to cure or alleviate human ailments, but simply sold herbs, roots, and ointments prepared by himself, which might, if used, be of benefit to afflicted human beings. That during the period in question he did not advertise nor hold himself out to cure diseases, nor in any way violate the section of the act in question. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the case is before us on exceptions before sentence.

The questions raised by the assignments of error which are particularly argued in the brief of counsel and urged upon our attention, are thus stated:

1st. The permitting of information to stand without the exceptions of the statute being mentioned therein.

2d. The refusal of the court to charge as to the burden of proof.

3d. The admission of the letters and the card that were dated a long time prior to the time that was mentioned in the information.

4th. Allowing the witness Andrus to testify, his name not having been indorsed on the information, and no showing made as to why, and his. testimony being clearly a part of the main case.

1. The enacting clause of the act in question (2 Comp. Laws 1915, § 6724 et seq.), which makes the commission of the charge here preferred a misdemeanor, is section 7 of the act. The exceptions which respondent’s counsel urges should have been incorporated in the information charging the offense, are not contained in the enacting clause, but are found in a subsequent section, viz., section 8. The argument is made that sections 7 and 8 are so closely allied that it is only fair to respondent that the exceptions should have been enumerated in the information, so that the accused might have been fully informed as to the na[651]*651ture and cause of the accusation against him. The rule, however, in this State is well established that in declaring on a statute where there is an exception in the enacting clause, the pleader must negative the exception, but where there is no exception in the enacting clause, but an exemption in the proviso to the enacting clause or in a. subsequent section of the act, it is a matter of defense and must be shown by the defendant. In support of this rule, attention is called to the following cases: Myers v. Carr, 12 Mich. 63; People v. Phippin, 70 Mich. 6; People v. Pendleton, 79 Mich. 317; People v. Curtis, 95 Mich. 212; People v. Allen, 122 Mich. 123; People v. Shuler, 136 Mich. 161.

2. Fault is found because the trial judge did not give the following request to charge:

“I charge you that the burden of establishing these things, as above set forth, is upon the people, who are represented by the prosecuting attorney, and that during the whole trial that burden never shifts, but is always upon the prosecuting attorney. In other words, the defendant here is not called upon at any time during the trial to prove that he is innocent of this charge, for, as a matter of law, the defendant, Levi Kenyon, comes into this court and stands before you, gentlemen of the jury, as innocent of this charge and his being arrested and brought into court is not to be in any way used by you as an inference of guilt.”

The court did charge, with reference to the presumption of innocence, as follows:

“The defendant in this case is presumed to be innocent of the charge brought against him here, and that presumption of innocence abides with him throughout the entire trial of the case until he is proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the testimony given to be guilty of the charge brought against him. The mere fact that he is here on trial, that he has been arrested and brought into court by the ordinary criminal process should not be considered by you as in any way to [652]*652raise the presumption that he is guilty.

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Related

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172 N.W.2d 892 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1969)
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209 N.W. 935 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1926)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 N.W. 997, 201 Mich. 647, 1918 Mich. LEXIS 780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-kenyon-mich-1918.