State v. Darling

419 P.2d 836, 197 Kan. 471, 1966 Kan. LEXIS 408
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedNovember 5, 1966
Docket44,336
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 419 P.2d 836 (State v. Darling) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Darling, 419 P.2d 836, 197 Kan. 471, 1966 Kan. LEXIS 408 (kan 1966).

Opinions

[472]*472The opinion of the court was delivered by

Schroeder, J.:

This is a criminal action in which the defendant was charged with employing an instrument with intent to procure an abortion or miscarriage of a pregnant woman on the 30th day of August, 1963, as denounced in K. S. A. 21-437. The case was tried to a jury and upon conviction, appeal has been duly perfected.

Specifications of error assigned on appeal all relate to the admissibility of evidence at the trial.

The state by its evidence sought to prove that the appellant wilfully and unlawfully used an electronic device upon a certain pregnant woman, hereafter referred to as Mrs. A, with the intent to procure an ábortion or miscarriage, the same not having been necessary to preserve the life of such woman.

The state’s evidence disclosed that by reason of an electronic device used upon Mrs. A by the appellant she did abort within two days following the use of such electronic device.

The appellant, who is a chiropractor, defended on the theory that his particular specialty was amenorrhea and gynecology; that all he did was perform an amenorrhea for delayed menstrual periods, which required that pregnancy first be ruled out; that to rule out pregnancy, he required a Friedman laboratory test which showed negative results. He testified in his defense that the results of the laboratory test upon the urine which Mrs. A submitted was reported to him as negative, by reason of which he put her “on the table and proceeded to use the amenorrhea treatment as in the Kovak’s Electric Therapy Rook. It is electric therapy, light therapy, it is a text book we use in physical therapy.” The appellant also testified the machine was “a low voltage generator that is called fine galvanic generator Teca machine.”

Mrs. A testified that on the 30th day of August, 1963, she was three months pregnant (this fact was confirmed by the testimony of a physician whom she had been consulting prior to this date) and went to the appellant to see if he would perform an abortion upon her. She testified:

“. . . I told him I was pregnant and I did not want to go through it. I made up my mind and I had heard from different sources he would perform this for me for a certain fee and I can’t tell exactly what he told me, but he made me understand he thought he knew what he was doing and I was satisfied as to what he was doing. Before I left I asked him his fee and he replied $120.00. . . .”

[473]*473The appellant told Mrs. A she would have to be tested to see whether or not she was pregnant before he would touch her. He told her she would have to have a urinal specimen and Mrs. A understood the appellant would not do anything about it unless she had a negative pregnancy test.

He directed her to take a urine specimen to a laboratory in Wichita at an address which the appellant gave to her. She complied and presented a urine specimen to a girl at the laboratory in Wichita and told her the purpose for which it was being submitted. The charge was $10.

She went back to the appellant’s office in El Dorado the same day, and the appellant informed Mrs. A that he had received the results of her test and was glad to see that she was not pregnant. She testified:

“. . . He informed me that the test showed I was not pregnant. I didn’t reply anything, maybe a grunt or something. The defendant did not say anything else. Then he says so we can proceed with this treatment. . . . After the conversation concerning the laboratory test, I disrobed and was then taken to this room where there was another machine. I completely disrobed but I was given a back open night gown. The defendant directed me to this room. I was alone when I disrobed and put the gown on. I was placed on this table with a weight. It seems like it was a weight and there was heat. He didn’t say what this treatment was for. I knew that this treatment was for the purpose of an abortion. I was placed beside a small machine and he said he would be gone for a little bit and he directed me where the heat and where the temperature could be turned down some and he would be back in a little bit. I did not at any time have to regulate the machine. I only felt sensation from the application of the machine once. I felt heat. I don’t know how long the defendant was out of the room, it could have been anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 or 35 minutes. During this treatment the defendant physically touched me. I think he opened the womb with a small instrument. It has come across my mind that he said T think we will get a little started.’
“This little arm on the machine was adjusted, it seemed like with weights, to come down over the uterus or right over part of the stomach. It was placed at that time right over the uterus. No other part of the machine or any attachments came directly in contact with my body . . .”

Over objections of the appellant the state placed an electronic device in evidence as Exhibit “1.” In identifying Exhibit “1” Mrs. A testified the machine was similar to the one used; that it resembled wood but she knew it was not wood but merely resembled wood. She said “I am as near positive as I can be that this was the machine.”

[474]*474Mrs.-A-testified that on the 1st day of September, 1963; as' she was lying 'on the couch the water broke, and “the fetus and so forth started, to pass.” She needed medical attention and was hospitalized for a period of two days and placed in charge of á physician whom she had not previously consulted concerning her pregnancy.

The appellant specifies as error the admission of the state’s Exhibit “1” into evidence. Counsel for the appellant concede that ordinarily instruments used to cause an abortion when found in the possession of a defendant may be introduced in evidence at the time of the trial; but they argue the machine, identified aS Exhibit “1,” according to the testimony of the physician Mrs. A first consulted regarding her pregnancy, was used in physical therapy departments in hospitals and doctors’ offices on inflammatory reactions around normal adult tissues, such as bursitis, low back pain Or lumbago. It is. therefore argued Exhibit “1” is not an instrument which is per se designed for abortions, and inasmuch as there was expert testimony that the machine in question was capable of producing abortions,, the state had the burden to show that this particular machine was the one which had been used upon Mrs. Á..

The appellant cites the court to no authority for his proposition, and we fail to see merit in his argument. In State v. Montgomery, 175 Kan. 176, 261 P. 2d 1009, this court said:

. . The boots are full of cases holding that “where an accused is identified as having been at or near the scene of a crime about the time of its commission evidence showing that he owned, possessed or had access to any articles with which the crime was or might have been committed is competent. ... [citing cases.]” (p. 180.)

In State v. Lentz, 128 Kan. 314, 277 Pac. 794, the defendant was charged with burglary and larceny of men’s clothing. Objection was made to the admission of evidence by the owner of thé clothing concerning the type of hangers found in the defendant’s possession, they being the same type taken with the clothing. The court.said:

“. . .

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State v. Darling
419 P.2d 836 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1966)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
419 P.2d 836, 197 Kan. 471, 1966 Kan. LEXIS 408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-darling-kan-1966.