State v. Gray

355 S.W.2d 10, 1962 Mo. LEXIS 735
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMarch 12, 1962
DocketNo. 49006
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 355 S.W.2d 10 (State v. Gray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gray, 355 S.W.2d 10, 1962 Mo. LEXIS 735 (Mo. 1962).

Opinion

DALTON, Presiding Judge.

Defendant was convicted of the crime of incest and his punishment fixed at two years’ imprisonment in the state penitentiary. Section 563.220 RSMo 1959, V.A.M. S. He has appealed and first contends that the court erred in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of all the evidence. Supreme Court Rule 26.10, V.A.M.R.

Defendant insists that, as a matter of law, the evidence is not sufficient to sustain a judgment of conviction of the offense charged, because “the evidence of the prosecutrix was extremely conflicting and contradictory and, further, * * * her testimony was not corroborated in any way.” State v. Tevis, 234 Mo. 276, 136 S.W. 339 is cited in support of the contention.

On February 4, 1961, the defendant, age fifty-four years, and his wife Martha, both of whom had been previously married, resided at 4053 Central Street in Kansas City Missouri, with their two daughters, MK-, the prosecutrix, age thirteen years, and B- S-, age eight years. The house, an old one, had been remodeled by defendant, who was a self-employed general contractor engaged in “home repair,” such as painting, paperhanging and carpentry work. The house contained a two-room apartment on the south, occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Lee; a two-room apartment and a hall on the north, occupied by defendant and his family; and a second floor apartment occupied by a Mr. Grant. A bathroom and toilet was shared by the two first-flo'T apartments. It could be entered either from the hall or from the kitchen of defendant’s apartment. One room of defendant’s apartment was used as a bedroom [12]*12and the other as a kitchen. At the time in question, a cot or daybed had been temporarily placed in the kitchen. There was a swinging door between the bedroom and the kitchen that was usually left open. In the bedroom there was a bed used by defendant and his wife and also a bunk bed. The upper bunk of the bunk bed was ordinarily used by M-• K- and the lower bunk by B-S-. M-K-reached her thirteenth birthday on September 22, 1960. She was in the seventh grade and attended Rollins School, located at 4005 Main Street.

A few days before February 4, 1961, defendant’s granddaughter, Billy Ray Partin, became ill and was brought to defendant’s home for care and treatment. She was the child of M- K-’s half sister. On Friday night, February 3rd, Billy Ray was sleeping in the lower bunk of the bunk bed and there was a type of sheet over the lower hunk with “an inhaler burning.” A small light was on all night in the bedroom. Billy Ray’s illness also required the presence of a doctor that night, Dr. Casebolt. BS-, who was also ill, slept in the top bunk and M-K-slept in the kitchen on “sort of a daybed.” M-K-went to bed about 8 or 9 p. m. but her mother was up and down most of the night.

M-- K- testified that on Saturday morning February 4, about 7 o’clock, her father, the defendant, came to the kitchen and woke her up. No one else was up at that time. He had on only his shirt. She was wearing pajamas. The door between the kitchen and bedroom was closed. He told her to get up, take off the bottoms of Tier pajamas and lie back down. He then had sexual intercourse with her. He put •on a “rubber plastic thing,” a type of •covering, before “he interjected body into me.” She said the same thing had happened before and, over a long period, about “three times a week for three years.”

She told Mr. Cross, her next door neighbor, about her relations with her father and he suggested that she tell Mrs. Cross. She told Mrs. Cross two or three days after the Saturday morning occurrence. Mrs. Cross suggested that she tell the principal of her school. She did so early the next week. Thereafter two police officers came to the school and she was taken to the Youth Bureau and from there to the Homicide Bureau, later back to the Youth Bureau and then over to the Detention Home. She later appeared before Judge Riederer in the juvenile court. She was staying at the Detention Home at the time of the trial.

Mr. Cross, the next door neighbor, had a garage in which he kept pianos, re-built pianos and electrified player pianos. MK- had a dog which Mr. Cross was keeping for her at the garage, since her father would not let her keep it at home. She said she would go over to the garage about every other night to listen to the pianos and to see her dog. She also visited the Cross home often. Mr. Cross had been to the Juvenile Home to see her and he had written her letters. She denied that she had received “love letters” from him. She said: "His wife and him wrote letters”, and that both of them would say “with love.”

Before reviewing the evidence which appellant relies upon as being conflicting and contradictory, we shall review certain evidence which the jury could consider as corroborative of M-K-’s testimony.

Dr. William Allen, M. D., made a vaginal examination of prosecutrix on February 10, 1961. He inserted a speculum into the vagina and used it to open the external orifice so as to make a visual examination of the interior of the vagina. The speculum was introduced without any apparent difficulty and it was his opinion that in all probability the hymen was not there or had been ruptured.

One Robert H. Keys, a detective in the Homicide Unit, interviewed the defendant at the police station on February 9, after his arrest, and took a statement from him. The statement was signed and sworn to. After testimony had been received at the [13]*13trial concerning matters which preceded the taking of the statement, it was offered and received in evidence without objection.

The statement is, in part, as follows: “Q Are you willing to waive that right (to consult attorney and friends) and make a statement with reference to the sexual relations you have had with your daughter, M- K- Gray, age 13, on February S, 1961 at about 6:00 a. m., knowing that it can be used against you in court in the event of a trial? A Yes, sir. Q Now, Wayne, tell me in your own words what has occurred between you and your daughter, sexually, and when did it start? A This situation started after I rented out an apartment on the first floor in my house in November of 1960. This made crowded living quarters. I have had trouble with my back and when I get home from work my wife, Martha, or M- K- rubs my back. Around the first of November, 1960, M- K- was rubbing my back and Martha was getting supper in the kitchen. While M-K-was rubbing my back I turned over on my back and M-- K-- grabbed hold of my penis and squeezed it and rubbed up against me. I in turn touched her breasts and then touched her stomach down to her hair and then on her privates. Martha came in about that time and I quit. Q Have you had any relations with M- K- other than this time? A Yes, in February of this year. Q Tell me what happened in that situation. A Last Friday or Saturday morning M- K- got up and went to the bathroom. I was getting breakfast in the kitchen where she had been sleeping. I had to go to the bathroom and I called to her to come out. I met her at the kitchen door. Q Then what happened? A I kissed her and she kissed me. I may have put my hand on her breasts, but that’s all I remember. Q Have you ever touched M-K-’s privates or had intercourse with her, other than in November? A No, •sir. Q Is there anything else you wish to add to this statement? A No, sir. •Q Will you read and sign this statement? A Yes, I have read the above statement, understand it, and am signing it because it is the truth. (Signed) Wayne S. Gray.”

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Related

State v. Simerly
463 S.W.2d 846 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1971)
State v. Tartenaar
371 S.W.2d 192 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1963)
State v. West
356 S.W.2d 880 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
355 S.W.2d 10, 1962 Mo. LEXIS 735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gray-mo-1962.