Williams v. State

27 Tenn. 585
Tennessee Supreme Court·Decided April 15, 1848·Published

Opinion

Green, J.

delivered the opinion of the court.

The defendant was indicted in the circuit court of Obion county, for an assault with intent to ravish his daughter, Mar-[590]*590thá Jane Williams. He was found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. He moved for a new trial, which was refused. He also moved in arrest of judgment, which motion was overruled, and he appealed to this court.

The indictment is in the following words:—

State of Tennessee, ) June term, circuit court, for the year of our

Obion County, ) Lord eighteen hundred and forty-seven.

The grand jurors of the State of Tennessee, elected, em-panneled, sworn, and charged to enquire, in and for the body of the county of Obion aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, present,, that John Williams, late of said county, laborer, on the fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, with force and arms, in the county of Obion aforesaid, in and upon the body of one Martha J. Williams, in the peace of God then and there being, an assault did make, and her the - said Martha J. Williams then and there did beat, wound and ill-treat, with intent, her the said Martha J. Williams, feloniously, violently, forcibly, and against her will, then and there feloniously to ravish and carnally know, and other wrongs, to the said Martha J. Williams, then and there did, to the great damage of her the said Martha J. Williams, against the form of statutes in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state.

Isaac Williams, Attorney General of the ninth circuit of the State.

On the trial, Martha J. Williams was introduced as a witness for the state, who proved that the defendant is her father; that about four months before the trial, and about eight months after her mother’s death, the defendant commenced making propositions to have sexual intercourse with her, telling her that other men who had daughters did so; that he wanted to do so too, and that if she disclosed the fact, he would kill [591]*591ber. Witness was about seventeen years old. She stated, that her father, the defendant, had made frequent attempts to have intercourse with her, and had some times tried, as often as two or three times a night, by approaching her, bedside, and attempting to get into her bed,, but she always refused. She stated, that about three or four months before the 4th of April, 1847, the prisoner threw her on the bed, and attempted to pull up her clothes, and said that he intended to do it, and that his breeches were down; that at each of these attempts she hallooed, and her little brother came in and he desisted. She stated, that on the evening of the 4th of April, 1847, the defendant told her he intended to do it that evening, and that he intended to force her that night to have sexual intercourse with him; that he cursed her, and threatened to come to her bed that night; that he had been after her all that evening, so that she could not stay in the house for him, but had to go and stand in the road. The witness stated, that she communicated these threats to her sister, Mrs. F. D. Heliums, who resided near her father’s. She stated, that on that night, the 4th of April, 1847, her father, the defendant, came to her bed in his shirt only, and wished to get in bed with her, and said he would do it; commenced pulling down the cover; witness held on the cover, refusing to permit him to come into her bed; she then hallooed, at which time she heard Fed. Jones' coughing, (who was lying in a room, separated from her’s by a passage,) and he retired. In half an hour he returned again, attempting to get into her bed, she refused; then he began pulling down the cover, his language being mild and persuasive, not rough and harsh, she all the while holding to the' cover, and in his efforts to pull it down, he touched her bosom with his hand, and she hallooed, and her brothers-in-law, Lane and Heliums, and others, rushed in and seized the prisoner in her room.

[592]*592The state introduced. America Williams, daughter of the defendant, who stated that she was sixteen years old — that on the night of the 4th of April, she was not at home, but at her sisters, Mrs. H. Helium’s, that often' previous to the 4th of April, the defendant had at a late hour of the night come to the bed where she and her sister, Martha J. lay, with nothing on but his shirt, and pulled the cover off her sister, and attempted to get in bed with her, and her sister would halloo, and then he would go away. One night he came as often as three times.

The state introduced Mr. Lane, who stated that he, Summers, Heliums, Murphy and some one or two others, having heard that the defendant was in the habit of making attempts to go to bed to his daughter, Martha J. Williams, went to the house of the defendant on the 4th of April, 1847, and secreted themselves, that about ten o’clock that night, the defendant got up and walked through the passage, and into the room where Martha J. Williams slept. Soon after the defendant entered the room, they heard her cry, oh! daddy — and witness thought he heard her crying. About this time, Jones, who was lying in another room, commenced coughing, and defendant left the room. He remained out about half an hour, and until every thing became quiet, when he returned to the room where Martha was lying. Soon after the defendant went in, witness (heard her crying — he and the other men immediately rushed to the door, and met the defendant near the foot of the bed, the foot of the bed being nearest the door, and witness brought him to the door, where the others seized him. The defendant denied having been in the room, and when reproached, he said that Martha was not his daughter — the defendant was in his shirt, and somewhat intoxicated. Summers, Hel-iums and Murphy made the same statement made by Lane.

Defendant introduced Fed. Jones, who proved that he had [593]*593been living with the defendant two years, and was at his house on the night of the 4th of April, 1847, and had never seen any improper intercourse between the defendant and his daughter; that sometimes he would curse her, and that he cursed witness too, very often, and he thought nothing of it, as he was in the habit of cursing almost every body. Witness was in the habit of working hard,- and was very tired the night of the 4th of April, and went to bed early and slept soundly, and did not wake until he was roused by the noise that was made in arresting the defendant. The defendant was somewhat drunk that evening.

Martha J. Williams stated, that on the night of the 4th of April, her little brother, seven or eight years old, slept in the room with her, and two small brothers were in the room with Jones, and a negro man was in the kitchen. The prisoner objected to the statement of Martha J. Williams, that he had on a former occasion thrown her on the bed and attempted to pull up her clothes, as incompetent evidence to establish the crime charged to have been committed on the 4th of April, 1847; but the court overruled the objection, and permitted the evidence to go to the jury — to all which the defendant excepted at the time. But the court instructed the jury that they could find the prisoner guilty of the crime charged to have been committed on the 4th of April, 1847, .only, and that .previous acts could only be looked to for the purpose of showing the spirit and purpose which dictated the events of the 4th of April, 1847.-

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Williams v. State, 27 Tenn. 585 (Tenn. 1848).

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