People v. McClure

MARKS, J.—The

appellant prosecutes this appeal from a judgment, by the terms of which he was sentenced to state prison, after a verdict by a jury finding him guilty of the crimes of rape and of assault with intent to commit rape, committed in Fresno County, state of California, upon June Bell, a woman of the age of about twenty-one years and not his wife.

Appellant urges three grounds upon which he seeks a reversal of the judgment: First, that the evidence was insuffi

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cient to sustain the verdict and judgment finding the defendant guilty of the crime of rape; second, that it was insufficient to sustain the verdict and judgment finding the defendant guilty of the crime of assault with intent to commit rape; third, errors of law occurring during the trial prejudicial to the rights of appellant. We will consider these grounds in the order in which they are stated.

The offenses for which the appellant was convicted occurred during an automobile ride taken by himself, June Bell and two others on the night of April 5, 1931. On the morning of the following day appellant admitted having had sexual intercourse with June Bell upon this occasion, maintaining that it was with her consent, and that he used no force or violence in accomplishing the act.

The prosecutrix testified in great detail concerning, the events preceding and during her ravishment by appellant. She testified to a struggle with him lasting almost a half hour before he accomplished -his purpose; that he choked her, struck her and knocked her unconscious, and accomplished his purpose by means of his superior strength, with force and violence and against her will and without her consent. Her evidence is amply corroborated by the testimony of other witnesses. Without going into the details of the sordid and brutal attack upon her, suffice it to say that a physician who examined her shortly after the acts were accomplished by appellant, testified to the physical conditions which he found. There were bruises upon her face, neck and body; both her rectum and vagina were torn and blood-stained, indicating penetration by the sexual organ of appellant. The clothing worn by the prosecutrix was introduced in evidence. Her dress and stockings were badly torn and her step-ins were torn and blood-stained. The shirt and trousers worn by appellant at the time of the attack were also introduced in evidence, and both were blood-stained. The evidence is ample to sustain the verdict and judgment.