People v. Turner

KERRIGAN, J.

The defendant was charged by information with having violated the provisions of section 270a of the Penal Code. He was tried and convicted, and this appeal is from the judgment of conviction and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The section reads as follows: “Every husband having sufficient ability to provide for his wife’s support, or who is able to earn the means of such wife’s support, who willfully abandons and leaves his wife in a destitute condition, or who refuses or neglects to provide such wife with necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical attendance, unless by her misconduct he was justified in abandoning her, is punishable, etc. . . .”

The facts briefly are as follows: On January 8, 1914, the defendant was arrested upon a charge of rape alleged to have

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been committed by him upon the prosecuting witness in this ease, who is- now his wife, Blanche Turner. At that time she was pregnant, and notwithstanding that the defendant stoutly disclaimed responsibility for her condition, he, on the advice of attorneys whom he consulted at that time, and of the justice of the peace before whom the charge was pending, consented to marry the prosecutrix, the ceremony taking place upon the second day after his arrest, at the home of G. D. Webster, the girl’s father, in Monterey, and who was familiar with all the circumstances of the case. At the time of the marriage the defendant had no money, and was compelled to borrow two dollars to pay for the marriage license, which loan he obtained from the justice of the peace before whom the case was pending and who performed the marriage ceremony. G. D. Webster, the father of the prosecutrix, was a carpenter, the owner of the home in which he resided, and it seems to have been understood in a general way that the defendant and his bride were to make their home with him, and to that end a room was assigned to them. The defendant did not remain with his wife after the marriage, and the next day, after collecting eight dollars, due him from a local concern, in which he had been employed, but which had ceased to do business before his arrest, he left Monterey and went to Oregon-, looking for employment.