People v. Halistik

FINCH, P. J.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of lewd and lascivious conduct with a female child of the age of ten years. This appeal is from the judgment and the order denying defendant's motion for a new trial.

Appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to justify the verdict. In this opinion the girl upon whose body it is alleged the unlawful acts were committed will be designated as “F” and the principal corroborating witness as “E.” Just prior to the alleged offense both girls were walking along the road on their way home from school, F being some distance ahead of E. The defendant, who was traveling alone in an automobile in the same direction the girls were going, on overtaking E, who was then eleven years of age, invited her to ride with him and she got into the front seat with him. When they overtook F, E invited her to ride in the automobile. F took the back seat and the three proceeded along the road until they reached a point opposite E's home, when she alighted and walked home. The defendant and F continued to a point on the road nearest the latter’s home, about a quarter of a mile from E’s home, when she also got out and walked home. E testified that the defendant grabbed her leg and pinched it shortly after F entered the automobile,- that after she left the automobile F got into the front seat and that the defendant then put his hand between F’s legs at the lower part of the abdomen; that on the following day, as E was walking home from school, another person being with her at the moment, the defendant passed her in his automobile without stopping, but stopped at a bridge farther ahead on the road; that when she saw the defendant at the bridge she “didn’t want to go that way” because she had seen “what he did to” F and, in her own language, “so I went to the creek, and he started after me. Pie started after me and he said to stop a minute, he wanted to tell me something, but I started to run, and he run after me. . . . Well, he didn’t run, he just trotted after me . . . just a little ways,” and then stopped. F testified

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that immediately after she took the front seat the defendant said, “Let me see how fat you are,” and put his hand between her legs at the lower part of the abdomen “and he shook like that” (indicating shaking motion with hand) while he had hold of her between the legs; that he repeated the same acts farther along the road; and that when she got out he gave her a piece of candy and said, “I will see you again to-morrow.” The defendant did not place his hand under the clothing of either girl. He denied the acts charged in the information, but admitted having placed his hand on E’s leg, stating that he meant nothing improper by it. The defendant, who is forty-one years of age, had never seen either girl prior to the day he took them in his automobile. The foregoing evidence is amply sufficient to warrant the verdict. The conflict therein was for the determination of the jury and not for that of this court.