People v. De Martini

KERRIGAN, J.

The defendant -was charged by information with" the crime of pandering, committed in the city and county of San Francisco, in that he did willfully and feloniously, and by promise of a salary of thirty-five dollars per month, and by other devices, cause, induce, persuade and encourage a certain woman (naming her) to become an inmate of a house of prostitution. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced. The appeal is from the judgment and from an order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial.

The information charges the offense in the language of the statute, stating also the place where it was committed, and in fact every other element necessary to constitute the completed crime, defendant’s contention to the contrary notwithstanding. The offense designated is what is'termed generally a statutory crime, and it was sufficient to describe it in the charging part of the paper in the words of the statute.

(People

v.

Gordon,

133 Cal. 328, [85 Am. St. Rep. 174, 65 Pac. 746];

People

v.

Frigerio,

107 Cal. 151, [40 Pac. 107].)

It was unnecessary for the information to show the particular house of prostitution of which the woman was induced to become an inmate.

While the information alleges that the crime was committed in the city and county of San Francisco, the evidence shows that it was committed partly in that and partly in another county. This did not constitute a variance between the information and the evidence. The offense having been committed partly in each of two counties, it was sufficient,, we think, under the terms of section 781 of the Penal Code, to allege the venue as was done, and to show by the evidence that the crime was partly committed in the county designated. That section reads: “When a public offense is committed in part in one county and in part in another, or the acts or effects thereof constituting or requisite to the consummation of the offense occur in two or more counties, the jurisdiction is in either county.”

The court correctly received evidence of the reputation of the house in question, for it may be said that the rule, though not universal, is well established that the character.