People v. Hamilton

By the Court, Crockett, J.: The indictment charges the defendant with the crime of rape, alleged to have been committed on the person of a child' under ten years of age. At the trial he was convicted of an assault with the intent to commit rape, and was sentenced to confinement in the State Prison for fourteen years. He appeals from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial. It appeared in evidence, that the child on whom the assault is alleged to have been made, is a step-daughter of the defendant, and was residing on a farm, in the same house with the defendant and his wife, the mother of the child. At the time of the trial, she was under thirteen years of age, and was the only witness called to prove the accusation. She testified not only to the assault, with the intent to commit rape, but also to the complete accomplishment of the criminal intent. No witness was called to corroborate her testimony in any particular, as to time, place, or circumstances, or in any respect whatever^ except as to her age. . The defendant, who testified in his own behalf, explicitly denied the truth of her testimony in respect to the alleged assault and the perpetration of the crime. Her version of the affair is, that the offense was accomplished in the barn, about fifty yards distant from the dwelling house; and that immediately afterward the defendant ordered her to assist her younger brother—a boy five or six years of age—to carry from the barn to the house a box [543]of soap of the usual size; that on reaching the house with the soap she found her mother engaged in her usual household duties, but did not state to her the occurrence at the barn; and on the contrary, proceeded to assist her about her household affairs as usual; that no bleeding resulted from the assault upon her, and it does not appear that she complained of any pain or injury. She further testified that she did not inform her mother of the occurrence at the . barn until about two years afterward, and she assigns as a reason for her silence that he threatened to kill her if she disclosed the facts, and that she was afraid of him. Two physicians were called, who testified that though it was not impossible for a man to have carnal knowledge of a child of such tender years, it was in the highest degree improbable that bleeding and great bodily pain would not ensue. This was all the testimony; and on these facts we are asked to award a new trial, on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. The almost uniform practice of this and other appellate Courts is, to refuse to disturb verdicts on this ground when there is a substantial conflict in the evidence. The rule is founded on the fact that the jury had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses, and is, therefore more competent than we to decide upon their credibility. The rule is a most salutary one, and ought not to be lightly departed from. Nevertheless, there are exceptional cases, in which the preponderance of evidence against the verdict is so great as to produce a conviction that, in rendering it, the jury must have been under the influence of passion or prejudice. Such was the case of the People v. Benson, 6 Cal. 221, which was also a prosecution for rape on a girl thirteen years of age, who was the sole witness to prove the charge. She testified positively to the forcible commission of the act of sexual intercourse on the occasion complained of, but admitted on cross-examination,