State v. Fries

Sec. 340.47, Stats., provides that “any person over eighteen years of age who shall unlawfully and carnally know and abuse any female under the age of eighteen years shall be punished by imprisonment.” There was no spoken testimony directly addressed to the matter of defendant’s age. The case was submitted to the jury solely on the question as to whether defendant had sexual intercourse with the prosecuting witness on August 2, 1944. The court in its instructions used the following language: “It appears without dispute that the defendant, Jake Fries, is over the age of eighteen.” The…