West v. State
Wisconsin Supreme Court
ERROR TO CIRCUIT COURT OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY. The plaintiff in error was indicted at the April term of the Circuit Court for the county of Fond du Lac, for the seduction of Eliza Pierce.
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ERROR TO CIRCUIT COURT OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY. The plaintiff in error was indicted at the April term of the Circuit Court for the county of Fond du Lac, for the seduction of Eliza Pierce. The first count charged, “ that William West, late of the town of Springvale, in the county aforesaid, on the 4th day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, at Spring-vale, in the county aforesaid, the said William West, being then and there a married man, did seduce and have illicit connection with one Eliza Pierce, the said Eliza Pierce being then and there an unmarried…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Smith, J.
The errors assigned in this case we shall consider in their order.
1. “ That the Circuit Court erred in charging the jury that the law presumes that the prosecutrix, Eliza Pierce, was a chaste female previous to the commission of the offence alleged against the defendant.”
It is true, that ordinarily, the reasonable and just presumption is in favor of female chastity. So is, likewise, the presumption in favor of moral honesty. Happily, these presumptions are not only justified in all civilized nations, but nobly illustrated, as well by the institutions of social life, as…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Rossiter v. ChesterMichigan Supreme Court · 1843
- Commonwealth v. LittlejohnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1818
- Smith v. HawkinsSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1827
3Cited by30 opinions
- Pittman v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1906
- Knight v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas · 1912
- Smurr v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1886
- Martin v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1899
- State v. PattersonSupreme Court of Missouri · 1885
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