People v. Elco

The defendant was convicted in the court below of sexual intercourse with one Pearl Arnold, a female under 16 years of age. A full statement of the case is found in the opinion of Mr. Justice Grant, at page 520, ante. A rehearing was granted, and the case was reargued late in the October term.

The important question is that upon which the justices differed on the former hearing, namely, did the people have a right to impeach Pearl Arnold, one of their own witnesses, by proof of prior contradictory statements ? As a witness on the part of the people, said Pearl Arnold denied that she had…