People v. Stouter

The defendant was charged with the offense defined in section 288 of the Penal Code,—namely, thp commission of a lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body “of a child under the age of fourteen years, with intent," etc. He was convicted of an attempt to commit such offense, and was sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment in the state prison. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

This crime belongs to that class of offenses of which it has been often said that the charge is easy to make and hard to disprove. In such cases jurors are sometimes…