State v. Hand

The bill of exceptions recites that at the instance of the defendant, the court instructed the jury : “ That the state must not only prove that the house is a house of reputed ill-fame, but that it was resorted to for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness.” The jury was also charged, “that it was not necessary for the state to prove particular facts of lewdness, or prostitution, common reputation as to the character of the defendant, and of the house which he kept, is admissible to prove the crime.”

The offense charged, is defined by the law, to consist in lceeping a house of ill-fame,…