William Daniel Straight v. United States

On March 15, 1957, in the District Court for the Territory of Alaska, Third Division, appellant, William Daniel Straight, was indicted under §§ 65-4-12 and 65-4-13 of Alaska Compiled Laws Annotated 1949, for raping his fourteen-year-old daughter, hereafter called the prosecutrix, at some time between August 20, 1956, and September 20, 1956. Appellant was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, had a jury trial and was found guilty as charged. Appellant moved for a new trial. The District Court denied that motion and, on July 30, 1957, entered a judgment sentencing appellant to be imprisoned for nine years. This appeal is from that judgment.

Nine alleged errors are specified. Specification 1 is that the District-Court erred in denying a motion for a mistrial said to have been made by appellant after the prosecutrix “answered to the effect that she had taken a lie-de tector test.” Actually, the prosecutrix did not so answer. She testified that she was born on May 14, 1942, that appellant was her father, and that she had sexual intercourse with him on a Saturday night in the 1956 moose hunting season. After so testifying, she was asked the following question: “When did you first tell anybody…