McKenney
People v. McKenney
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Houser, J.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction of an “attempt to commit abortion”; also, from the “verdict”, as well as from each of the several orders made by the trial court by which, respectively, was denied to the defendant her motion for a new trial, her motion in arrest of judgment, and her motion “to dismiss the complaint”.
The first point made by appellant is that because “there was no testimony of any agreement with defendant to do anything, or to perform any operation, or to charge any price therefor”, and that because the only evidence “that defendant did anything wrong” was the statement made by the prosecuting witness that the defendant “performed an incomplete abortion”, it became the duty of the trial court to grant the motion requested by defendant, to wit, to advise the jury to acquit defendant. Such position, however, is untenable for two reasons: First, because the gist of the offense of which defendant was charged consisted in the act of attempting to perform an abortion; and not in what, if anything, she agreed to do, or for what price, if any, she agreed to do it. Secondly, the statement made by the prosecuting witness that “defendant performed an…