People v. Von Perhacs

The defendant in this ease was convicted of the crime of rape. The information charged the defendant with having committed an act of sexual intercourse with a female child who was at the time under the age of sixteen years and not his wife. The defendant has appealed from the judgment and from an order denying him a new trial.

The insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, the alleged erroneous modification of certain requested instructions, and the refusal of the lower court to grant a new trial upon alleged newly discovered evidence are the only points urged for a reversal.

It is earnestly insisted upon behalf of the defendant that the verdict of the jury is not supported by the evidence, because the testimony of the prosecuting witness taken as a whole was so highly improbable that it is unworthy of belief.

The facts upon which the prosecution sought and secured a conviction are substantially as follows: At the age of thirteen years the prosecutrix was placed by her father in the home of and under the care and control of the defendant. The defendant was the father of several minor children, two boys and a girl, all of whom resided with him. The prosecutrix…