Vargas

This was a libel by a passenger to recover damages for a criminal assault by one of the officers of the ship. October 10, 1927, the libelant became a passenger on the steamship Ecuador, bound from La Libertad for San Francisco, arriving in the latter port October 21, 1927. The libel alleged that about 6 o’clock on the morning of October 12, 1927, the second steward of the vessel entered the stateroom of the libelant, when she was seasick and nauseated, and violently assaulted her, and against her will and consent and against her resistance forcibly had sexual intercourse with her, by reason whereof she became pregnant with child. From a deeree in the sum of $10,000 in favor of the libelant, the respondent has appealed.

The utmost that can be claimed by the appellant is that the adverse deeree is based on conflicting testimony taken largely in open court. Only two witnesses, the appellee and the steward, gave direct testimony concerning the alleged assault. The testimony of the appellee fully supported the charge, and that of the steward denied it in totó. The appellant contends, however, that the testimony of the appellee should be rejected because she made no outcry at the time…