State ex rel. Bjorn v. Creager

Citations

• 97 Kan. 334
• 155 P. 29
• 1916 Kan. LEXIS 295

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Action for Bastardy — Motive of Prosecutrix — Proper Defense. It is a proper defense in an action for bastardy that the motive which actuated the prosecutrix in making the charge was to obtain a large sum of money from the parents of the defendant, who was not guilty.</p> <p>2. Same — Evidence—Association of Prosecutrix with Other Men. In an action for bastardy evidence may properly be received that near the probable date of conception the relatrix associated with a young man other than the defendant under circumstances which offered as much opportunity and as much likelihood of improper conduct with him as with the defendant.</p> <p>3. Same — Instructions—Presumption as to Defendant’s Innocence. The law presumes morality and uprightness of conduct until the contrary is established, and it is not error to instruct the jury trying an action for bastardy, in which the defendant denies the charge, that the defendant is presumed to be innocent until it has been proved, to the satisfaction of the jury by a preponderance of the evidence that he is the father of the relatrix’s child.</p> <p>4. New Trial — Newly Discovered Evidence — Grounds Insufficient. The proceedings examined and held that the motion for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence was properly overruled because of lack of proof of reasonable diligence in discovering the evidence and because the evidence was merely cumulative.</p> <p>5. Trial — No Error in Record. Nineteen other assignments of error examined and held to present no sufficient ground for reversal.</p>