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42 Iowa 75

State v. Odell

Supreme Court of Iowa

Decided December 13, 1875

Supreme Court of Iowa · decided 1875-12-13

A'pjjeal from Polk District Court. On the 26th day of March, 1874, the defendant was indicted for the crime of nuisance, committed as follows: “ The said Mary Odell, on the 1st day of April, A. D., 1873, in the County of Polk aforesaid, and on each day from then until the finding of the indictment, did unlawfully erect, cause, continue and keep a house of ill fame, resorted to for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness, at No. 117 Walnut street, East Des Moines, in said…

Decided 1875-12-13

Day, J.

¶1The only point relied upon by appellant is that defendant was indicted and tried under section 4091 of the Code, for keeping a nuisance, and that the indictment does not charge the crime of beeping a nuisance. It is claimed that the indictment conies nearer charging the offense of keeping a house of ill fame, under section 4013 of the Code. In this position appellant is clearly and manifestly wrong. Section 4091 of the Code is as follows: “Houses of ill fame, kept for the purpose of prostitution and 'lewdness, gambling houses, or houses where drunkenness, quarreling, fighting or breaches of the peace are carried on or permitted, to the disturbance of others, are nuisances, and may be abated and punished as prescribed in this chapter.”

¶2Section 4013 provides: “ If any person keep a house of ill *77fame, resorted to for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness, he shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.”

¶3The punishment under section 4091 may extend to fine of one thousand dollars, and the abatement of the nuisance. A careful examination of these statutes will discover that section 4013.punishes the keeping of a house of ill fame resorted to for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness, while section 4091 punishes the keeping of a house of ill fame for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness, to the disturbance of others. It is this element of disturbance to others which constitutes-the nuisance and aggravates the offense to such a .degree that the fine authorized by the latter statute is double that permitted by the former.

¶4The indictment alleges that the defendant kept a l^ouse of ill fame, resorted to for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness, and at which'prostitution and lewdness were carried on and permitted, to the disturbance of others. Perhaps the indictment would have been sufficient if the italicised portion had been omitted. But its insertion does not warrant the conclusion that the offense of nuisance is not charged. The disturbance to others, the distinctive element of nuisance, is distinctly charged.

¶5We have no doubt that the defendant was properly tried and convicted..

¶6Affirmed.

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