{ "id": 8566939, "name": "STATE v. JOHN P. O'KEEFE", "name_abbreviation": "State v. O'Keefe", "decision_date": "1964-11-25", "docket_number": "", "first_page": "53", "last_page": "56", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "263 N.C. 53" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C.", "id": 9292, "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "164 S.E. 732", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "203 N.C. 47", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8622537, 8598243 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "53" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/203/0865-02", "/nc/203/0047-01" ] }, { "cite": "54 F. 2d 277", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 1810598 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/54/0277-01" ] }, { "cite": "204 P. 958", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "P.", "case_ids": [ 4725889 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/or/103/0443-01" ] }, { "cite": "107 P. 33", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "P.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "123 S.E. 2d 486", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "256 N.C. 236", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8572114 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/256/0236-01" ] }, { "cite": "191 S.E. 27", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "211 N.C. 563", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8628056 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/211/0563-01" ] }, { "cite": "20 S.E. 537", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "115 N.C. 757", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8653002 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/115/0757-01" ] }, { "cite": "118 S.E. 2d 393", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "254 N.C. 211", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8625367 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/254/0211-01" ] }, { "cite": "94 S.E. 678", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "175 N.C. 767", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8662502 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/175/0767-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 526, "char_count": 9580, "ocr_confidence": 0.588, "pagerank": { "raw": 2.535397590185461e-07, "percentile": 0.8128705573182066 }, "sha256": "eb27dd592096493005b6e9b4a8d895d523ea16eb9cbbdffe51caf85bf01caf8a", "simhash": "1:3431328cadf82eb8", "word_count": 1608 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T15:44:48.035422+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "STATE v. JOHN P. O\u2019KEEFE." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Mooee, J.\nThe bill of indictment charges that defendant \u201con the 25th day of December . . . one thousand nine hundred and 62 ... at and in the County (Onslow) aforesaid, did unlawfully, wilfully and feloniously commit the abominable and detestable crime against nature with one Peter P. Howe, a male person. . . .\u201d\nThe evidence for the State tends to show that on the date alleged defendant and Howe met in a bar, went to the former\u2019s motel room, drank beer and engaged in two acts of unnatural copulation, once per os and once per anwn. Defendant\u2019s motion for nonsuit was properly overruled.\nDefendant pleaded not guilty, was found guilty by the jury, and was given an active prison sentence.\nDefendant moves in arrest of judgment on the ground that the indictment is phrased in such general terms that it does not identify the offense charged, does not support the judgment, and will not protect the accused from being again put in jeopardy for the same offense.\nOur statute provides that \u201cIf any person shall commit the abominable and detestable crime against nature, with mankind or beast, he shall be imprisoned in the State\u2019s prison not less than five nor more than sixty years.\u201d G.S. 14-177. In this jurisdiction crime against nature embraces sodomy, buggery and bestiality as those offenses were known and defined at common law. State v. Griffin, 175 N.C. 767, 94 S.E. 678. Because of the ancient origin of the offense and the uniformity of the practice in the courts with respect thereto, crime against nature has a well recognized meaning. A statute providing for the punishment of the abominable and detestable crime against nature is sufficiently descriptive of a crime known to the common law.\u201d 81 C.J.S., Sodomy, \u00a7 1, p. 368.\nRequirements as to the form and content of bills of indictment charging crime against nature vary somewhat in the different jurisdictions, due to differing statutory provisions and court interpretations. The practice in North Carolina has been to charge the offense in the manner employed in the bill of indictment in the instant case. This is in accord with the practice at common law. See Archb. Cr. Pr. & PI. 309; 2 Macclain on Criminal Law, \u00a7 1154, p. 317; Wharton\u2019s Precedents of Indictments and Pleas, Form 191, p. 209; 2 Chitty\u2019s Cr. Law, pp. 48-50. It was the practice to specifically allege the person with or against whom the offense was committed, by name or sex, but not the manner in which it was committed. An indictment which charges that defendant did unlawfully, wilfully and feloniously commit the infamous crime against nature with a particular man, woman or beast is sufficient. 2 Macclain on Criminal Law, \u00a7 1154, p. 317; 81 C.J.S., Sodomy, \u00a7 4, pp. 373, 374. \u201c. . . in charging the crime of sodomy, because of its vile and degrading nature there has been some laxity of the strict rules of pleading. It has never been the usual practice to describe the particular manner or the details of the commission of the act.\u201d 48 Am. Jur., Sodomy, \u00a7 4, p. 551. According to Blackstone, the English law treated the offense in its indictments as unfit \u201cto be named among Christians.\u201d IV Blackstone\u2019s Commentaries, p. 215. Our courts are no less sensitive than their English predecessors.\nCertainly the defendant has little cause for complaint if the law is reluctant to spread upon the public record the revolting details of the offense. Where the defendant feels that he may be taken by surprise or that the indictment fails to impart information sufficiently specific as to the nature of the charge, he may before trial move the court to order a bill of particulars to be filed. State v. Tessnear, 254 N.C. 211, 118 S.E. 2d 393; State v. Shade, 115 N.C. 757, 20 S.E. 537. Defendant does not claim surprise.\nDefendant contends that his exception to the sufficiency of the indictment is supported by State v. Callett, 211 N.C. 563, 191 S.E. 27, and State v. King, 256 N.C. 236, 123 S.E. 2d 486. In Callett the substantive portion of the bill is, \u201c. . . commit the abominable and detestable crime against nature.\u201d It does not name the pathie nor even allege whether with mankind or beast. The bill was quashed for failure to use the word \u201cfeloniously.\u201d The Court suggests that the bill might be defective for the further reason that it fails to bring, the case within the description given in the statute. In the King case the- indictment upon which the trial proceeded was held to be valid. A former bill had been quashed in superior court; it merely charged that defendant did \u201ccommit the abominable and detestable crime against nature.\u201d This former bill was not in question on appeal, but the Court commented that \u201csuch bill of indictment would not have supported a verdict in the form submitted and returned.\u201d The language of Callett and King, in which defendant finds comfort, is pure dicta. Besides, it does not deal with the questions here presented.\nThere is evidence in the record of two acts of unnatural intercourse, one per os and the other per anum, committed by defendant with Howe during the latter\u2019s visit to defendant\u2019s room. Defendant contends that the two acts constitute separate and distinct offenses and that the indictment, if otherwise valid, should have included only one of the offenses. On this reasoning, defendant complains that the judge erred in instructing the jury that proof of either act would be sufficient for conviction of the charge alleged.\n\u201cAs a general rule the instructions should be confined to the issues made by the pleadings, and should not be broader or narrower than the indictment or information, and an instruction which is not based on, and in conformity with, the issue properly raised by the pleadings is generally erroneous, and may- be properly refused. It has been held that the instructions should not . . . submit to the jury an offense not included in the indictment or information. It is erroneous to give instructions on issues not. made by the pleadings . . . ; but, on the other hand, an instruction may be based on evidentiary facts, although such facts are not alleged . . .\u201d 23A C.J.S., Criminal Law, \u00a7 1311, pp. 759-761. \u201cAlthough there is authority to the contrary, it has been held that where the indictments or information charges the offense conjunc-tively, the court must submit the question in conjunctive form, and it is error to submit the question in disjunctive form, except where the offense charged is essentially one transaction.\u201d ibid, p. 762.\nAdmittedly the two acts of unnatural intercourse might have been charged as separate offenses. But they were essentially parts of a single transaction, occurred during a single visit to defendant\u2019s room by Howe, and were components of a single continuous debauch. That the State subjected defendant to one criminal penalty instead of two is certainly not prejudicial to defendant. The bill of indictment alleges the time and place of the offense and the identity of the pathic. This indictment provides protection from any further prosecution of defendant on account of any unnatural sex acts between him and Howe which might have occurred within the time and place alleged.\n\u201cActs entering into a single and continuous transaction may be charged together as a single offense.\u201d 42 C.J.S., Indictments and Informations, \u00a7 164, p. 1117; State v. Sherman, 107 P. 33 (Kan.). Where a single offense may be committed by several means, it may be charged in a single count if the ways and means are not repugnant and are component parts of one transaction. State v. Laundy, 204 P. 958 (Ore.). Proof of any one means will support conviction. United States v. Otto, 54 F. 2d 277 (C.C. 2d). And an instruction to this effect is not error. State v. Davis, 203 N.C. 47, 53, 164 S.E. 732.\nWe have examined and fully considered each of defendant\u2019s exceptions and we find no prejudicial error.\nNo error.", "type": "majority", "author": "Mooee, J." } ], "attorneys": [ "Attorney General Bruton, Assistant Attorney General Bullock and Staff Attorney Eugene A. Smith for the State.", "Charles L. Abernethy, Jr., for defendant." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "STATE v. JOHN P. O\u2019KEEFE.\n(Filed 25 November, 1964.)\n1. Crime Against Nature \u00a7 2\u2014\nEvidence of defendant\u2019s guilt of committing tbe crime against nature with another male person held, sufficient to be submitted to the jury.\n2. Crime Against Nature \u00a7 1\u2014\nIn this jurisdiction crime against nature embraces sodomy, buggery, and bestiality as those offenses were known and defined at common law. G.S. 14-177.\n8. Crime Against Nature \u00a7 2\u2014\nA bill of indictment charging a male defendant with committing \u201cthe abominable and detestable crime against nature with\u201d a named male person on a specified date in a named county is sufficient, it not being required that the manner in which the offense was committed be set forth.\n4. Same\u2014\nAn indictment charging defendant with committing the crime against nature with a named pathic on a specified date permits the introduction of evidence that defendant committed two acts of - unnatural intercourse, one per os and the other per anum, during the single visit of the pathic to defendant\u2019s room, since the two acts were essentially parts of a single transaction, and the court correctly instructs the jury that proof of either act would be sufficient for conviction of the crime charged.\n5. Indictment and Warrant \u00a7 9\u2014\nTwo acts constituting essentially parts of a single transaction may be charged together as a single offense, and defendant is not entitled to complain that only one offense was charged even though each act would have been ground for a separate charge.\nON certiorari from Mintz, J., February 1963 Session of ONSlow.\nAttorney General Bruton, Assistant Attorney General Bullock and Staff Attorney Eugene A. Smith for the State.\nCharles L. Abernethy, Jr., for defendant." }, "file_name": "0053-01", "first_page_order": 91, "last_page_order": 94 }