The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-06-16
MARTIN F. HOBEN
GIVEN NEW TRIAL
Young Newspaper Man Granted
Another Show by Su-
preme Court.
GIRL AND HER MOTHER
PERJURED THEMSELVES
Was Found Guilty of Statutory
0ffense in Third Dis
trict Court.

Martin L. Hoben of Bingham must
he given another trial on the charge
Of carnal knowledge of Edna Thomas
of the same place, according to an opin
ION handed down by the supreme court
Tuesday. The opinion, written by
Chief Justice d. \. Straup and con"
Cured in by his associates. rcrcrscs the
judgment of conviction entered against
IIoben in Judge Armstrong's division
of the Third district court
Hobcn was charged with and found
guilty of committing statutory of
Tense against Miss Thomas at Bing-
ham about April |, 1906, but the evil
dence went to show conclusivcly that
Miss Thomas at the lime the offcnse
was alleged to have been committed,
was moro than IS wears old, which
placed her without the age of consent
and reduced the oifense to fornication,
which is 2 msdcmeanor instead of a
felony
There was some evidence that the
first otfcpse against Miss Thomas was
committed i'll November Of 1908. which
would place the girl within the age of
consent and make the alleged offense
the oflense charged in the information
was alleged 10 have been committed
about April j, l006, throwing Miss
Thomas without the age of consent
Hoben Is Convicted.
In spite of the fact, however, that
the girl WAS shown TO be more than
Is wears old at the time the otfense
charged in the information was alleged
10 have been committed, the jury found
lioben guilty of cafnal knowledge,
felony. Hoben Immediately moved for
u new trial. which was denied. He
then appealed TO the supreme court.
which upholds his motion.
The supreme court, i'll reversing the
ease. says that while the girl is more
10 be pitied than censurcd. the verdict of
guilty of the jury is wrong in the teeth
of the charge and of the evidence as
well The state. the court says, if it
desires TO proceed against Hoben for
carnal knowledge, must 6lc a new in
formation against him, based upon
the alleged offensc of November. 1905,
at which time the girl was under Is
and not of the age of consent On this
charge, however, Hobcu must be given
u preliminary hearing, his constitu
ional right On the charge of forni-
cation, based upon the alleged offense
of April !. 1906, when the girl was
more ludU 10 'fdlS OliS HC b' ~
tried without being given preliml-
nary hearing, as this constitutional
right has already been extended to him,
it is held,
Girl Perjured Herself.
The supreme court opinion also
shows that the girl and her mother
periured themselves in making atti-
davits 10 the complaint aud the in
formation charging Hoben with carnal
knowledge on or abont April l, 1906.
The original complaint against Hoben,
filed in the justice OF the peace court
at Bingham, charged fornication, but
this was Withdrawn and a complaint
charging carnal knowledge substituted
Upon this Hoben was bound over to
the district court, but in the meantime
he secured depositions indlsputably
showing that she was born November
81, 1887. instead of November 81, 1888.
rs she had said in making out the com.
plant again him, and that she of
necessity must have been over Is at
the time of the alleged offense.
When the case came 10 trial. Miss
Thomas testified that she had given her
age as II instead Of Is upon the ad-
vice of her attorney IN order 10 make
IL harder upon Hoben and punish him
more severely, it having been ex-
planned TO her that carual knowledge
WAS lSIoUN duu puhiohdpio W "
prison sentence, while fornication was
a misdemeanor punishable only by inn
prisonmcnt III the county jail. In her
efforts to bring Hoben S alleged otfense
within 4 felony she also testified, for
the FIRST time, that the first offense
against her was committed il NoVem-
Der of 1905. Hoben may be proceeded
against for this, the supreme court says,
on a new information.
Miss Thomas was telephone oper-
ator at Bingham when the alleged Of
Tense was committed Hoben edited
newspaper there Il while II is likely
that the case will be dropped now.