Case Name: People, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Hernández, Defendant and Appellant
Court: Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico
Decision Date: 1921-01-27
Citations: 29 P.R. 53
Docket Number: No. 1525
Parties: People, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Hernández, Defendant and Appellant.
Judges: Chief Justice Hernández and Justices Del Toro, Aldrey and Hutchison concurred.
Reporter: Puerto Rico Reports
Volume: 29
Pages: 53–54

Head Matter:
People, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Hernández, Defendant and Appellant.
Appeal from the District Court of Aguadilla in a Prosecution for Violation of the Minimum Wages Act.
No. 1525
Decided January 27, 1921.
Minimum Wages — Piecework—Evidence.—The mere statement of an inspector in a prosecution for violation of the Minimum Wages Act that a woman working hy the piece earned less than a dollar a day during the week specified in the information is not sufficient evidence to support a judgment of conviction.
The facts are stated in the opinion.
Mr'. J. B. Garcia for the appellant.
Mr. José E. Figueras, Fiscal, for the appellee.

Opinion:
Mr. Justice Wole
delivered the opinion of the court.
This was a prosecution under the Minimum Wage Law of June 9, 1919. The complaint charged that the defend ant employed a woman working by the piece 'for forty hours and only paid her $3.97. The proof, however, as pointed out by the fiscal, fails to show that she was working at all in the week which is mentioned in the complaint. The statement of the inspector that he did not recall how much she made, bnt that she was making less than a dollar a day in that week, was insufficient. Hence it was impossible to know how much she earned that week or how much she would have earned.
The judgment must be
Reversed.
Chief Justice Hernández and Justices Del Toro, Aldrey and Hutchison concurred.