Title

2650: The People of the State of New York v. Peter J. Brennan

Abstract

Peter Brennan is indicted for seduction under promise of marriage.
Irene Gkork, 20 years old, first met Brennan at a party in May 1918. She accepted his invitation to a vaudeville show and, according to her testimony in court, they met several times each week thereafter until October 1918. Gkork testifies that Brennan proposed to her three weeks after they had first met and that she accepted his offer; and he subsequently asked several people to witness the ceremony.
On Wednesday, August 14, she went with the defendant to the apartment on 9th Avenue where he lived with his father and cousin. They were alone together in the front room when he asked her to have sex with him, saying that no one would know about it and that they were to be married that November. She refused; but he took her into the bedroom, pulled her onto the bed, lifted her clothes, unbuttoned his trousers, and they had intercourse.
That September, after she told him that she had not menstruated, Brennan arranged for her to have an abortion but she refused the operation. He ended contact with her, no longer calling at her apartment, and in November 1918, after she filed a complaint, the police arrested him on a charge of seduction.
Several witnesses, including Irene Gkork’s sister, Helen; her mother, Delia; and a friend, Helen Spalding, all testify that Brennan had talked about his intent to marry and that he had stated that the wedding would occur in November 1918. Peter Brennan, testifying on his own behalf, states that he had only met Irene Gkork four times, denies that he had proposed marriage, and claims that she had been pregnant on account of sex with another man. John Joseph Frazer, 22, a welder, testifies that he had had sex with her two times, in August 1918. Irene Gkork had worked at the Vitagraph Company and several employees, including Brennan’s cousin, Mamie Eustace, state that she had frequently spoken of liaisons with several men.
The jury returns a guilty verdict and Brennan is sentenced to a term of imprisonment not less than two years and six months and not more than five years.

Type of Crime

Seduction See all items with this value

Date of Crime

1919-02-21

Date of Hearing

1919-06-18

Verdict

Guilty See all items with this value

Sentence

Imprisonment: minimum of 30 months and not more than five years. See all items with this value

Defendant(s) Name(s)

Peter J. Brennan

Prosecuting Attorney

Fernidand Pecora

Defense Attorney

S. L. Levine

Judge

James T. Malone See all items with this value

Case ID

2650

Location of Crime

Manhattan, New York

Item sets

Seduction

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