## Facts

- New Orleans police officer Tim Freel entered the Golden Slipper Club in plain clothes on November 20, 1969, for a vice check.
- Ernest B. Gonzales was present and motioned to Freel, calling over the barmaid.
- The barmaid asked Freel to buy her a drink and then solicited him to go to a “party,” stating the price was $50 plus $10 for a room.
- Freel paid $60 in three recorded (marked) $20 bills; the barmaid placed the money in the club’s cash register.
- The barmaid took Freel to an apartment owned by Gonzales; after she disrobed, Freel arrested her.
- Freel and two other officers returned to the club, arrested Gonzales, advised him of his rights, and directed him to empty his pockets.
- Officers found a roll of money on Gonzales containing the same three marked $20 bills.
- Gonzales was charged under La. R.S. 14:84 with receiving support and maintenance from the earnings of a prostitute.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred by admitting the officer’s testimony about the barmaid’s solicitation and price statements as hearsay.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gonzales received support and maintenance from the earnings of a prostitute under La. R.S. 14:84.

## Decision

- The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and two-year parish-prison sentence.
- The court held the barmaid’s statements were admissible as part of the transaction (verbal acts) and not reversible hearsay error.
- The court held the evidence, including Gonzales’s possession of the marked bills and surrounding circumstances, was sufficient to support the verdict.

## Legal Principles

- Statements made during the course of an alleged criminal transaction may be admitted as verbal acts (part of the transaction) to explain conduct and the character of the exchange, rather than for their truth as testimonial assertions.
- In a prosecution for receiving earnings of a prostitute under La. R.S. 14:84, circumstantial evidence can be sufficient where it supports an inference that prostitution proceeds were transferred to the defendant for his benefit.
- Possession of marked money paid for prostitution, combined with evidence tying the defendant to the premises and facilitation of the transaction, can permit a jury to infer receipt of support and maintenance from prostitution earnings.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Gonzales’s pandering-related conviction, ruling that the officer could recount the barmaid’s solicitation statements as verbal acts integral to the transaction and that the marked-money recovery and related circumstances provided sufficient evidence that Gonzales received support and maintenance from prostitution earnings under La. R.S. 14:84.


State v. Gonzales, 245 So. 2d 372 (La. 1971)