Baker v. State

97 N.W. 566, 120 Wis. 135, 1903 Wisc. LEXIS 177
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 11, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 97 N.W. 566 (Baker v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. State, 97 N.W. 566, 120 Wis. 135, 1903 Wisc. LEXIS 177 (Wis. 1903).

Opinion

Dodgke, J.

1. -The first assignment of error involves the contention that the statute (sec. 4423, Stats. 1898) punishing the obtaining of money under false pretenses applies only to commercial transactions, and is not applicable to the mere inducing of one to donate money as a charity. This contention has support from People v. Clough, 17 Wend. 351, which seems not to have been questioned or expressly reaffirmed on this point in New York. The conclusion was reached in that case on the strength of the recitation which preceded the English statute (30 Geo. II, ch. 24) which was the prototype of most of the statutes in this country; the latter, however, not retaining the preamble. That preamble recited as to the wrong to be reached by the statute the obtaining by evil-disposed persons of divers sums of money or merchandise, “to the great injury of industrious families and to the manifest prejudice of trade and credit.” Erom this the New York court argued that such trifling sums as people were ever induced to give to mendicants or for charity were not likely to cause great injury to industrious families, or to prejudice trade and credit. The English courts, in construing their own statute, have never so limited it. Reg. v. Hensler, 11 Cox, Cr. Cas. 510; Reg. v. Jones, Temp. & M. 270. Nor has any other court, so far as we, or apparently [139]*139the counsel, have ascertained, adopted the view of the Hew York court, which has been repudiated by many of them. Comm. v. Whitcomb, 107 Mass. 486; State v. Matthews, 91 N. C. 635; Strong v. State, 86 Ind. 208; State v. Styner, 154 Ind. 131, 56 N. E. 98; 2 Wharton, Cr. Law, § 1153; Bishop, Cr. Law, § 467. It is claimed that this court, in State v. Crowley, 41 Wis. 271, has expressly declared its-adoption of the rule of People v. Glough, and it is true that in that ease, at page 284, this court said:

“After much investigation and deliberation, we have-reached the conclusion that the rule of the Hew York cases-is supported by the better reason, as well as by the weight of authority, and that it is our duty to adopt it.”

That, however, was said not with reference to the point in hand. The question in State v.: Growley was merely whether the inducing of one to part with his money, where both were participant's in a criminal enterprise and purpose,, was within the statute, and it was held that the act was not intended to protect criminals in their unlawful dealings with each other; that being a suggestion also made in People v. Clough, and being the basis of decision in all the other Hew York cases cited. Clearly, that was the rule of the Hew York cases which this court declared .its decision to adopt. We do not deem it controlling upon' the present question,, which we may therefore consider as an open one in this state.

The language of our statute, adopted verbatim from Massachusetts (State v. Green, 7 Wis. 676, 685), is general:

“Any person who shall designedly,. by false pretenses or by any privy or false token and with intent to defraud, obtain from any other person any money, goods, wares, merchandise, or other property,” etc.

The magnitude of the money or property so obtained is of no consequence to the existence of the crime. The turpitude of one who defrauds in the name of charity is at least as great as that of one who meets another at arm’s length in the [140]*140open field of commercial transactions. Criminal statutes are not so much, to protect tbe individual from injury, as to purge, as far as possible, from tbe community, tbe act deemed wrongful and prejudicial. Nor can we concur with, tbe suggestion of tbe New York court that parsimony and resistance to calls of charity are so strong and effective generally with our people as to make fraud in solicitation for sucb purposes of but trifling efficacy or danger. We are persuaded not only that tbe great weight of authority, but tbe true principle underlying this enactment, requires tbe bolding that it prohibits and punishes as well tbe fraudulent obtaining of money or goods for an ostensibly charitable purpose as for any other, and that in this respect, at least, tbe information is not insufficient.

2. It is further contended that tbe information is insufficient for that it does not clearly allege knowledge on tbe part of tbe accused of tbe falsity of tbe statements charged against her. Tbe manner of allegation of tbe falsity of tbe statements, and of Mrs. Baiter's knowledge thereof, is set forth in tbe statement of facts. Confessedly, it is somewhat inartificial, and not tbe most approved and unambiguous method of asserting that tbe statements were false, and that tbe accused knew they were false, and yet we cannot think it reasonably capable of any other significance. To declare that an asserted fact is not tbe fact cannot fail of declaring the falsity of sucb assertion, and sucb declaration is made with reference to each of tbe representations charged upon accused. Tbe phrase, “all of which she, tbe said Mrs. J. S. Baiter, then and there well knew,” immediately follows all these negations of fact without break, being separated therefrom merely by a comma. We cannot doubt that she and her counsel were fully informed that tbe state charged that tbe various assertions made by her were untrue, and that she knew that tbe facts so asserted by her did not exist, and that this is sufficient.

[141]*1413. Several assignments .of error are predicated upon tbe charge to tbe jury.

(a) Among these was a somewhat peculiarly worded instruction with reference to the Dysart institution, to which accused was claimed to have represented that her orphanage had resemblance. By the evidence it Appeared that there never had been any such thing as the Dysart Orphanage at Ripon. The court informed the jury that there never had been such an institution, and then went on to instruct that accused might be convicted under this information if any material representations among those spécified in the information were false. Counsel take diametrically different views of the force of this charge; the plaintiff in error assuming that it was an instruction that'this assertion, at any rate, was false, and was enough to convict, while the Attorney General understands it as a declaration that this could not be a material misrepresentation, but that, if there were others established, she might nevertheless be convicted. As it will not be material to the result, we only call attention to the ambiguity of the expressions used, a,s evinced by the differing positions of counsel thereon, to the end that upon another trial such ambiguity may be avoided.

(b) Strenuous criticism is made upon the instruction with reference to reasonable doubt — especially upon the sentence therein, “A reasonable doubt which entitles an accused person to an acquittal is a doubt of guilt reasonably arising from all the evidence in the case.” This is claimed to fall within the criticism recently pronounced in McAllister v. State, 112 Wis. 496, 500, 88 N. W. 212, and to suggest the idea that evidence must he adduced in the case which arouses a doubt,, before-the jury are entitled to acquit.

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Bluebook (online)
97 N.W. 566, 120 Wis. 135, 1903 Wisc. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-state-wis-1903.