Boatner v. State

1943 OK CR 60, 137 P.2d 599, 76 Okla. Crim. 418, 1943 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 112
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 12, 1943
DocketNo. A-10153.
StatusPublished

This text of 1943 OK CR 60 (Boatner v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boatner v. State, 1943 OK CR 60, 137 P.2d 599, 76 Okla. Crim. 418, 1943 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 112 (Okla. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

BAREFOOT, J.

Defendant, G. L. Boatner, was charged in the district court of Bryan county with unlawfully disposing of mortgaged property, was tried, convicted and sentenced to serve a term of three years in the State Penitentiary, and has appealed.

For a reversal of this case, it is contended:

1. That the alleged crime was not within the jurisdiction of the district court of Bryan county, Oklahoma.

*419 2. That there was not sufficient evidence in the record to identify the cattle sold at Ft. Worth, Texas, as the cattle included in the mortgage.

The statute under which defendant was charged is section 1946, O. S. 1931, 21 Okla. Stat. Ann. 1941 § 1834, which is as follows:

“Any mortgagor of personal property, or his legal representative, who, while such mortgage remains in force and unsatisfied, conceals, sells, or in any manner disposes of such property, or1 any part thereof, or removes such property, or any part thereof, beyond the limits of the county, or materially injures or wilfully destroys such property, or any part thereof, without the written consent of the holder of such mortgage, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period not. exceeding three years, or in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars : Provided, that the writing containing the consent of the holder of the mortgage, as before specified, shall be the only competent evidence of such consent, unless it appear that such writing has been lost or destroyed.”

The evidence reveals that the defendant, G. L. Boat-ner, who was a resident of Bryan county on September 6, 1939, on that date gave a chattel mortgage to the Citizens National Bank of Denison, Tex., to secure two notes:, for the total sum of |3,T56; that the property covered thereby consisted of 85 head of cattle, three mules and three horses, a particular description of which it is unnecessary to give. This stock was located at the home of defendant, in Bryan county, and the chattel mortgage was filed in that county, and contained the usual terms with reference to the removal, sale or disposal of property by the mortgagor without the written consent of the mortgagee.

*420 The evidence revealed that when the mortgage became due in the fall of 1940 and was not paid, the bank had its representatives make investigation, and the only part of the property that could be found was. one cow and one calf, and three horses. This property was sold by the bank for the sum of $300, and applied on the indebtedness due.

The evidence further reveals that during the month of August, 1940, the defendant employed two drivers with trucks to convey about 48 head of cattle to the stockyards in Fort Worth, and that such cattle were sold by the Shirley Commission Company. The parties who* owned the trucks and transported the cattle testified to being employed by the defendant, and to going to his home and loading the cattle in the night, and delivering them at Fort Worth. The defendant accompanied the trucks to Fort Worth and conducted the sale of the cattle, but he did not return with them, stating to the drivers: that he was going to stay in Fort Worth for a day or so and rest up, and come home on a bus.

He did not return to his home in Bryan1 county, but was next heard of when he was arrested in the State of Arizona, where he was going under an assumed name. This was after a complaint had been filed against him in Bryan county, and a warrant for his arrest, had been placed in the hands of the sheriff of that county.

The evidence further reveals that the cattle delivered and sold at Fort Worth were in brands similar to> the ones covered by the chattel mortgage. There were other circumstances which the jury had the right to. consider, and which reasonably tended to show that the cattle disposed of by defendant were the identical cattle covered by the mortgage. The property was disposed of without *421 the consent of the owner and holder of the note and mortgage.

The only evidence offered by defendant was five witnesses, who testified to his good character and reputation. The defendant did not testify.

The above statement of the evidence is a sufficient answer to the contention of the defendant as above: set forth. The mere fact that the cattle were taken from Bryan county and sold in the State of Texas would not, in our opinion, oust Bryan county of venue; nor would it prohibit a prosecution under the above-quoted statute.

In the case of Dobbins v. State, 40 Okla. Cr. 334, 268 P. 1116, the question of removing mortgaged property under the statute above quoted was under consideration. The evidence revealed that the- property was removed from Cotton county beyond the limits of the state, without the consent of the holder of the notes and mortgage, and this evidence was held sufficient to sustain the judgment and sentence.

A case directly in point, and which gives the reason for the rule announced, is a case from the Supreme Court of Kansas, State v. Gorman, 113 Kan. 740, 216 P. 290. In this case a chattel mortgage had been given on property located in Kansas, and the property was shipped to and sold in Kansas City, Mn. The court said:

“By objections to various rulings the defendant raises the most important question in the case: Whether a conviction under the statute cited can -rightly be had in any case where the mortgagor with intent to defraud ships mortgaged chattels out of the state and sells them there. It is our conclusion that within the meaning of the statute such conduct amounts to a disposal of the goods in this state, and that the offense is punishable in the county from which the shipment is made. The phrase ‘to dis *422 pose of is one of wide application, but in criminal statutes, especially when associated Avith ‘to sell,’ it has been held to involve a transfer of title or possession or destruction of the property to which it is applied. 11 C. J. 639; Scott v. State, 6 Ga. App. 332, 64 S. E. 1005, in effect quoted from in 18 C. J. 1281. In the case last cited a statute forbidding a cropper to ‘sell or otherwise dispose of’ a part of a crop without the consent of the landlord Avas held not to be violated by a removal of the property from one county to another in the same state. In the opinion it was1 said, however:
“ ‘It might be that for a cropper to' move any part of the farm products across the state line would be to dispose of it, as that would be a material interference with the landlord’s constructive possession, in that it Avould destroy his right to resort to those remedies which are proAuded by the laws of this state for the maintenance of his peculiar and superior rights in the property.’ 6 Ga. App. 334, 335, 64 S. E. 1006.

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Related

Dobbins v. State
1928 OK CR 249 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1928)
State v. Perry
70 S.E. 304 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1911)
State v. Haynes
55 S.E. 118 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1906)
Scott v. State
64 S.E. 1005 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1909)
Collins v. Commonwealth
133 S.W. 233 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1911)
State v. Perkins
210 P. 1091 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1922)
State v. Gorman
216 P. 290 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1923)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1943 OK CR 60, 137 P.2d 599, 76 Okla. Crim. 418, 1943 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boatner-v-state-oklacrimapp-1943.