Commonwealth v. Dehle

42 Pa. Super. 300, 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 329
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 3, 1910
DocketAppeal, No. 123
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 42 Pa. Super. 300 (Commonwealth v. Dehle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Dehle, 42 Pa. Super. 300, 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 329 (Pa. Ct. App. 1910).

Opinion

Opinion by

Porter, J.,

The first assignment of error violates rule fifteen, of this court, in that the error, if any, was in the answer to a point, while neither the point nor the answer are quoted. The second and third assignments of error violate rule fourteen, for the reason that they each embrace more than one point, refer to more than one bill of exceptions and raise more than one distinct question. The assignments of error might all be quashed and the judgment affirmed upon this ground. We will, however, consider the question raised by the written request of the defendant for binding instructions and the refusal of that point by the court below. The sole contention of the appellant is that the prosecutor parted not only with the possession of but the property in his money, when he handed it to the appellant, and received in return a note for $50.00, purporting to be issued by the Confederate states of America in the year [303]*3031864, and that therefore the offense was not larceny, even if the appellant obtained the money of the prosecutor by means of a trick.

The prosecutor was a newly arrived immigrant who had come to Pittsburg directly from his home in Germany and had to wait at the Union station, Pittsburg, for a short time, for a train which would carry him to his ultimate destination, Swissvale station, near the city. He did not understand the English language and was unfamiliar with our current paper money. He was accosted in his native tongue by the defendant, who having ascertained where he was going told him that he was also going to that place and said they would have a good while to wait, the train did not leave until after eleven. Defendant asked the prosecutor if he had any friends in Pitts-burg, and the latter said he had but had not hunted them up yet. The defendant asked prosecutor to go with him to a German salodn and there make inquiry about his friends. They went to a saloon and had a glass of beer and then went out upon the street. The defendant picked up something in the street, or pretended to do so, and then exhibited what seemed to be a roll of money, upon the outside of which was a one dollar bill. The defendant said, “I have found a dollar.” He kept on unrolling it and said, “Oh, there is more than a dollar.” The defendant then said, “Have you any money about you?” The prosecutor said he had a few dollars. Defendant then said, “We will just divide this; have you $25.00? We will just divide this, but you must not tell anybody about it, not even your friends about it.” The prosecutor accepted this proposition and gave $25.00 in bills, current lawful money , of the United States, and received from the defendant a piece of paper, which the latter told him was $50.00 in money. The defendant then took the prosecutor into the Union station and telling him to wait there until he came back went out and never returned. The prosecutor subsequently continued his journey to his destination and afterwards was informed by his friends that the paper which he had received from the defendant was not lawful money of the country, but a bill which had been issued by the Confederate states of America, [304]*304in 1864, and worthless. The prosecutor a few days later met the defendant in Pittsburg and caused his arrest, and when the officers arrested the defendant they found upon his person two $50.00 Confederate notes, similar to that which he had given the prosecutor, and around each of those notes, in separate rolls, was wrapped a genuine dollar bill, exactly the same character of roll of what all appeared to be money, as that which the defendant had appeared to pick up in the street when in the company of the prosecutor.

The manner in which the case was left to the jury and the verdict upon that submission distinctly determines the following facts: The defendant entered upon the transaction in question with the preconceived design of fraudulently obtaining possession of the money of the prosecutor by a trick, and converting that money to his own use. The prosecutor did not know that the piece of paper which he received from the defendant was a Confederate bill, he believed it to be lawful money of the United States, and the defendant was aware of the ignorance of the prosecutor and of his mistaken belief that he was receiving lawful money. The defendant knew that the paper which he gave to the plaintiff in exchange for his good money was a Confederate bill, was not current money of the country and was worthless. The whole scheme beginning with the pretended finding of the money was a trick devised by the defendant for the purpose of inducing the prosecutor to exchange his money for other money, while the defendant did not intend to give him money in the pretended exchange. The learned counsel for the defendant now contend that the court below should have held, as matter of law, that the taking of the money of the prosecutor by the defendant did not constitute larceny, but false pretenses.

“The correct distinction in cases of this kind seems to be, that if by means of any trick or artifice, the owner of property is induced to part with the possession only, still meaning to retain the right of property, the taking by such means will amount to larceny; but if the owner part with, not only the possession of the goods but the right of property in them also, the offense of the party obtaining them will not be larceny, but [305]*305the offense of obtaining goods by false pretenses.” This statement of the distinction was quoted with approval from Russell on Crimes in the opinion by Mr. Justice Paxson in Com. v. Eichleberger, 119 Pa. 254, and it was there said; “The rule itself is distinct and clearly cut; the difficulty consists in its application to the facts of each particular case, varied as they are by the ingenuity of the particular rogue who makes the facts.” The rule as thus stated clearly indicates that there may be a parting with the possession which does not involve a passing of the right of property. The intention of the owner in each transaction is necessarily a controlling factor in determining whether the right of property passes with the possession. When an owner is induced by false and fraudulent representations to extend credit to one who purchases, or accepts payment for his goods by a check or bill of exchange which subsequently proves to be of no value, he parts not only with the possession of but the property in his goods, and the taking does not constitute larceny: Lewer v. Com., 15 S. & R. 93. When a purchaser is induced by false and fraudulent representations to pay more for a chattel than it is worth, his intention is to part with his money forever, he takes the chattel as his own to dispose of as he pleases, and this does not constitute larceny of the money: Regina v. Wilson and Martin, 8 Carrington and Payne, 111. With cases such as these there is no difficulty; in Lewer v. Com., the seller had extended credit to his purchaser, and in Regina v. Wilson and Martin, the purchaser had received the identical chattel for which he paid his money. The present case, however, does not fall within either of these classes. There was here no acceptance by the prosecutor of a promise made by the defendant, the contract in which the defendant pretended to join with the prosecutor was to be immediately executed, the money was by each party to be then and there delivered; no credit was extended. This case did not involve the purchase of any chattel or commodity, which might be more or less valuable than it was represented to be; there was here to be a present exchange of money for money.

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Related

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234 A.2d 43 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1967)
Commonwealth v. Quinn
19 A.2d 526 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1941)
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180 A. 759 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1935)
Commonwealth v. Mendenhall
20 Pa. D. & C. 227 (Lancaster County Court of Quarter Sessions, 1934)
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Irons v. Snyder
49 Pa. Super. 522 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1912)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 Pa. Super. 300, 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-dehle-pasuperct-1910.