Davis v. State

115 N.W. 150, 134 Wis. 632, 1908 Wisc. LEXIS 79
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 18, 1908
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 115 N.W. 150 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 115 N.W. 150, 134 Wis. 632, 1908 Wisc. LEXIS 79 (Wis. 1908).

Opinion

BasiiRobd, J.

The defendant was convicted in the municipal court for the eastern district of Waukesha county, under sec. 4423, Stats. (1898), for obtaining money under false pretenses, and also of having been convicted for a former offense, subjecting him to the increased penalty imposed by statute in such cases, as charged by the information. The case is brought here upon a writ of error, and the assignments of error that are deemed material will be considered in the order presented.

The sufficiency of the first count of the information is challenged upon three grounds, the last of which only need be considered. The contention is made that the information is insufficient because it does not allege that “H. J. Wolf, relying upon the false pretenses used and believing them to be true,” parted with his money. To support this, position the learned counsel for defendant especially relies [637]*637upon State v. Green, 7 Wis. 676, and State v. Kube, 20 Wis. 217. Tbe court in State v. Green, in considering tbe language of tbe statute creating tbe offense of obtaining money under false pretenses, strongly intimates that an indictment is not sufficient without an averment that tbe party defrauded was induced to part with bis property by relying upon the truth of tbe false statements. Tbe rule there suggested receives tbe qualified approval of tbe court in State v. Kube, 20 Wis. 217. State v. Green is referred to in Steuer v. State, 59 Wis. 472, 476, 18 N. W. 433, as bold-ing “that in an indictment or complaint for obtaining goods under false pretenses it is necessary to set out tbe pretenses used, as well as tbe other facts which constitute, the offense.” It is submitted that this information did comply with that requirement and it conforms with precedents generally recognized. 2 Archbold, Crim. Prac. & Proc. 1376; Whart. Crim. Law, 239. But, conceding that State v. Green fully supports the position of defendant’s counsel and establishes the strict rule of pleading which is contended for, it cannot prevail as against tbe procedure prescribed in sec. 4669, Stats. (1898). That section provides that when the offense charged has been created by any statute, or the punishment of such offense has been declared by any statute, the information shall, after verdict, be held sufficient if it describes the offense in the words of the statute or in words of substantially the same meaning; “and words used in the statutes to define a public offense need not be strictly pursued in charging an offense under such statutes, but other words conveying the same meaning may be used.” This statutory rule for the construction of pleadings was enacted as sec. 20, ch. 137, Laws of 1871, when provision was first made for trial of criminal offenses upon information, and after the decisions of State v. Green and State v. Kube, above referred to. The defects of a criminal complaint were under consideration in State ex rel. McKay v. Curtis, 130 Wis. 357, [638]*638110 N. W. 189, and the rule applicable here was there stated. It is said (130 Wis. 365, 110 N. W. 192) : “Defects or imperfections in matters of form at any stage of the proceedings which do not tend to prejudice the defendant are to be disregarded,” citing secs. 4658, 4659, Stats. (1898). Sec. 4106 authorizes the court to disregard the variance between the statement in the information and the proof where the same is not material to the case. Whether there is an amendment to this information or not, the provisions of the foregoing statutes apply. We must therefore hold that there was no reversible error of the court with respect to this ruling.

The sufficiency of the second count is challenged upon the ground that it does not use the language of sec. 4737, Stats. (1898), which provides for greater punishment because of former offenses when “such sentence remains of record and unreversed,” the words of the information being that “such conviction remains of record and unreversed.” The information does allege that the defendant had been convicted and sentenced for the former offense, and this is supported by the record that was properly received in evidence. There was no claim that this sentence had been set aside, and the mistake in the use of the word “conviction” in the language which follows, instead of “sentence,” while not to be approved, cannot be held reversible error under the statutes above referred to. We do not overlook the legal distinction between the word “sentence” and the word “conviction,” as a conviction may stand and the sentence be set aside and another sentence pronounced. The term “conviction” is used in common language, and sometimes in the statutes, in two different senses. “In its most common use it signifies the finding of the jury that the person is guilty, but it is frequently used as implying a judgment and sentence of the court upon a verdict or confession of guilt.” Comm. v. Gorham, 99 Mass. 420, 422. The term as used in this infor[639]*639mation could not Rave affected the defendant, and the ruling of the court upon this question is not reversible error. This information meets the constitutional requirement that the accused shall enjoy the right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him.

•The contention is made on behalf of the defendant that there is a fatal variance between the allegations of the information and the proof with respect to the identification of the person by whom it was claimed the defendant had been engaged to collect money for the church program. The information alleges that the defendant “had been engaged by one Rev. W. J. Lemon, rector of St. Mathias Episcopal Ohurch.” The special name of the church was given as part of the description of the person of the rector. In the testimony the rector was sometimes referred to as “Father Lemon” and the “Reverend Father Lemon;” but he was sufficiently identified as W. J. Lemon, of the Episcopal Ohurch, so the variance consists in the omission of “St. Mathias” by the witness when referring to the Episcopal Ohurch. W. J. Lemon himself testified that he was “a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Ohurch, rector of the parish here, in the city of Waukesha,” clearly indicating that there was only one Episcopal church in the city and that he was the rector thereof. Counsel for defendant cites in support of his contention the case of Jackson v. State, 55 Wis. 589, 13 N. W. 448, which was a prosecution for burglary, where the breaking into the building is the gist of the offense. It was held there that it is essential in charging the crime to state with reasonable certainty the owner of the building broken open and entered, and that the fact should be proved as alleged. The rule could in strictness apply only to the identification of M. J. Wolf, the person defrauded, which is not here questioned. Koetting v. State, 88 Wis. 502, 507, 60 N. W. 822, is also cited and is equally wide of application. [640]*640There the information charged that the defendant accepted and received money “on deposit and for safekeeping,” and the court held that proof that money was received on general deposit was insufficient, upon the ground that the defendant was charged with one crime and convicted of an entirely different crime. Two of the five judges dissented from the conclusion in that case. Here the defendant was convicted of obtaining money by false pretenses from M. J. Wolf, and any mere discrepancy between the averments of the complaint as to immaterial details of statement constituting the pretenses cannot be treated as a fatal variance.

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Bluebook (online)
115 N.W. 150, 134 Wis. 632, 1908 Wisc. LEXIS 79, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-wis-1908.