Hameyer v. State

29 N.W.2d 458, 148 Neb. 798, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 109
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 7, 1947
DocketNo. 32256
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 29 N.W.2d 458 (Hameyer v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hameyer v. State, 29 N.W.2d 458, 148 Neb. 798, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 109 (Neb. 1947).

Opinion

Yeager, J.

This is a criminal action prosecuted on information in the district court for Seward County, Nebraska, by the county attorney of said county in the name of the State of Nebraska against A. W. Hameyer, real name unknown, defendant. In the action in the district court the State of Nebraska was denominated plaintiff and A. W. Hameyer defendant.

The information contained four counts each of which contained a separate charge that A. W. Hameyer was guilty of obtaining money by false pretenses from Wil[800]*800liam Woebbecke. At the conclusion of the evidence the defendant moved separately on each count for a directed verdict in his favor. This motion was sustained as to counts I and II of the information. Thereupon the other two counts were submitted to a jury. A verdict was returned finding the defendant guilty on the two counts. Following the rendition of verdict a motion for new trial was filed which was overruled and the defendant sentenced to serve a term of four years in the state penitentiary. The defendant has brought the record here for review by petition in error. In the proceeding here the defendant below is plaintiff in error and the State of Nebraska is defendant in error. However, for convenience he will be referred to as defendant and the defendant in error as the State.

The assignments of error in the brief upon which defendant relies for reversal are numerous but those which require consideration fall into seven general classifications and will be thus considered herein. These classifications do not follow the order of assignment in the brief and do not contain all of the assignments noted but they do embrace comprehensively the subjects that require consideration and determination. They are (1) that the information failed to state a cause of action; (2) that the court erred in denying a continuance; (3) that the court erred in refusing inspection of the lease on which the prosecution was based; (4) that the court erred in its rulings on the admissibility of evidence; (5) that the court erred in refusing to allow the defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty and file a motion to quash the information; (6) that the court erred in submitting the case to a jury on counts III and IV, the theory being that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction; and (7) that the sentence is excessive.

The particular question raised by the objection that the information did not state a cause of action is that the representations pleaded have reference to events to happen in the future and not to past events or exist-' [801]*801ing facts. The question was first raised by motion for leave to withdraw a plea of not guilty and to file a motion to quash the information.

The rule of law upon which defendant relies in this connection and which is controlling is the following:

“It is a well settled rule of the criminal law that the pretense or pretenses relied on to constitute the crime must relate to a past event or an existing fact; that any representation, or assurance, or promise, in relation to a future transaction, however false and fraudulent it may be, is not within the meaning of the statute.” Cook v. State, 71 Neb. 243, 98 N. W. 810. There is no contention in this case that this is not the controlling rule.

It therefore becomes necessary to examine the alleged representations and to ascertain whether or not they or one or more of them may be interpreted as referring to past events or existing facts. The allegations as to representation are three in number and are identical in the two counts which we are required to examine. They are in substance (1) that the defendant could procure for William Woebbecke an oil and gas lease upon a 320 acre tract of land situated in Caddo County, Oklahoma, for $1,600 which lease could be sold for $32,000 within three months, (2) that the defendant had a buyer who would purchase the lease for $32,000, and (3) that there were active and producing oil and gas wells immediately adjacent to and surrounding the land. There are other detailed representations but we have interpreted them to be incidents of or elaborations upon these three.

These alleged representations analyzed and interpreted in the light of what a person of average intelligence and lay understanding would construe them to mean, we conclude, amounted to representations of existing fact. We think that this should be the approach and that courts in such circumstances should not indulge' in strained or technical - refinements the effect of which might be to defeat the purposes of .law and the ends of justice.

[802]*802Interpreted in this light the obvious purport of the first representation was that defendant had a present and existing ability to procure a lease on lands referred to for $1,600. This is not a strained but is a reasonable interpretation. It is therefore in this sense a representation as to an existing fact and not to a future event.

The second representation interpreted in the same view amounted to a representation that the defendant had a commitment for the purchase of the lease for $32,000, which was, like the first, a representation as to an existing fact and not to a future event.

No discussion is required as to the third beyond the statement that without interpretation it is on its face the representation of an existing fact.

In the light of these observations it becomes clear that the court did not err in overruling the motion' for leave to withdraw the plea of not guilty and in denying leave to file a motion to quash the information. Counts III and IV stated causes of action against the defendant. This conclusion disposes of the first and fifth classifications.

Before the commencement of -the trial the defendant requested leave to inspect and to make a copy of the lease. Leave was denied. Also before the trial a motion for continuance was made. This was also denied. Of these rulings the defendant complains.

For statutory right to have the lease produced for inspection the defendant relies on section 25-1267, R. S. 1943, the pertinent portion of which is the following: “Either party or his attorney may demand of the adverse party an inspection and copy, or permission to take a copy, of a book, paper or document in his possession or under his control, containing evidence relating to the merits of the action or defense therein.” This section of the statute was applied in Marshall v. State, 116 Neb. 45, 215 N. W. 564, to procedure in criminal actions but an examination of its history discloses that it has no proper application in such actions, but applies [803]*803only in civil actions. The section was adopted as and remains a provision of the Code of Civil Procedure.

This is not to say however that a like rule of procedure is not applicable to criminal proceedings. In Cramer v. State, 145 Neb. 88, 15 N. W. 2d 323, this court, independent of statute, said: “If a prosecution is based upon the correctness or incorrectness of certain records, such as is ofttimes the case in a prosecution for embezzlement, the examination of such records by the defendant should be granted.” This rule is reasonable but discretionary and should be enforced when the ends of justice require it.

The question then before this court is that of whether or not the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to order an inspection of the lease. On the record it cannot well be said that the court abused its discretion in this respect.

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Bluebook (online)
29 N.W.2d 458, 148 Neb. 798, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hameyer-v-state-neb-1947.