Hinshaw v. State

124 N.E. 458, 188 Ind. 447, 1919 Ind. LEXIS 62
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided October 7, 1919·No. No. 23,168·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

Willoughby, J.

— This is an appeal from a conviction in a criminal prosecution brought by indictment in two counts. In the first count of said indictment the appellant was charged with feloniously, unlawfully and knowingly overdrawing his account in the People’s State Bank of Arcadia, Indiana, while being then and there president and director of the said bank, contrary to §2295 Burns 1914, Acts 1905 p. 584, §402; and in the second count of said indictment the appellant was charged with feloniously, unlawfully and knowingly drawing and receiving payment of a check on said bank when the appellant knew at the time that he had no funds to his credit in said bank, and that at the time the appellant did not have the written consent thereto of the board of directors, manager or managers of said bank indorsed on said check, contrary to §2295 Burns 1914, supra. The statute under which said indictment is found, §2295 Burns 1914, supra, reads as follows: “Whoever, being president, director, cashier, teller, [451]*451clerk, officer or employe of any incorporated bank, or of any firm, corporation, person or association doing a banking business, shall knowingly overdraw his account in such bank, or in such other institution doing a banking business, or who shall knowingly draw and receive payment on any check on such bank, firm, corporation, person or banking association when he has no funds to his credit therein without first procuring the written consent thereto of the board of directors of any such incorporated bank, or the manager, or managers of any such firm, corporation, person or association doing a banking business, indorsed on such check, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction, shall be imprisoned in the state prison not less than two years nor more than fourteen years, and fined in double the sum so received."

Appellant in his‘brief setting out errors relied on for reversal enumerates forty-six alleged errors, but they may all be properly discussed under two heads, viz.: Overruling appellant’s separate and several motion to quash each count of the indictment, and overruling appellant’s motion for a new trial.

The defendant, in his motion to quash, attacks the sufficiency of the indictment and each count thereof, and says that the facts stated in the indictment, and each count thereof, separately, do not constitute a public offense. That the indictment, and each count thereof, contains matter which, if true, would constitute a legal justification of the offense charged and a legal bar to the prosecution, and that the indictment, and each count thereof, does not state the offense with sufficient certainty, and proceeds upon no definite theory.

It will be observed that §2295 Burns 1914, supra, defines two felonies. The first clause of said section provides that if the president, director, cashier, teller, clerk, officer or employe of any incorporated bank or of any [452]*452firm, corporation, person or association doing a banking business, shall knowingly overdraw his account in such bank, or in such other institution doing a banking business, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony. And in the second clause of said section it is provided that any such person who shall knowingly draw and receive payment on any check on such bank, firm, corporation, person or banking association,. when he had no funds to his credit therein, without first procuring the written consent thereto of the board of directors of any such incorporated bank or the manager, or managers of any such firm, corporation, person or association doing a banking business, indorsed on such check, shall be deemed guilty of a felony.

1. In the first count of the indictment, after the formal parts, it alleges that the defendant, John L. Hinshaw, on or about March 10, 1914, at Hamilton county, in the State of Indiana, was then and there president and director of a certain incorporated bank doing a banking business in said Hamilton county, in the State of Indiana, to wit, People’s State Bank, and did then and there feloniously, unlawfully and knowingly overdraw his account in said bank. This is a statement of every material fact necessary to constitute the felony defined in the first-clause of said §2295 Burns 1914, supra, and the said allegations are statements of fact and not conclusions.

2. The second count, by allegations of fact, charges the defendant with the commission of every act constituting the commission of a felony as defined by the second clause of §2295 Burns 1914, supra. It is claimed by appellant that this count of indictment alleges that the defendant “knew at the time he had no funds to his credit in said bank,” but that said count of said indictment does not say that he had no funds to his credit in said bank. We think the only reasonable con[453]*453struction that can be put on the expression that “appellant knew at the time that he had no funds to his credit in said bank” is that he had no funds to his credit in said bank, and knew he had none. Said second count of the indictment also avers that, at the time, the said John L. Hinshaw did not have the written consent thereto of the board of directors, manager, or managers of the bank indorsed on said check.

3. It will thus be seen that the offense is set forth in substantially the language of the statute in each count of the indictment, and the charge in each count is made in language clear and unequivocal. The indictment, and each count thereof, charges the offense with such degree of certainty that the court could pronounce judgment according to the right of the case, and is therefore sufficient. §2062 Burns 1914, Acts 1905 p. 584, §191. An indictment so framed as to inform the defendant of the charge which he is required to meet is sufficient. Brunaugh v. State (1909), 173 Ind. 483, 90 N. E. 1019.

4. In relation to offenses created by statute, the statute contains a definition of the offense. The offense consists in the commission of certain acts under specified circumstances and, in some cases, with particular intent; and an indictment founded on the statute must, with certainty and precision, charge the defendant with having committed or omitted the acts, under the circumstances, and with the intent, mentioned in the statute. Archbold, Crim. Pl. (1st Am. ed.) 23; State v. Stimson (1853), 24 N. J. Law 1, 23.

The appellant contends that the same rules of pleading should apply in this case as are applicable in cases of embezzlement, and cites in support of such contention: State v. Winstandley (1899), 154 Ind. 443, 57 N. E. 109; State v. Winstandley (1900), 155 Ind. 290, 58 N. E. 71; Sherrick v. State (1906), 167 Ind. 345, 79 [454]*454N. E. 193; Vinnedge v. State (1906), 167 Ind. 415, 79 N. E. 353; Wright v. State (1907), 168 Ind. 643, 81 N. E. 660. These eases are not applicable, because they were prosecutions under statutes declaring the charged offense to be embezzlement.

The case of Moore v. United States (1895), 160 U. S. 268, 16 Sup. Ct. 294, 40 L. Ed.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Hinshaw v. State, 124 N.E. 458, 188 Ind. 447, 1919 Ind. LEXIS 62 (Ind. 1919).

124 N.E. 458 (Hinshaw v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Defries v. State
342 N.E.2d 622 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1976)
Stokes, Alias Coleman v. State
119 N.E.2d 424 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1954)
McCormick v. State
119 N.E.2d 5 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1954)
Jackson v. State
112 N.E.2d 433 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1953)
Evansville White Swan Laundry, Inc. v. Goodman
91 N.E.2d 180 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1950)
Gingerich v. State
83 N.E.2d 47 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1948)
Rogers v. State
82 N.E.2d 89 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1948)
Indianapolis Dairymen's Co-Op. Inc. v. Bottema
79 N.E.2d 409 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1948)
Rice v. Magenheimer
75 N.E.2d 906 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1947)
Sammons v. State
199 N.E. 555 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1935)
Kennedy v. State
196 N.E. 316 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1935)
Erfman v. State
194 N.E. 326 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1935)
Day v. State
192 N.E. 433 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1934)
Ramsey v. State
183 N.E. 648 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1932)
McNamara v. State
181 N.E. 512 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1932)
Landreth v. State
171 N.E. 192 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1930)
Lehr v. State
157 N.E. 98 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1927)
Moore v. State
153 N.E. 402 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1926)
Sunderman v. State
151 N.E. 829 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1926)
Scheerer v. State
149 N.E. 892 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1925)