Ladd v. State

5 Ohio C.C. 276
CourtOhio Circuit Courts
DecidedJanuary 15, 1891
StatusPublished

This text of 5 Ohio C.C. 276 (Ladd v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Circuit Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ladd v. State, 5 Ohio C.C. 276 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1891).

Opinion

Smith, J.

The principal question argued to us on the first hearing of this case was, whether the judgment should be reversed on the ground that the verdict was so manifestly against the weight of the evidence, that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a new trial. An examination of the evidence contained in the bill of exceptions is certainly calculated to lead us to doubt whether it shows that the defendant was guilty of the crime of larceny, of which he was convicted — that is, whether it showed with that certainty which the law properly requires in criminal cases, that the money which the defendant received from the prosecuting witness, and with the stealing of which he was charged, was fraudulently obtained by the defendant with intent to steal it from the owneror that at the time of the parting with the possession of it, the owner expected and intended that the thing delivered to him, would be returned to her, or disposed of under her direction for her benefit.” See Kellogg ease, 26 Ohio St. 15. The state claimed that at the time of this transaction between the parties," the defendant made many statements as to his property and business, to induce the owner of the money to let him have it, but no attempt was made to show by evidence that these representa[278]*278tions were false. And as to the other point, there is grave doubt whether the money so delivered to the defendant, was not intended by the owner as a loan to him. It certainly was so on the face of it. A note for the amount received by him was executed and delivered to her, payable in thirty days, and bearing interest from date at the rate, of 8 per cent., and had a warrant of attorney attached thereto, authorizing a judgment to be entered for the amount due on the note. It is true the prosecuting witness says that she did not intend it to be a loan, and that she expected the identical money to be returned to her, but this is not beyond question.

But in view of the great weight to be given to the finding of a jury on a question of fact, and of the conclusions we have reached as to another branch of this case, we will not pass upon this question, for an examination of the record presented to us discloses this state of fact :

The indictment against the defendant contained two counts, one charging him with larceny, and the other with obtaining money under false pretenses. The defendant having pleaded not guilty, he was tried on this indictment at January term, 1890. ^ The record shows that the jury was then duly empanneled and sworn, the evidence and the arguments of counsel heard, and the charge of the court given, and that thejury retired to consider of their verdict, on March 14, 1890, and on the same day this entry appears on the journal of the court : “And afterwards came the said jury into open court, and state that they are unable to agree upon a verdict, whereupon they are by the court discharged from further consideration of this case, and the said case is passed.”

Sec. 7313, Revised Statutes, provides that “the court may discharge a jury without prejudice to the prosecution, for the sickness of a juror, the corruption of a juror, or other accident or calamity, or because there is no probability of the jurors agreeing, and the reason for the discharge shall be entered upon the journal.” This we understand to have been the doctrine of the common law, and the legislature has simply put [279]*279into the form of a statute the law and the practice as they stood before such enactment.

It will be seen that the record made of the discharge of the jury, contains no statement whatever of the time occupied by the jury in the consideration of the case, or how long they remained in their retii’ement. For all that appears it may not have exceeded five or ten minutes, or any other wholly inadequate period. So far as the record shows, the court did not consider the question, whether there was any probability that the jury could or could not agree upon a verdict, and certainly did not find by the journal entry that there was no such probability of their agreeing, and that they were discharged for this reason. No fact was found by the court, which under the law would warrant the discharge of the jury without prejudice to the prosecution, nor was it shown that the defendant consented to such discharge.

In the case of Dobbins v. The State, 14 Ohio St. 493, the supreme court held, that the right of the trial court to discharge a jury in a criminal case, against the consent of the accused, only exists in cases of absolute necessity, and when the jury have considered the case for such a length of time as to leave no reasonable expectations that they will be able to agree on a verdict.” And again — “To justify holding the accused 'for a further trial after such discharge, the record must show that an obstacle which the law will recognize as a necessity, did in fact exist; that it engaged the attention of the court, and that the order was based thereon, and was the result of consideration and decision. See also 24 Ohio St. 134; 6 Ohio, 400; 3 Ohio St. 229. On the record as thus made, it would appear clear in the light of these authorities, that the jury which tried the defendant on this indictment, having been so discharged, that this was equivalent to a verdict of acquittal, and operated to discharge him from further prosecution thereon while the record remained in this condition, and that he was in a position to ask that he be not again tried [280]*280thereon, or if he were again tried and convicted, that he might contest the legality of such conviction by proceedings in error to reverse the same, though the question was not raised in the trial court, unless some technical rule of law forbids it. For if the record in the case clearly shows a conviction or acquittal (or what is equivalent thereto), of a defendant on an indictment, and shows also a subsequent conviction of the same-defendant for the same offense, it would appear to be clearly erroneous on the face of the record, and should not be allowed to stand. When this matter came to our notice, wre deemed it proper to call the attention of counsel to it, and an effort has been made by the entry of a nuno pro tuno order upon the journal of the trial court to have the record show that the discharge of the jury was properly made.

Such an entry has been made by the trial court over the exception of the defendant, who took a bill of exceptions containing all of the evidence upon which the court acted in making this nuno pro tuno order, and this order and the bill of exceptions have been certified to us as a part of the record in-the case. And the propriety of the making of such order on-the evidence adduced, and its effect, and the question of the-sufficiency of the first order have been fully argued by counsel.

It is the claim of the prosecuting attorney that the first order was sufficient; and if not, that the question can not now be‘raised on the record, but should have been done by a plea in bar, and that if neither of these positions is sound, that the nuno pro tuno entry was properly made, and cures the apparent error.

We have already in effect held that the action of the court,, as shown by the first entry, made as to the discharge of the jury, operated as an acquittal of the defendant, if allowed to stand ; and the next inquiry is, whether the question properly arises on the record. It is true that the statute (sec. 7258, Rev.

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Bluebook (online)
5 Ohio C.C. 276, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ladd-v-state-ohiocirct-1891.