Laev v. State

139 N.W. 416, 152 Wis. 33, 1913 Wisc. LEXIS 38
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 7, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 139 N.W. 416 (Laev 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
Laev v. State, 139 N.W. 416, 152 Wis. 33, 1913 Wisc. LEXIS 38 (Wis. 1913).

Opinion

BaeNes, J.

See. 4423, Stats., provides:

“Any person wbo shall designedly, by any false pretenses, . . . and with intent to defraud, obtain from any other person any money, goods, wares, merchandise, or other property, . . . shall be punished,” etc.

Sec. 4438A, Stats. (Laws of 1905, ch. 265), provides:

“Any person who shall designedly make any false statements in writing in reference to his assets or liabilities, or both, or the assets or liabilities of any corporation of which he is an officer or employee, for ,the purpose of procuring credit in any form, or for the purpose of procuring any extension of credit already given, shall be punished,” etc.

The maximum penalty for a violation of sec. 4423 is five years’ imprisonment in the state prison, and for a violation of sec. 443 8h it is three years in such prison.

The defendant was informed against under sec. 4423, and after the state rested its case it was permitted to amend the information so as to specifically charge an offense under sec. 443 8/i. The defendant ■ urges that these two statutes deal with separate and distinct crimes not of the same nature, and that neither sec. 4703 nor- any other statute permits an amendment of an information during the trial so as to Charge the defendant with a different offense from that for which he was placed on trial. The state contends that the court had power to permit the amendment, and, further, that it was immaterial whether the amendment was made or not, because the jury might convict'the defendant of an offense under sec. 443 8h upon the information drawn under sec. 4423. [38]*38If this latter contention, of the state is correct, it goes far toward disposing of three of the errors most strenuously relied on for a reversal.

The substance of the information is given in the statement of facts. It will be observed that it sets forth that the defendant designedly made false statements in writing with reference to the assets and liabilities of the corporation of which he was an officer, for the purpose of procuring credit from the Eirst National Bank of Milwaukee, and that by meaus of such false representations he secured funds from the bank to the amount of $5,500. This information charges every fact necessary to state an offense under see. 4438k. It informed the defendant that the state expected to prove an offense under sec. 4423 by showing, among other things, that false statements in writing as to assets and liabilities had been designedly made for the purpose of procuring credit, and that not only had credit been extended on the strength of such representations, but that the bank had actually parted with its money because of them. The defendant therefore was fully advised that the state expected to prove a state of facts which would show that an offense had been committed under sec. 4438k.

Is there any reason why the lesser offense is not included in the greater so that a conviction might be had under sec. 4438k although the information had not been amended?

In every prosecution under sec. 4423, where the state relies on false statements in writing of assets or liabilities made for the purpose of procuring credit, and where money is secured as a result of such pretenses, the facts showing the commission of an offense under sec. 4438k are necessarily shown in proving the offense charged. The greater offense cannot be pleaded or proven without pleading and proving the lesser.

“Where offenses are included one within another, a person indicted for a higher one may be convicted for one below, [39]*39provided the averment in the indictment, in form, charges the lesser offense as well.” Kilkelly v. State, 43 Wis. 604, 608; State v. Shear, 51 Wis. 460, 462, 8 N. W. 287; Birker v. State, 118 Wis. 108, 94 N. W. 643; State v. Mueller, 85 Wis. 203, 55 N. W. 165; Porath v. State, 90 Wis. 527, 63 N. W. 1061.

The offense here charged under sec. 4423 is not only of the same nature as that charged in the amended information made under sec. 4438A but both offenses spring from the same transaction. This is an important if not a controlling factor in determining whether the lesser offense is included in the greater. Birker v. State, supra.

Sec. 4695, Stats., provides:

“Whenever any person indicted or informed against for felony shall on trial be acquitted by verdict of part of the offenses charged in the indictment or information and convicted of the residue thereof, such verdict may be received and recorded by the court, and thereupon the person charged shall be adjudged guilty of the offense, if any, which shall appear to the court to be substantially charged by the residue of such indictment or information, and shall be sentenced and punished accordingly.”

This court, in Birker v. State, supra, adopted the same construction for this statute that the New York court had given a like statute of that state in Keefe v. People, 40 N. Y. 348, 355, in which it is said:

“The true construction of the statute is that, when the act for which the accused is indicted is the same act for which he is convicted, the conviction of the lower degree is proper, although the indictment contains averments constituting the offense of the highest degree of the species of crime, and omits to state the particular offense and circumstances characterizing a lower degree of the same crime.”

It is true that a crime can be committed under see. 4423 without committing one under sec. 4438^ also, but it is utterly impossible to commit a crime under sec. 4423 in the form [40]*40and manner in wbicb it was committed in tbis case without also committing one under see. 443 8h. This being so, andi the offenses having sprung from the same transaction and being of the same nature, merely differing in degree, it can make no difference, in determining whether the lesser offense was included in the greater, that other classes of offenses falling under sec. 4423 might be perpetrated without an offense being committed under sec. 4438T&.

It follows that, inasmuch as there was no necessity for amending the information in order to secure a conviction under sec. 4438ft, it was immaterial whether the amendment was made or not, and the defendant was not prejudiced thereby.

The defendant moved for a continuance of the case for four weeks, on the ground of surprise when the amendment to the information was allowed. The motion was denied. The defendant also moved the court for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. The affidavits used in support of the motion were to the effect that on another 'trial additional evidence could be adduced to show that defendant did not misrepresent the assets or liabilities of the corporation and that the state’s witness, Wilson, based some of his testimony on erroneous assumptions and that he drew erroneous conclusions from the examination which he made of the books of the corporation.

In support of these two assignments of error it is urged that the defendant went to trial on an information charging an offense under see. 4423 and did not fully prepare and was not called upon to so prepare in order to defend himself on a charge under sec.

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

Related

State v. Carrington
386 N.W.2d 512 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1986)
Hagenkord v. State
302 N.W.2d 421 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1981)
Angus v. State
251 N.W.2d 28 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1977)
Geitner v. State
207 N.W.2d 837 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1973)
State v. Smith
198 N.W.2d 630 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1972)
Holesome v. State
161 N.W.2d 283 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1968)
Lochner v. State
261 N.W. 227 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1935)
Pepin v. State ex rel. Chambers
259 N.W. 410 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1935)
Eastway v. State
206 N.W. 879 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1926)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
139 N.W. 416, 152 Wis. 33, 1913 Wisc. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/laev-v-state-wis-1913.