McGinnis v. State

91 P. 936, 16 Wyo. 72, 1907 Wyo. LEXIS 37
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 7, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 91 P. 936 (McGinnis v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGinnis v. State, 91 P. 936, 16 Wyo. 72, 1907 Wyo. LEXIS 37 (Wyo. 1907).

Opinions

Beard, Justice.

- An information was filed by the county and prosecuting attorney of Converse County against the plaintiff in error, William McGinnis, for the crime of robbery. The charge contained in the information being as follows: “That William McGinnis, late' of the county aforesaid, on the 12th day of December, A. D. 1905, at and in the county aforesaid, the said William McGinniss did then and there unlawfully, forcibly and feloniously take from the person of Norvil Lawrence by violence the sum of fifty dollars, and, more, lawful money of the United States and of the value of fifty dollars, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Wyoming.” To this information the defendant, McGinnis, pleaded “not guilty.” On the trial the jury returned a verdict of guilty against him, and he moved in arrest of judgment on two grounds: First, because the defendant had not been given a preliminary examination by an examining magistrate before the information was filed in the district court; and second, because the facts stated in the information are not sufficient to constitute an offense. The motion was denied-by the court, and the defendant sentenced to a term in the penitentiary, and he brings error.

The objection that the defendant had not been given a preliminary examination, if such was the fact, and if. the case was one requiring it under the provisions of Sec. 5273, R. S. 1899, should have been presented by a motion to quash if the grounds appeared upon the face of the record ; otherwise by plea in abatement; aid not having been so taken was waived by the plea of not guilty, by the express terms of the statute. (Sec. 5326, R. S. 1899.)

The other objection that the facts stated in the information do not constitute an offense, is one of the grounds upon [76]*76which a motion in arrest of judgment may be granted (Sec. 5418, R, S, 1899), and presents the question of the sufr ficiency of the .information. Robbery is defined by our statute as follows; “Whoever forcibly and feloniously takes from the person of another any article of value, by violence or by putting in fear, is guilty of robbery, and shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than fourteen years.” This is but a restatement of the offense at common law and embraces all of the elements of robbery at common law. Blackstone defines robbery to be “the felonious and forcible taking, from the person of another, of goods or money to any value, by violence or by putting him in fear.” (2 Cooley’s Blackstone (4th Ed.), Bk. 4, 242.) It is an aggravated form of larceny and there can be no robbery without larceny. Bishop states that the elements of the offense to be averred and proved are, (1) a larceny, (2) wherein the asportation is from the person, and is (3) effected by force or by putting in fear. (2 Bishop’s New Crim. Procedure, Sec. 1001.) “The indictment should contain the allegations of simple larceny, with the added matter that makes the larceny robbery.” (Id., Sec. 1002.) “Ownership must be alleged-and proved precisely as in larceny.” (Id., Sec. 1006; 4 Cur. Raw, 1317.)

That the ownership of the property alleged to have been taken must be stated in an indictment or information for robbery has been- generally held by the courts of last resort in those states where the question has arisen. In a recent case in the supreme court of Iowa, under a statute which provides : “If any person, with force or violence, or by putting in fear, steal and take from the person of another any property that is the subj ect of larceny, he is guilty of robbery,” it was held that the offense thus created by the statute embraces all of the elements of the crime under the common law. And that robbery is but an aggravated form of larceny both at common law and under the statute; and as larceny is defined to be the felonious taking of the property of another, an allegation of- ownership is necessary in an indictment for [77]*77robbery. The indictment in that case charged that the defendant ‘ assaulted Thomas Malone, “and, with force and violence, wilfully and feloniously did steal, take and carry away from the person” of said Malone the sum of $75. The ownership of the property was not otherwise alleged in the indictment'. It was contended that the indictment was good because it charged that the defendant did “steal from the person of Malone.” But the court said: “It is true wc have held that the word ‘steal/ used' in the indictment, means a felonious taking. (State v. Griffin, 79 Ia., 568.) But we have never gone beyond this, and cannot, because of the statute already referred to.” It was held‘that under the common law it is necessary to allege and prove ownership precisely as in larceny and that such is the rule where it is a statutory crime. (State v. Wasson, 126 Ia., 320.) In People v. Vice, 21 Cal., 344, the indictment was for robbery and charged that the defendant’ “did violently and feloniously take money of the following description * * * from the person of another, to-wit: From the person of Jesse A. Brandy by force, threats,” etc. The indictment was not demurred to, but after a verdict of guilty defendant moved in arrest of judgment on the ground that the'ownership of the property was not stated in the indictment, which motion was denied. On appeal the supreme court held the indictment fatally defective for the want of such allegation and reversed the judgment. And in People v. Jones, 53 Cal., 58, it was held that an indictment for robbery must aver every fact necessary to constitute larceny, and more. And in People v. Ammerman, 118 Cal., 23, the defendant was informed against for robbery and pleaded former acquittal, once in jeopardy and not guilty. The opinion recites that “an information against the defendant for the crime of robbery involving the same transaction had previously been filed, and under it defendant was arraigned, and pleaded not guilty; a jury was impaneled, the-information was read and the plea stated. After the jury was sworn, and before any evidence was offered, upon motion [78]*78of the district attorney the information was dismissed and the defendant discharged. The ground for the motion was that the information did not allege the ownership of the property stolen,, which was in fact true.” It was held that the first information was invalid because- it failed to allege the ownership of the property taken, and there was no jeopardy; and that the court did not err in instructing the jury to find for the people upon the plea of former acquittal and once in jeopardy. The California cases on the question are cited and reviewed in a later case by the court of appeals of California (People v. Cleary, 81 Pac., 753), and it was again held that an information for robbery, which failed to allege the ownership of the property, did not charge an- offense.

We find nothing in the case of In re Myrtle, Cal. App., 84 Pac., 335, in conflict with the rule as stated in the other California cases.- It is there said: “In the Ammerman case the taking of the property might have been for some other purpose, for the language of the information does not intimate that the object was to steal it any more than the mere naming the crime ‘robbery’ might tend to indicate a. theft, and there being no allegation of ownership and no words used by which any inference could be drawn of ownership in one other than the defendant, except the mere possession Richard Johnson had of the money taken by Ammerman at the time. We think the decision in that case was correct.” Further on in the opinion in commenting on the case of People v.

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

Related

McCarty v. State
616 P.2d 782 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1980)
Cloman v. State
574 P.2d 410 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1978)
Gonzales v. State
551 P.2d 929 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1976)
State v. Green
211 N.W.2d 634 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1973)
State v. Mason
183 S.E.2d 661 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1971)
Valerio v. State
445 P.2d 752 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1968)
State v. Callaway
267 P.2d 970 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1954)
Elliott v. State
30 P.2d 791 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1931)
State v. Aragon
285 P. 803 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1930)
State v. Butler
278 P. 563 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1929)
State v. Skinner
230 P. 537 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1924)
James v. State
196 P. 1045 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1921)
Nicholson v. State
106 P. 929 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1910)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
91 P. 936, 16 Wyo. 72, 1907 Wyo. LEXIS 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcginnis-v-state-wyo-1907.