Norris v. State

25 Ohio St. (N.S.) 217
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided December 15, 1874·Published

Opinion

Gilmore, J.

There are a number of errors assigned on the record, upon which the plaintiff in error asks a reversal of the proceedings and sentence against him in the court below.

It will be necessary to notice only the first three assigned, which are substantially:

1. That the facts stated in the indictment do not constitute an offense.

2. That the court erred in its charge to the jury on the question of venue.

3. That the court erred in its charge to the jury on the question of the value of the goods.

Two objections are urged to the indictment: First. That •the owner of the goods alleged to have been fraudulently obtained is an incorporated company, and therefore not a “ person,” within the meaning of the statute.

In support of this proposition two cases are cited. One—Blair v. Worley, 1 Scam. 178 — decides that a statute giving the right to remove fences made by mistake upon the lands of other persons, applies only to natural persons, and not to the United States or the State of Illinois. The other—Betts v. Menard, 1 Breese, 395 — decides that the ferry law does not authorize a county court to grant a license to ferry to a corporation, giving as one, among other reasons, that the law requires that the party receiving the grant shall give bond, etc, “ conditioned that he, she, or they will keep the ferry according to law.” The terms used in the statutes referred to in these cases respectively, exclude the idea that corporations were intended to be included.

But it is insisted that the rule of strict construction in this respect, must be applied in this case, and that the crime “can only be committed by a ‘person’ against the [224]*224property of another ‘person,’ who must be in either case a natural person.”

It is well settled that the rule of strict construction is not violated by giving the words of a statute a reasonable meaning according to the sense in which they were intended, and that captious objections must be disregarded. G-uided by this rule, let us ascertain in what sense the legislature used the words any other person, in the statute under which the defendant is indicted; and in this we will be aided by observing another rule of construction, in connection with it, which is, that where a clause, susceptible of two meanings, is used in a statute which has received a judicial construction, and the same clause is used in a subsequent statute, upon the same or an analogous subject, it is to be understood in the latter in the same sense as in the former, unless the object to which it is applied, or the connection in which it stands, requires it to be differently understood in the two statutes.

This statute, and. those punishing larceny, are not only analogous in the nature of the offenses made punishable and the degrees of punishment, but with the word “person ” understood, as it must be, after the phrase property of another, as used in the larceny acts, they are identical in respect to the persons against whom these offenses may be committed; and our courts have always held that it is-larceny to steal the goods or moneys of a corporation.

Again, the 12th section of the crimes act provides against burning or causing to be burned the dwelling-house, store-house, warehouse, etc., the property of any other-person, etc. This is the same phrase used in the “false pretense statute;” and this court sustained an indictment, against A. for procuring H. to burn a warehouse, the property of an incorporated railroad company. Allen v. The State, 10 Ohio St. 287.

Again, the criminal code of Ohio, section 227, provides-that the word “ person” includes a corporation as well as a natural person. This only prescribes the rule in criminal practice on this subject; but, under the rules of construe[225]*225tion, it may properly be regarded as an indication of legislative intent on this point, in the passage of criminal laws since the adoption of the code.

Taking all these in connection with the fact that the statute making it criminal to obtain goods by false pretenses, has been passed since the adoption of the code, and since the larceny and arson statutes have received the judicial constructions above indicated on the point under consideration, and applying the rules of construction above stated,'we hold that the word “ person,” as used in the statute, includes artificial as well as natural persons.

The second objection is, that it is not averred in the indictment that the owner relied upon the false pretenses and representations, and was induced by means thereof to part with his property.

We have been referred to quite a number of authorities-supposed to support this objection, which, on examination, are found not to do so.

Two questions are discussed in them. Eirst, as to whether the offenses charged, were within the statute, of which no notice need be taken ; and second, whether the indictment in the ease then under consideration was good. And in not a single case examined, is it found that an indictment otherwise good, was held bad for want of the averment in-question. Eor example, we take the case of The State v. Philbrick, 31 Maine, 401, which is claimed by counsel to be directly in point.

The alleged false representations in this case were made by Philbriek to Goff, the prosecuting witness, in reference to the age and value of a mare he was attempting to exchange for a horse owned by Goff.

The court, in deciding the case, said: “ The former part of this indictment alleges that the accused by false pretenses intended to cheat and defraud Goff, and proposed to exchange his mare for the horse of Goff; but there is no averment that such an exchange was made, or that the false [226]*226pretenses were made with a view or design to effect such ■an exchange.”

It is true that Jhe court, in holding the indictment bad, did remark, in substance, that it was not averred that the prosecuting witness relied upon the representations of the defendant; but it is apparent that the indictment, in other respects, was so defective, that the additional allegation would not have cured it. Similar remarks were made by the court in disposing of the case of the Commonwealth v. Strain, 10 Met. 521, which is also cited. This was a case in which it was alleged that the defendant had made certain false representations concerning a watch, to the prosecuting witness, Blake, whereby he obtained thirty-five dollars from the latter. The court said : “ The case at bar, if confined in its proof on the trial by the jury to the mere ■allegations of the indictment, would be certainly quite bald. The indictment does not allege any bargain, nor any colloquium as to a bargain for a watch, nor any proposition of Blake to buy, or the defendant to sell a watch, nor any delivery of the watch as to which the false pretenses were made into the possession of Blake as a consideration for the money he paid the defendant.” The averment contended for would not have cured this indictment. These illustrate the nature of the questions, in most of the cases referred to on this point.

Our statute is substantially a transcript of the act of 30 Geo. 2, c. 24, and the indictment in this case follows the English precedents under it, omitting none of the material averments.

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Norris v. State, 25 Ohio St. (N.S.) 217 (Ohio 1874).

25 Ohio St. (N.S.) 217 (Norris v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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