O'Leary v. People

88 Ill. App. 60, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 494
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 12, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 88 Ill. App. 60 (O'Leary v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Leary v. People, 88 Ill. App. 60, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 494 (Ill. Ct. App. 1900).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Adams

delivered the opinion of the court.

Plaintiff in error was convicted of keeping a common gaming house and sentenced to pay a fine of $500. The indictment consists of txvo counts. The first count charges generally that July 1, 1898, in the county of Cook, O’Leary unlawfully kept a common gaming house. The second count charges that James O’Leary on July 1, 1898, in Cook county, Illinois, “ unlawfully did then and there keep a common gaming house in a certain building by him then and there used and occupied, the said building being situate at and known as Washington Park Club, in the city of Chicago, in said county of Cook; and in said gaming house in said building so used and occupied by the said James O’Leary, did permit certain persons, whose names are to the said grand jurors unknown, to frequent and to come together to play for money at the game of selling pools, and the game of bookmaking; and did then! and there keep, and suffer to be kept, certain tables and other apparatus, for the purpose of playing for money at the game of selling pools and the game of bookmaking, contrary to the statute,” etc.

It was stipulated in open court between the People and O’Leary, the defendant, that the second count should stand as a bill of particulars to the first count. The first question is as to the effect of this stipulation.

In Commonwealth v. Giles, 1 Gray, 466, the defendant was indicted for unlawfully selling intoxicating liquors. Before the trial he was furnished with a bill of particulars specifying the names of persons to whom sales would be proved. Evidence of sales to other persons not named in the bill of particulars was admitted over the defendant’s objection. This was held error. The court, after saying that they were inclined to the view that the determination of the trial court that a bill of particulars should be furnished was final and not reviewable, say:

“But whether this be so or not, when it is once made, it concludes the rights of all parties who are to be affected by it; and ne who has furnished a bill of particulars under it must be confined to the particulars he has specified as closely and effectually as if this constituted essential allegations in a special declaration.” Ib. 469.

In Starkweather v. Kittle, 17 Wend. 21, the court, Bronson, Justice, delivering the opinion, say:

“ A bill ot' particulars is an. amplification, or more particular specification of the matter set forth in the pleading. The declaration, plea, or notice of set-off may be so general in its terms that the opposite party will not be fully apprised of the demand which will be set up on the trial, - and -he is therefore permitted to call on his adversary to give a more detailed and particular statement of the claims on which he intends to rely. When the bill is furnished it is deemed a part of the decía- • ration, plea, or notice to which it relates, and is construed in the same wrav as though it had originally been incorporated in it.”

The foregoing cases are cited with approval in McDonald v. The People, 126 Ill. 150, and the court say of Commonwealth v. Giles, swpra, that it is “ a leading case on the question.” In McDonald v. The People, “ the first four counts charged the defendants, in general terms, with a conspiracy to defraud Cook county by means of false pretenses. The last count charged a conspiracy to defraud Cook county by means of false pretenses, as to work done and material furnished at the Normal School in 1886.” The defendants, by order of the court, were furnished with a bill of particulars, which consisted of twelve bills for labor due and materials furnished for the Normal School. The prosecution, the defendants objecting, were permitted to introduce evidence of fraudulent bills for services rendered and materials furnished for the court house, insane asylumj infirmary and hospital. For this error the judgment was reversed. The court say, among other things:

“ The object of. a bill of particulars is to give the accused notice of the specific charge he is required to meet on the. trial, so that he may be prepared to defend. Here, the State’s attorney, had he seen proper, might have given notice, in the bill of particulars, that fraudulent bills for labor and materials had been presented by Schneider, relating to the court house, insane asylum, infirmary and the hospital, specifying the date and amount in each case. Then the evidence relating to the bills at these various institutions might have been properly admitted; but he saw proper to limit the charge to twelve specific bills for labor and materials on the Normal School. Having done this, under the plainest principles of law relating to the admission of evidence under an averment in a pleading—treating the bill of particulars as a pleading—the evidence ought to have been confined to the twelve bills specified in the bill of particulars, otherwise the bill of particulars was a delusion—a legal snare—furnished for the purpose of deceiving the defendants.”

In view of the law as announced in the cases cited, the effect of the agreement that the second count should stand as a bill of particulars to the first count, is the same, in legal contemplation, as if the second count were incorporated in the first. Practically the effect is to eliminate the first count and leave the case to stand on the second. This is the view of counsel for plaintiff in error, and it is not combated, but apparently acceded to by counsel for the People.

Counsel for plaintiff in error contends that under the second count it was incumbent on the State to prove that O’Leary kept a common gaming house in a building known as the “Washington Park Club,” and that it was not so proved. It is expressly averred in the count that O’Leary “unlawfully did then and there keep a common gaming house in a certain building by him then and there used and occupied, the said building being situate at and known as Washington Park Club, "x" * * and in said gaming house in said building, so used and occupied by the said James O’Leary, did permit certain persons,” etc.

The place where the gaming house is alleged to have been kept, viz., in a building known as the Washington Park Club, is stated as matter of local description, and must be proved as stated. Any variance between the proof and the description is fatal. 3 Greenl. on Ev., 13th Ed., Sec. 12; Wharton’s Crim. Ev., 9th Ed., Secs. 109 and 146; Roscoe on Crim. Ev., Secs. 90-91; Moore’s Crim. Law, Sec. 214; State v. Crogan, 8 Ia. 523; O’Brien v. The State, 10 Tex. App. 544; Withers v. The State, 21 Tex. App. 210; Stiff v. The State, lb. 255; Chapman v. The People, 39 Mich. 357; People v. Slater, 5 Hill, 401.

It is not contended by counsel for the People that it was not incumbent on the State to prove the descriptive matter in question. Their claim is that it is proven. They say, “ The question as to the name was asked of only the first witness, Frank McMahon,” and they claim that it was proved by McMahon that the offense charged was committed in the building known as “ Washington Parle Club.”

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

Related

People v. Farrow
354 N.E.2d 917 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Ferron
262 Ill. App. 243 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1931)
Sterling Midland Coal Co. v. Ready & Callaghan Coal Co.
236 Ill. App. 403 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1925)
Bruno v. City of Chicago
214 Ill. App. 498 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1919)
People v. Wirsching
145 Ill. App. 121 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1908)
People v. Lewis
140 Ill. App. 493 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1908)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 Ill. App. 60, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oleary-v-people-illappct-1900.