People v. Barry

4 N.E.2d 517, 287 Ill. App. 12, 1936 Ill. App. LEXIS 352
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 22, 1936
DocketGen. No. 38,645
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 4 N.E.2d 517 (People v. Barry) 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
People v. Barry, 4 N.E.2d 517, 287 Ill. App. 12, 1936 Ill. App. LEXIS 352 (Ill. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Denis E. Sullivan

delivered the opinion of the court.

This case comes to us on a writ of error to review a judgment of conviction against the two defendants, Dave Barry and Abraham Karatz.

On December 12, 1934, the grand jury of Cook county returned an indictment against Dave Barry, Abraham Karatz, Otto Van Derek, Walter Ehlers, Joseph Baiata, alias Charles Carloni, alias J. B. Farquhar, alias Joseph B. Marsino, alias Joseph Marcino, alias Joseph Omar, alias Joseph Omer, alias Harry Goldman, alias Frank Bianco, one Gustaf Linquist, and one Hayden Sanders, charging them with the crime of conspiracy to defraud the Amalgamated Trust & Savings Bank, a corporation, out of a large sum of money, to wit, $55,000.

The indictment consisted of 11 counts, one of which, Count 8, was dismissed on motion of the People. To the indictment Joseph Baiata pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the penitentiary. Dave Barry and Abraham Karatz, after motions to quash the indictments were overruled, pleaded not guilty and on June 17, 1935, went to trial before a court and jury. The other defendants were granted separate trials.

The defendants Barry and Karatz were found guilty, Barry being sentenced to one year in the county jail and Karatz was sentenced to serve from one to five years in the penitentiary and to pay a fine of $2,000. There is no assignment of errors as to the indictment or its various counts, nor as to the instructions given by the court.

The evidence in this record tends to show that Barry, a man 48 years of age, lived in Chicago and was well known as a boxing manager and later as a referee ; that he had considerable publicity as a leader in athletic sports and at one time operated a gymnasium business which failed in 1931, due largely to the failure of the City State Bank of this city.

The evidence further shows that in January, 1934, at the telephone request of a friend, Barry went to 112 West Madison street where he was introduced to Joe Baiata who was operating a restaurant at that address known as “The Pub Bar and Restaurant,” which in turn was owned by 112 W. Madison Grill, Inc., of which corporation Joe Baiata was president and A. H. Karatz, one of the defendants here, was secretary; that as a result of this conference an agreement was made on January 22, 1934, by and between 112 West Madison Grill, Inc., and Dave Barry, by the terms of which Barry was engaged as general manager of its bar and restaurant for the period of 60 days at $50 per week; that Barry agreed to give his entire time and attention to the interests of said first party; that Barry’s name was to be applied to the business at the aforesaid location; that it was further agreed by and betwen the parties as set forth in their written agreement that during the 60-day period mentioned in the agreement it would be ascertained whether or not Barry could increase the restaurant business of the party of the first part in a fairly substantial manner and, if successful, they would enter into another agreement relative to the restaurant business.

The evidence further shows that, pursuant to the aforesaid agreement, the words “Dave Barry, Inc.” were placed upon the window of the restaurant and at the end of the 60' days the business had increased to such an extent that Baiata, the owner, suggested that they enter into an arrangement, which they did, whereby they would reincorporate and Barry would receive 33 1/3 per cent of the stock in the new corporation, 10 per cent of which was to be issued to him at the end of the first year, 10 per cent at the end of the second year and 13 1/3 per cent at the end of the third year. The new corporation made a contract with Barry as manager of the restaurant, with a sliding scale in addition to his salary, based on a minimum of $200 a day receipts. His duties were that of a creator of goodwill — greeting people who patronized the restaurant and bar.

The evidence further shows that Barry was not paid very promptly and was about to quit when Baiata induced him to remain; that Barry was told his salary would be paid more promptly; that shortly after the new corporation, known as the Dave Barry, Inc. of which Dave Barry was president, Theodore H. Freter, Jr., secretary, and Frank Bianco, treasurer, was operating, Baiata told Barry he had opened an account with the Amalgamated Bank under the name of the new corporation; that, as president, Barry would have to be one of the signers of the checks and Baiata asked him to sign a signature card for the bank, which Barry did; that Barry never made any deposits or called at the bank and did not receive any of the statements from the bank as the deposits and care of the account was handled exclusively by Baiata.

The evidence further shows that soon after the bank account was opened, Barry was requested by Baiata to be at the restaurant earlier, his usual time to arrive at the tavern being 12:00 and 12:30 o ’clock at noon each day; that Barry replied that he was already putting in from 12 to 13 hours a day and that it would be impossible for him to get there earlier as he stayed there so late at night; that thereupon Baiata suggested that the deliveries of the supplies for the restaurant were made in the morning and as they were paid for by check, the men making the deliveries had to come back in the afternoon to get their checks and suggested that Barry, upon leaving at night,-sign five or six checks in blank, as he stated, “to care for these fellows as they come in the next day”; that he signed checks as Baiata requested almost every night.

Prior to June 15, 1934, defendant Barry promoted and conducted a trip to the Carnera-Baer fight in New York which was run in his name.

It is charged by the State that the plan by which the conspiracy to rob The Amalgamated Trust and Savings Bank ivas enacted, involved one Otto Van Derek, who was employed as a clerk in the Amalgamated Trust & Savings Bank, where the account of Dave Barry, Inc. was kept; that Van Derek was to draw out certain of the checks issued by the corporation,. Dave Barry, Inc. and not charge them against the bank account of Dave Barry, Inc. and either destroy them or return them to Baiata, so that, regardless of the amount of money that was paid out on said checks, they were not charged against the bank account of Dave Barry, Inc. and in that way the money was abstracted from the bank.

Otto Van Derek, one of the defendants, testified for the State substantially as follows:

In March, 1934, he was employed as a bank clerk in the Amalgamated Bank and had worked there since June, 1933; that prior to that time he had been out of work for two and a half months and previous to that time he had worked for the City National Bank; that his salary at the Amalgamated Bank was $65 per month; that he had charge of checks that came in on customer’s accounts.

Van Derek further testified that on April 4th, he returned two checks on the Dave Barry, Inc.

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Related

Cohen v. State
16 Ill. Ct. Cl. 300 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1947)
People Ex Rel. Kerner v. Circuit Court of Will County
17 N.E.2d 46 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1938)
In Re Disbarment of Abraham H. Karatz
278 N.W. 41 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1938)
The People v. Karatz
5 N.E.2d 842 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1936)

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Bluebook (online)
4 N.E.2d 517, 287 Ill. App. 12, 1936 Ill. App. LEXIS 352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-barry-illappct-1936.