People v. Gray

5 P. 240, 66 Cal. 271, 1884 Cal. LEXIS 755
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 22, 1884
DocketNo. 10,955
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 5 P. 240 (People v. Gray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Gray, 5 P. 240, 66 Cal. 271, 1884 Cal. LEXIS 755 (Cal. 1884).

Opinion

Morrison, C. J.

The defendant was accused of the crime of embezzlement, the charge contained in the information being that “ said John S. Gray, on the 8th day of December, A. d. 1882, at said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, was the duly appointed, qualified and acting secretary, clerk and servant of certain State officers of said State of California, to wit, of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners (otherwise known and designated as the State Board of Harbor Commissioners), then and there duly appointed, qualified and acting as such board aforesaid, under and by virtue of the laws of the State of California; and by virtue of, and in the course of, his said employment as such secretary, clerk and servant of said Board of State Harbor Commissioners aforesaid (otherwise [272]*272known and designated as the State Board of Harbor Commissioners, as aforesaid), there came into and was in the control, care and possession, and custody of him, the said John S. Gray, certain public moneys, to wit, the sum of seven hundred dollars, lawful money of the United States, and then and there being of the value of seven hundred dollars in lawful money of the United States, and then and there being of the personal property of the said State of California, aforesaid ; which said public money had, on said day last aforesaid, been paid into the office of said board, and received by said John S. Gray, for and on behalf of said board, as such secretary of said board, as aforesaid ; and after the said public moneys, as aforesaid, to wit, the sum of seven hundred dollars, as aforesaid, had come into the control, care, custody and possession of him, the said John S. Gray, as such secretary, clerk and servant of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners, as aforesaid, to wit, at said city and county of San Francisco, State aforesaid, on said 8th day of December A. L>., 1882, he, the said John S. Gray, to wit, at said city and county aforesaid, and on said 8th day of December last aforesaid, did then and there fraudulently and feloniously, and not in the due and lawful execution of his employment and trust as such secretary, clerk and servant of said board, while lie, the said John S. Gray, so as aforesaid, was the secretary, clerk and servant of said Board of State Harbor Commissioners (otherwise known and designated as the State Board of Harbor Commissioners), and while he, said John S. Gray, had the said public moneys aforesaid in his possession and under his control, as such secretary, clerk and servant, as aforesaid, convert, appropriate and embezzle the said public moneys to his own use, contrary to the form of the statute,” etc.

The foregoing information was duly presented and filed on the 7th day of May, 1883. A plea to the jurisdiction was filed on the 23d of the following June, in which the defendant averred that on the 3d day of April, 1883, he was a resident of the city of Guaymas,in the Republic of Mexico, pursuing his ordinary business ; when he was illegally arrested, without warrant, and without having been accused of any crime, and cast into prison, where he was kept until the 17th of the same month, and then, against his will and without authority of law, was brought back to [273]*273the United States. That he was never demanded by the Governor of California, or surrendered by the Governor of Sonora, on an accusation charging him with the crime of embezzlement contained in the information; and furthermore, that the offense charged in the information is not an extradictable one, under the treaty between the United States and Mexico.

The defendant further avers (in his plea to the jurisdiction of the court) that the offense charged in the information is not the same, neither in fact nor in law, as that found in the complaint made and filed before the committing magistrate, and which complaint was transmitted to the Governor of this State, and upon which the requisition was made ; wherefore, and for other reasons stated, the defendant objected to the jurisdiction of the court, and entered his protest against any trial therein.

To this plea the people replied that, in the month of April, 1883, a requisition from the Governor of this State was addressed to the Governor of the State of Sonora, Mexico, under and in pursuance of a treaty between the United States and the Eepublic of Mexico, dated December 11th, 1861, for the extradition of persons charged with crimes, charging John S. Gray, the defendant, with the crime set forth in the information. The replication proceeds to set out the proceedings in detail, showing them to have been in accordance with law, and which culminated in the surrender of the alleged fugitive from justice, by the authorities of Mexico to the authorities of the State of California, for trial. The case was assigned to Department Eleven, Hon. D. J. Toohv, judge, for trial.

On the 25th day of July, 1883, the defendant interposed a plea of not guilty to the information, and the trial of the case was thereupon fixed for August 27th, following. The trial was afterwards postponed until the 25th day of October, 1883, when it commenced. Before proceeding therewith, several preliminary motions were made on behalf of the defendant, in the form of objections to the jurisdiction, a motion to strike out the information, a motion to dismiss the defendant, etc., all of which were overruled by the court. We are of the opinion that the proceedings to secure the return of the prisoner from the Eepublic of Mexico were in conformity to law. The charge against him was embezzlement of public moneys of the State of [274]*274California; and the offense of embezzlement of public moneys is extradictable under the treaty, as article iii. of the treaty between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, bearing date December 11th, 1861, expressly declares that the crime of “ embezzlement of public moneys ” is extradictable. It may be conceded, as is stated by numerous authorities, that a party can only be tried for an offense that is extradictable, and only for the offense for which he is extradicted. (See Blandford v. The State, 10 Tex. Ct. App. 627; Spear’s Extradition, 203, 204.) And yet we think the plea to the jurisdiction was properly overruled. The case comes within the provisions of the treaty, and the offense (embezzlement) for which the defendant was tried, was the offense with which he was charged, and the same for which he was extradicted.

The prosecution in the case was under section 504 of the Penal Code. The point is made, that the case does not come within the provisions of the foregoing section of the code, but we are at a loss to know why it does not. The money was received by the defendant in his official capacity as Secretary of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners ; it was in his possession and under his control by virtue of his trust, and it was public money of the State of California. All the facts constituting the offense, and bringing it clearly within section 504 of the code, are set forth in the information.

On the trial of the case, the prosecution was allowed to prove, against the objections of the defendant, numerous other acts of embezzlement committed by the defendant, in addition to the one charged in the information; and this, it seems to us, is the most formidable objection to the proceedings taken on the appeal. It is claimed that no evidence can be introduced on behalf of the people respecting any other crime than that charged, and, as a general rule, such is undoubtedly so; but there are exceptions to this general rule.

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

Related

People v. Buice
230 Cal. App. 2d 324 (California Court of Appeal, 1964)
People v. Mahoney
304 P.2d 73 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. Williams
302 P.2d 393 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. Ortiz Bonilla
76 P.R. 231 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1954)
El Pueblo de Puerto Rico v. Ortiz Bonilla
76 P.R. Dec. 247 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1954)
State v. Pollock
129 P.2d 554 (Utah Supreme Court, 1942)
People v. González Villapol
57 P.R. 729 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1940)
Pueblo v. González Villapol
57 P.R. Dec. 744 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1940)
Drake v. State of Arizona
85 P.2d 984 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1939)
Springer v. State
196 N.E. 97 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1935)
People v. Pérez
47 P.R. 724 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1934)
Pueblo v. Pérez
47 P.R. Dec. 765 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1934)
People v. Raentsch
263 P. 345 (California Court of Appeal, 1928)
People v. Ledbetter
259 P. 982 (California Court of Appeal, 1927)
People v. Shearer
256 P. 611 (California Court of Appeal, 1927)
People v. Smith
251 P. 958 (California Court of Appeal, 1927)
The People v. Rogers
154 N.E. 909 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1926)
People v. Riordan
250 P. 190 (California Court of Appeal, 1926)
The People v. Folignos
153 N.E. 373 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1926)
People v. Heinrich
224 P. 466 (California Court of Appeal, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
5 P. 240, 66 Cal. 271, 1884 Cal. LEXIS 755, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gray-cal-1884.