People v. Montague

39 N.W. 60, 71 Mich. 318, 1888 Mich. LEXIS 614
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 11, 1888
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 39 N.W. 60 (People v. Montague) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan 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. Montague, 39 N.W. 60, 71 Mich. 318, 1888 Mich. LEXIS 614 (Mich. 1888).

Opinion

Long, J.

The respondent was convicted in the circuit ■court for the county of Wayne, on April 20, 1888, for feloniously receiving stolen property, knowing the same to have been stolen, and brings the case into this Court ■by writ of- error.

The charge contained in the information is that respond■ent, on January 14, 1888, at the city of Detroit, in the ■county aforesaid, one seal-skin sacque, of the value of $150, of the personal property, goods, and chattels of William H. Alms and William F. Doepke, of the city of Cincinnati, in the state of Ohio, copartners, doing business under the firm name of Alms & Doepke, then lately before from the possession of the said William H. Alms and William F. Doepke, doing business as aforesaid, feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away, feloniously did receive, have, and aid in concealing; he, the said John Montague, then and there, at the time he so received, had, and aided in the ■concealment of said personal property, goods, and chattels, as aforesaid, well knowing the same to have been feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away, contrary to the ■form of the statute, etc.

The only question in the case which we need consider is, was there any evidence given to warrant the conviction? I have carefully read all the evidence given, — the whole [320]*320of the evidence taken on the trial is returned to this; Court, — and from such examination am led to the conclusion that there was no evidence that the sacque in question was feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away from the store of Alms & Doepke at Cincinnati. It was incumbent on the prosecution to establish, by competent evidence, and beyond reasonable doubt, not only that the respondent feloniously received the property knowing it. had been stolen, but that the same had been feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away.

The theory and claim of the prosecution was that on December 23, 1887, a woman whom the respondent after-wards registered as his wife at the Wabash Hotel, in the city of Detroit, was in Cincinnati, Ohio, and went into the business house of Alms So Doepke on the pretense of purchasing a seal-skin sacque, and while there feloniously took and carried away the sacque in question; and some-evidence was given that the respondent was in Cincinnati about the same time ; that the sacque was brought to Detroit, where the respondent attempted to make sale of it at much below its real value.

The evidence given in the case is summarized in the brief of the prosecuting attorney as follows:

“Emma Clarke, a witness called for the people, testified that on January 14, 1888, about four o’clock in the afternoon, two men, named Whalen and O’Day, came to her house, and tried to sell her a seal-skin sacque, but. she did not purchase, because it was a misfit, and the-two men went away. About two hours afterwards, respondent, Whalen, and O’Day returned to her house with a larger sacque, which she tried on and agreed to-purchase.
“At that time, respondent talked with her about the-smaller sacque, claimed and exercised ownership, and offered to sell it to her at a very low price. The price agreed upon for the larger sacque was $100. She did not have all the purchase price with her, and respondent was unwilling she should take the sacque- without paying [321]*321in full. He took the sacque away, and agreed that she and Whalen should go to the bank, and procure the balance of the money, when Whalen was to conduct her to where the respondent was stopping.
“She identified a sacque produced in court as the one shown her by respondent, which she agreed to buy.”

On her cross-examination, however, she was asked :

Q. What induced you to distinguish this sacque from any other sacque that might have been offered you?
“A. I don’t know as I know.
Q. You have no means, have you?
“A. No; sir; not exactly.”
“Charles O’Day, called by the people, testified that he met respondent at the Wabash Hotel about five or six o’clock the day he was arrested, January 14, in company with Whalen. Before that time he and Whalen had been to Emma Clarke’s house with a seal-skin sacque. From the Wabash Hotel the three went to Mrs. Olarke’s again, where she tried on another sacque, and announced herself as satisfied with it. ' The sacque came from the Wabash Hotel.
“Thomas Bolles testified that ho was proprietor of the Wabash Hotel; that on January 12 respondent and a woman whom respondent registered as his wife, came to the hotel, and registered as from Cleveland, Ohio. They stayed at the hotel until respondent was arrested, occupying a room together. The woman went away the same evening of the arrest. She was last seen, about 15 minutes before the arrest, in the dining-room. Witness saw the woman at the Essex House, in Windsor, the day before the trial. A man by the name of Hoebel (one of the witnesses of the people), was present when witness' saw her in Windsor. The two seal-skin sacques in court were found in a room in the vicinity of respondent’s room the evening of the arrest.
“C. E. Tuttle and Ealph A. Orawford testified that they were police officers, and talked with respondent two days after his arrest. They asked him whose sacques those were he was trying to sell, and he replied that he knew nothing about any sacques, hadn’t seen any, and had not been out of the hotel the day he was arrested.
“ Jeremiah Sullivan, a police officer, testified that he had known respondent for a year; that his business was a prize-fighter; that he saw him at the Wabash Hotel the [322]*322day lie was arrested, and also on Jefferson avenue, between Griswold street and Woodward avenue, the same day.
“August Iioebel testified that he was the floor-manager in the fur department of Alms & Doepke, a firm in Cincinnati, Ohio; that the day before the trial he was at the Essex House, in Windsor, and saw the woman whom witness Bolles had identified as respondent’s wife. Saw her at Alms & Doepke’s store, in Cincinnati, December 23, 1887, at about 6 o’clock in the evening, just as the store was closing. She was in the fur department, trying to buy a cloak. She seemed hard to fit, and tried on several cloaks. She was left alone in the fitting-room when the salesman went to the sales-room to get sacqucs. She always asked for the best garments. She finally selected one and directed it sent to the Walnut-street House, C. O. D., giving her name as O. A. Carver. The price of the sacque was $360.
“A collector was sent with the sacque (witness volunteered testimony to the effect that the collector returned, and said there was no such person stopping at the Wainufcsjueet House, which was afterwards stricken out by the court), and subsequently returned with it, and it was never delivered. Witness also identified a photograph as a photograph of the woman he saw in Cincinnati and Windsor. Saw the photograph at the time of the examination in the police court, before he saw the woman in Windsor, and identified it then.

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Related

People v. Toodle
400 N.W.2d 670 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1986)
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170 N.W.2d 899 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1969)
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224 N.W. 383 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1929)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 N.W. 60, 71 Mich. 318, 1888 Mich. LEXIS 614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-montague-mich-1888.