People v. Neff

122 A.D. 135, 21 N.Y. Crim. 475, 106 N.Y.S. 747, 1907 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2393
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided November 12, 1907·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Kruse, J,:

The moneys which the defendant was convicted of stealing were obtained from the county treasurer, the legal custodian thereof, by means of a warrant signed by the clerk of the board of supervisors, and countersigned by the chairman of the board and the defendant Neff, the county auditor, payable to the order of the defendant Oonover. The warrant was in due form, and signed and countersigned by the proper officers.

It is contended on the part , of the prosecution that Oonover had no right' to the moneys so obtained on the warrant, which fact was well known to both Neff and Conover; that the warrant was a mere device by which to defraud the county of its money, and appropriate the same to the use of themselves and others associated with them in the commission of the crime. On behalf of the defendant it is contended that he acted in good faith in countersigning the warrant, believing that Oonover was legally entitled to the moneys which were obtained thereon, and that, in fact, the county was at that time indebted to Oonover in a sum exceeding that amount upon a contract which Oonover had with the -County for the removal of bodies from an old cemetery, situate in the city of Buffalo, to a new cemetery owned by a corporation of which Conover was an officer.

On the 26th day of March, 1901, Conover entered into this contract with the board of supervisors of Erie county. The contract was made under the provisions of chapter 277 of the Laws of 1900, which was passed to enable the acquisition of the old cemetery [138]*138lands by condemnation for an armory site. The act empowered the'board of supervisors, with the approval of the Armory Commission of the State, to take proceedings to' acquire the lands for that purpose. Tlie Supreme Court was empowered to appoint three commissioners to appraise- the damages for taking the lands, and the damages accruing to the owners of lots by reason of the removal of the remains; requiring the damages for taking the lands to be considered and reported apart from the damages for the. removal and reinterment of the remains, ■ and the removal and resetting of the slabs, stones and monuments. The board of supervisors ivas directed to publish á notice for. three weeks, as therein prescribed, requiring the owners of lots within thirty days to remove the remains of persons buried therein, etc. At the expiration of that time, the board of supervisors was'directed to .cause the removal and. reinterment of all. such bodies then remaining in the cemetery lands, and the removal and resetting of -the slab's, stories and monuments, the expense thereof to be paid, as far as possible, from sums awarded to the owners of lots from which tlie- removal is made. To carry out the provisions of the act, the board of supervisors was empowered to issue bonds from , time to time, to be sold by the treasurer of the county, tlie- proceeds to be paid out upon the order of the board.

On- March 20, 1901, the'. board of supervisors adopted the following resolution:

Resolved, That upon the expiration of the period of thirty days allowed for the removal and reinterment-of the bodies in the cemetery in -the City of Buffalo, described as follows: (Describing the cemetery)—That the Board of. Supervisors cause the removal and reinterment of all óf the bodies remaining in said cemetery.lands at the expiration of such period of thirty days and cause the same to be reinterred under the' supervision of and subject to the orders of- the Board of Health of the City of Buffalo, and cause the monuments, stones and slabs, remaining therein to be removed and reset; all to be removed and reinterred and reset in the- Lakeside Cemetery, in the Town of Hamburg, in the County of Erie, provided said Lakeside Cemetery shall execute to the County of Erie ’a conveyance of sufficient lands in its cemetery for the removal thereto and reinterment therein of the said bodies, and the removal [139]*139thereto and resetting therein of the said slabs, stones and monuments ; and provided further that R. J. Conover, Comptroller of the said Lakeside Cemetery Association, shall execute to and with the County of Erie an agreement to convey said lands, and to remove and reinter said bodies, and to remove and reset said slabs, stones and monuments at his own expense and in such manner as to preserve the identity of said body as far as possiblé, and in all cases where the remains of any body are distinguishable, to- reinter the same in a separate grave; the County to pay to th^said R. J. Con-over, Comptroller of the Lakeside Cemetery Association, in consideration thereof, the amount of the awards allowed by the Commission heretofore appointed, as' the damages for taking the lands ,and removing the said bodies from the so-called North Street Cemetery, for the bodies so removed and reinterred, and for the slabs, stones and monuments so removed and.reset.”

On the 26th day of March, 1901, a contract was entered into by Conover with the county. After reciting in full the resolution just referred to, it provided that Conover should remove and reinter the bodies remaining in the cemetery, remove and reset all slabs, stones and monuments in the Lakeside Cemetery at his own expense, and in such manner as to preserve the identity of each body as far as possible, and in all cases where remains of any body were distinguishable, to reinter the same in a separate grave. He further agreed that the Lakeside Cemetery Association would execute to the county a conveyance of sufficient lands in its cemetery for the removal thereto and the reinterment therein of the bodies upon completion of said work. Upon its part the county agreed as follows : “ The party of the second part, in consideration thereof, agrees to pay to the party of the first part the amount of the awards allowed by the Appraisal Commission in its report heretofore confirmed by. the Supreme Court of Erie County as to the damages for taking the lands and removing the said bodies from the North Street Cemetery, for the bodies so removed and reinterred, and for the slabs, stones and monuments so removed and reset.”

Defendant’s counsel asked the court to charge that under the contract Conover was entitled to land awards made by the commissioners for all the lots from which. Conover removed bodies. The court declined, and charged the jury as a matter of law that, under [140]*140his contract, Conover was not entitled to the land awards. Counsel for the defendant excepted to the refusal to charge as requested, and to the charge as made, and urges that such a construction not only does violence to the language- of the contract itself, hut that the interpretation contended for by the. defendant is the more reasonable one, since Conover was required not only to remove the remains and reinter them and remove and reset the slabs, stones and monuments, but also to furnish the land for that purpose; that even assuming^that the trial judge was right in holding that the lot owners had such an interest in their lots as entitled them to compensation beyond the furnishing of another burial place, and that as between the county and the lot owners the awards for land damages belong to the owner, yet that it was entirely competent for the county to contract, and it did contract, to pay to Conover a sum equal'to the total amount awarded to the lot owners, including the damages for taking the lands from which Conover removed the unclaimed dead.

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People v. Neff, 122 A.D. 135, 21 N.Y. Crim. 475, 106 N.Y.S. 747, 1907 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2393 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1907).

122 A.D. 135 (People v. Neff) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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