Richey v. State

201 P. 154, 28 Wyo. 117, 1921 Wyo. LEXIS 4
Wyoming Supreme Court·Decided October 18, 1921·No. No. 1015·Published·Cited by 24 cases

Opinions

Kimball, Justice.

Annie Richey was convicted- of larceny of neat cattle, and brings the case here in error.

The information, with the formal parts omitted, charges that:

[124] “Annie Richey and Charles King, late of the connty aforesaid, on the 23rd day of July, A. D. 1919, at and in the county aforesaid, then and there being, did then and there unlawfully and feloniously steal, of the personal property of Davision Brothers, seventeen head of neat cattle, then and there of the value of $50.00 each; two head of neat cattle of the personal property of William Spencer, then and there of the value of $50.00 each; four head of neat cattle of the personal property of Lincoln Livestock Company, then and there of the value of $50.00 each, and two head of neat cattle of the personal property of Ernest Corless, then and there of the value of $50.00 each.”

Defendant King was found not guilty, and when hereinafter we mention the defendant we refer to plaintiff in error only.

A motion to quash the information upon the ground that it charges in one count four separate and distinct offences was denied by the court, and this ruling is assigned’ as error. We construe the information to charge that all the cattle mentioned in it were taken at the same time and place, and, therefore, it charges but one larceny. This conclusion is unaffected by the circumstance that it appears that the cattle stolen were not all owned by the same person or company. (Ackerman v. State, 7 Wyo. 504, 54 Pac. 228; 17 R. C. L. 54; note to State v. Sampson, 42 L. R. A. (N. S.) 967.) There is little," if any, authority to the contrary. The case of U. S. v. Beerman, 5 Cranch. C. C. 412, Fed. Case No. 14560 was expressly disapproved in State v. Ackerman, supra. Counsel rely upon State v. Bliss, 27 Wash. 463, 68 Pac. 87 and Joslyn v. State, 128 Ind. 160, 27 N. E. 492, 25. Am. St. Rep. 425, but neither case can be accepted as authority in support of the motion.

It appears from State v. Makovsky, 67 Wash. 7, 120 Pac. 513, that the Bliss ease has been expressly overruled, and by Furnace v. State, 153 Ind. 93, 54 N. E. 441, the Joslyn casif not overruled, has been limited, as “an authority, to those cases where the information does not charge that the differ[125] ent articles of property were stolen at the same time. The motion to qnash was properly denied.

It is argued that the information is insufficient because it fails to allege that Davision Brothers was a co-partnership and the Lincoln Livestock Company a corporation. The omission of those allegations was not made the ground of the motion to quash nor of any other objection to the information in the trial court, is not assigned as error here, and we might well disregard the point. However, as it is claimed that the information for this reason is fatally defective (citing State v. Clark, 223 Mo. 48, 122 S. W. 665, 18 Ann. Cas. 1120), we shall not pass the question without consideration. In the case cited, where it was held that the information for larceny was fatally defective for failure to allege the incorporation of the owner of the stolen goods, the question was considered, in the absence of a statute, as one under the common law. But, in this state, the effect of defects and imperfections in informations is largely regulated by statute. Section 7462, Wyo. C. S. 1920 provides that “No indictment shall be deemed invalid * ■* * for any defect or imperfection which does not tend to the prejudice of the substantial rights of the defendant upon the merits; ’ ’ Section 7483, that a motion to quash may be made when there is a defect “in form of the indictment, or in the manner in which the offense is charged;” and Section 7487, that defects which may be excepted to by motion to quash, shall be waived by demurring, or pleading in bar, or not guilty. Under such statutes, indefiniteness is a defect in the manner of charging the offense, and, unless raised by motion to quash, may be waived. (Wilbur v. Territory, 3 Wyo. 268, 21 Pac. 698; Bryant v. State, 7 Wyo. 311, 51 Pac. 879; Koppola v. State, 15 Wyo. 398, 89 Pac. 576; White v. State, 23 Wyo. 130, 147 Pac. 171; State v. Messenger, 63 O. St. 398, 59 N. E. 105; Arnsman v. State, 11 O. Cir. Ct. (N. S.) 113.) Without deciding that the information is defective at all in failing to describe more fully Davision Brothers and Lincoln Livestock Company, we hold that the defect, if any, was in the manner of charging the crime, not suffi[126] cient to invalidate the information, and not having been presented to the court by the motion to quash, was waived ■ by the plea of not guilty.

It is contended that there was a fatal variance because the evidence on the part of the state tended to prove, and the verdict of the jury found, that the cattle alleged in the information as the property of Davision Brothers was the .property of Davidson Brothers. We find nothing in the record to indicate that the defendant was in any way misled by such variance. Section 7463 Wyo. C. S. 1920 provides that a variance between the 'statement in the information and the evidence in the name or description of any matter or thing whatsoever shall not be deemed ground for an acquittal unless the trial court shall find that such variance is material to the merits of the case or prejudicial to the defendant. We think there is a clear inference -from the evidence that the defendant knew that Davision Brothers, mentioned in the information, and Davidson Brothers, referred to in the evidence and verdict, were the same. We agree with the trial court in its refusal to.find that the variance was material or prejudicial; (Eggart v. State, 19 Wyo. 285, 116 Pac. 454; Harris v. State, 23 Wyo. 487, 153 Pac. 881.)

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