State v. Drew

124 N.W. 1091, 110 Minn. 247, 1910 Minn. LEXIS 983
Supreme Court of Minnesota·Decided February 25, 1910·No. Nos. 16,383—(19)·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

Lewis, J.

Appellant, Arthur Z. Drew, was tried and convicted under an indictment reading as follows:

“The said Arthur Z. Drew, on the 15th day of January, A. D. 1908, at the city of St. Paul, in said county, then and there being engaged in and doing a private banking business, and was then and there, to wit, on the 15th day of January 1908, at the city of St. Paul, in said county, engaged in and doing business as a private banker under the style and name of Bank of Hamline, and he, the said Arthur Z. Drew, did then and there, as such private banker, wrongfully, unlawfully, and feloniously accept and réceive on deposit in said bank from one Gust A. Anderson certain money, to-wit, diverse and sundry good, genuine, current and lawful treasury notes, bank notes and coins of the United States of America, duly [249] issued by and out of tbe treasury department of said United States of America, the good, genuine current and lawful money of said United States, of tbe value of and to tbe sum and amount of one hundred sixteen dollars, a more particular description of wbicb is to this grand jury unknown, said money, and all thereof, being then and there tbe personal property of said Gust A. Anderson, and at said time, when said money was so accepted and received on deposit in said bank by tbe said Arthur Z. Drew as aforesaid, be, tbe said Artírar Z. Drew, was both as an individual and as such private banker unsafe and insolvent, and be, tbe said Arthur Z. Drew, at tbe time be so‘accepted and received tbe said money on deposit in said bank as aforesaid, well knew that be, tbe said Arthur Z. Drew, both as an individual and as such private banker, was unsafe and insolvent.”

Of tbe numerous assignments of error, presenting various legal questions, we shall confine ourselves to those wbicb may be grouped under two beads: (1) Did tbe court err in instructing tbe jury as to tbe offense charged and tbe character of tbe evidence necessary to support it ? (2) Tbe admissibility, in evidence, of tbe bankruptcy schedules.

1. Tbe statute under wbicb appellant was indicted (section 511S, E. L. 1905) provides that every officer, director, etc., of a banking bouse, or similar institutions, who shall accept or receive on deposit, money, bank bills, etc., when be knows or has good reason to know that such person, bank, association, etc., is unsafe or insolvent, and every person knowing such insolvency or unsafe condition, who shall be accessory to, or permit or connive at, the accepting or receiving on deposit therein or thereby, any such deposits, shall be guilty of a felony.

Appellant was conducting a private banking business at Hamline, in the city of St. Paid, under tbe ñamé of Bank of Hamline, and at tbe same time be was a stockholder in tbe State Bank of St. Paul, with a capital of $25,000, divided into 250 shares, of $100 each, of wbicb be owned 190 shares. He was also interested in a private [250] banking institution known as the Midway Bank, in St. Paul, and also in the Bank of Grantsburg, located at Grantsburg, Wisconsin, and in several other business enterprises.

The trial court charged the.jury that the state was not required to show that the defendant had actual knowledge that he was insolvent; that it was sufficient if the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant had good reason to know that fact. This raises the question whether the state was not required to prove the offense as charged in the indictment, viz., that appellant knew he was unsafe and insolvent at the time the deposit was received.

It is possible that members of the profession have been misled with reference to the meaning of this statute by certain statements in the opinion in State v. Quackenbush, 98 Minn. 515, 108 N. W. 953, and in State v. Strait, 99 Minn. 327, 109 N. W. 598. An examination discloses that in both of those cases the indictments were identical with the one here under consideration. In the Quackenbush case the court instructed the jury that it was necessary to find from the evidence that the defendant knew he was insolvent at the time of receiving the deposit, and the question now before us was- not involved nor considered on the appeal. That part of the opinion in the Quackenbush case, referred to by the state, involved an entirely different matter. The court was discussing the merits of an instruction to the effect that a person doing a banking business was presumed to know that he was insolvent, and the language used should-be considered with reference only to the instruction then under consideration. The language used in the opinion in the Strait case may. be explained on similar grounds, so that, so far as judicial construction is concerned, we are free to treat the subject as one of first impression.'

The statute, for some reason, established degrees of knowledge of insolvency: First, actual knowledge; and, second, good reason to believe it. A banker receiving deposits of money cannot shut his eyes to his own financial status, and he is required to investigate conditions which are suggested by circumstances already known to him. But the failure to discover a condition unknown to him, but which in the exercise of reasonable diligence, might have been discovered, is [251] quite a different thing. The state charged appellant with knowledge of insolvency, and the evidence must be sufficient to warrant the jury in finding such to be the fact. The purpose of an indictment is to notify the defendant upon what issue he will be put to trial, in order that he may make preparation; and, while appellant may have been prepared to meet the issues presented, there was nothing in the indictment to apprise him that he was upon trial for a failure to exercise diligence in acquiring information which he did not have.

It is not intended to intimate that under such an indictment the state is required to prove knowledge by positive, direct evidence of the defendant’s state of mind. But the evidence must be - sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he must have known of his insolvency; that fact having been established. We are of opinion that it was error to charge the jury that it was sufficient if they should find that he had reason to believe he was insolvent.

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State v. Drew, 124 N.W. 1091, 110 Minn. 247, 1910 Minn. LEXIS 983 (Mich. 1910).

124 N.W. 1091 (State v. Drew) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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