State v. Howd

188 P. 628, 55 Utah 527, 1920 Utah LEXIS 9
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1920
DocketNo. 3402
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 188 P. 628 (State v. Howd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Howd, 188 P. 628, 55 Utah 527, 1920 Utah LEXIS 9 (Utah 1920).

Opinion

CORFMAN, C. J.

The defendant was tried and convicted before the district court for Grand county of having obtained certain personal property by fraudulent and false pretenses. He appeals.

The defendant sets forth and complains on appeal of many alleged errors as grounds for reversal, among them that defendant did not have a preliminary examination, nor was it waived, before the committing magistrate as to the charge made against him in the information upon which he was tried and convicted in the district court.

[529]*529For tbe purposes of this opinion we do not, however, deem it necessary to discuss or pass upon the regularity or legality of the proceedings leading up to the filing of the information, but will assume that such proceedings were regular and in accordance with law. The more important questions raised by the defendant are as to whether or not the judgment upon conviction can be sustained under the information filed, in view of the evidence adduced on the part of the state to prove the offense of which the defendant stands convicted.

The information as originally filed and afterwards amended contained two counts: One charging the defendant with grand larceny; the second charging him with “knowingly and designedly obtaining chattels by false representations and pretenses, committed as follows:

“That the said James C. Howd, on the 5th day of December, at Grand county, state of Utah, did then and there with intent to cheat and defraud Thomas B. Foy of his personal property, to wit, thirty head of cattle, knowingly, designedly, falsely, feloniously, and fraudulently represent and pretend to the said Thomas B. Foy, that he, the said James C. Howd, was then and there the duly authorized agent of Consley and Adams (amended to read Adams and C'ons-ley), of Grand Junction, Colo., the said Adams and Consley then being a reputable firm of live stock buyers, with headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo., and falsely represented and pretended that he the said James C. Howd was authorized to contract for the sale of said cattle for and on behalf of said Adams and Consley, and then and there falsely represented and pretended that the said Adams and Consley would pay the purchase price of said cattle upon delivery of said cattle and weight of the same at Grand Junction, Colo. ’ By means of said false and fraudulent representations and pretenses, and the said Thomas B. Foy relying upon and believing said statements and said representations to be true, he, the said James C. Howd, did then and there knowingly and designedly obtain from the said Thomas B. Foy the possession of said thirty head of cattle aforesaid, with the intent then and there to cheat and defraud the said Thomas B. Foy of the same, contrary to the form of the statute,” etc

At the trial, upon application being made by the defendant to the court for an order requiring an election, the state at the conclusion of the testimony elected to and did rely upon the second count alone in the information.

There is no material conflict in the testimony. It shows [530]*530that some time prior to December 5, 1918, tbe defendant had engaged under' contract to furnish Adams and Oonsley- of Grand Junction, Colo., certain cattle. The defendant was unable to furnish the specific cattle called for under the said contract. About this time the defendant met the complaining witness, Thomas B. Foy, who was engaged in raising live stock at Thompsons, Utah. Foy did not have the kind of cattle called for in the contract defendant had entered into with Adams and Consley. However, the defendant at the time communicated with Adams and Consley, and it was agreed that Adams and Consley would take the kind of cattle that could be provided by the complaining witness Foy. Negotiations were then entered into between the defendant and Foy for the purchase of cows, the kind of animals that could be provided by Foy and other owners of cattle in the vicinity of Thompsons. A shipment of about ninety head of cattle was then made up at Thompsons, including thirty head of cows owned by Foy, and consigned to Adams and Consley at Grand Junction, Colo. The cattle were shipped in the name of defendant as consignor. The defendant, before shipment, paid to the witness Foy $200 to apply on the purchase price, the balance to be paid at Grand Junction upon the arrival of the cattle there and the weighing out and delivering to the consignee, Adams and Consley. The defendant and Foy together loaded the cattle on board cars at Thompsons, and both accompanied the shipment to Grand Junction, where it arrived on a Saturday night, but was not unloaded into the 3rards of Adams and Consley until the Sunday morning following. Up to the time of the delivery of the cattle to Adams and Consley there is no evidence tending to show any fraud or deception on the part of the defendant practiced upon Foy. It is true Foy testified that he “understood” the cattle were being purchased by Adams and Consley. However, Foy’s testimony further shows, and there is no other testimony in the record bearing on the question, that the only representation made to him by the defendant was that he was buying cattle for the sugar factory (Adams and Consley). Regard[531]*531ing this phase of the transaction at Thompsons, Utah, the testimony of Foy was as follows:

“Q. In what capacity was he acting for Adams and Consley?
“The Court: He may state what he [defendant] said. A. Well he had to furnish so many cattle a week for the sugar factory. Q. Did he say in what capacity he was buying, as manager or overseer?* A. No, sir. Q. Did you understand or did you state that Adams and Consley were the buyers- at the sugar factory? A. Tes, sir. Q. Had you heard of them previous to this time? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you knew of them being in the cow business? A.' Yes, sir.”

The testimony further shows that after the delivery of the cattle at Grand Junction the witness Foy ashed for and received at the hands of Adams and Consley an allowance of fifteen pounds per head for shrinkage while the animals were in transit from Thompsons to Grand Junction, but the witness testifies he made the bills of sale only for the purpose of meeting the request of Adams and Consley. After the cattle had been weighed and delivered to Adams and Consley at Grand Junction the purchase price of the several lots, according to former ownership, was, at the request of Foy, ascertained by Adams and Consley, and by them a check for the entire shipment was made direct to the defendant. Thereupon the defendant made his personal checks for the purchase price of the several lots, including a check for the thirty head of cows that had been owned by Foy. Foy then returned home with the checks given him by defendant, and later, when the cheeks were presented at the Grand Junction bank upon which they had been drawn, payment was refused on account of insufficient funds. The testimony shows that at the time these cheeks were made out and delivered by defendant to Foy the defendant explained to him that he would not have sufficient funds in the bank until he deposited the check that had been given him for the cattle by Adams and Consley. While it is true the record shows that Foy executed a bill of sale for the cattle to Adams and Consley at the request of the latter, the witness Foy, when questioned as to whom he expected to get his pay for the cattle from, testified that he thought at the time he was going to get it from the defendant, [532]*532and that he supposed that defendant and Adams and Coñsley had “settled up.”

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Bluebook (online)
188 P. 628, 55 Utah 527, 1920 Utah LEXIS 9, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-howd-utah-1920.