State v. Lloyd

139 N.W. 514, 152 Wis. 24, 1913 Wisc. LEXIS 37
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided January 7, 1913·Published·Cited by 37 cases

Opinion

TimliN, J.

The accused Converse W. Lloyd, informed against as Con W. Lloyd, was a fire insurance agent at Ash-land, Wisconsin, representing among other fire insurance companies the five companies named in the information. The accused Jacob V. Smeaton was a director, secretary, treasurer, and manager of the Lake Superior Lumber & Box Company, a corporation. These two men were charged in the information with conspiracy to cheat and defraud the five insurance companies therein named by false pretenses and “by false and privy tokens and subtile means and-devices.” It is charged that on September 21, 1909, in furtherance of said conspiracy, five policies of insurance, one in each of the named companies, were by Lloyd issued to Smeaton’s said corporation, covering property which was not in existence but had been wholly destroyed by fire on the day next preceding. That false -and fraudulent proofs of such pretended loss were thereafter made and delivered to the fire insurance companies, which relied thereon and, being deceived thereby, paid the sum of $11,616.85 for such pretended loss. When the case was called for trial and before the jury was sworn, Lloyd moved to quash the information as to him upon the ground that he had been compelled, in -an examination before the state fire marshal held at Ashland on the 9th day of August, 1910, to be a witness against himself, contrary to the Eifth amendment to .the constitution of the United States and to sec. 8 of art. I of the constitution of the state of Wisconsin, and that the complaint -and information in the case were predicated principally upon the testimony extorted from the accused in that examination. On the hearing of this motion there was offered in evidence and considered the information, an affidavit of Lloyd, a subpoena duces tecum issued by the state fire marshal and served on Lloyd> the testimony elicited [27] from Lloyd on tbe examination before tbe state fire marshal, and a statement by tbe district attorney that in preparing tbe complaint be used this testimony of Lloyd, together with that of other witnesses whose evidence bad been taken by tbe fire marshal, and tbe complaint so prepared was predicated upon tbe testimony of Lloyd as well as upon other testimony.

Upon this showing tbe learned circuit court made an order quashing tbe information and discharging tbe accused Lloyd. Immediately thereafter tbe district attorney nolled tbe prosecution as against tbe accused Smeaton. Tbe motion, tbe affidavit of Lloyd, tbe subpoena, the testimony of Lloyd, tbe ruling of tbe circuit court, tbe statement of tbe district attorney, and tbe nolle as to Smeaton are presented by a bill of exceptions. There is considerable discussion in tbe briefs relating to tbe Eiftb amendment to tbe constitution of tbe United States, which provides, among other things, that no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. This Fifth amendment does not apply to prosecutions in state courts, and we may leave it out of consideration except in so far as judicial interpretation thereof by tbe learned federal courts may be advisory upon tbe interpretation of tbe similar provision found in our state constitution. Brown v. Walker, 161 U. S. 591, 16 Sup. Ct. 644; Maxwell v. Dow, 176 U. S. 581, 20 Sup. Ct. 448; Barron v. Baltimore, 7 Pet. 243; Twitchell v. Comm. 7 Wall. 321.

Sec. 8 of art. I of tbe constitution of this state, which provides, among other things, that no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, no doubt confers tbe right and privilege upon any person to refuse to give evidence which will or may incriminate him. He may, however, waive this privilege, -and it is generally held to be waived where be produces evidence or answers questions without making tbe objection that tbe evidence called for has this tendency; but it is quite another question whether, assuming [28] that the constitutional right of a person has been invaded by compelling answers tending to incriminate that person, he can have an information quashed and be discharged from further prosecution where the preliminary complaint and information are based in part upon evidence so elicited and in part upon other evidence. Can this constitutional privilege, in the absence of an immunity statute, have the effect of not only excluding the evidence wrongfully elicited, but barring conviction upon any other evidence in a prosecution based upon information founded in part upon evidence thus unlawfully extorted and in part upon other evidence ?

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State v. Lloyd, 139 N.W. 514, 152 Wis. 24, 1913 Wisc. LEXIS 37 (Wis. 1913).

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