State v. Reyner

91 P. 301, 50 Or. 224, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 198
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 30, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 91 P. 301 (State v. Reyner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon 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. Reyner, 91 P. 301, 50 Or. 224, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 198 (Or. 1907).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Mo'ore.

The defendant, F. K. Reyner, was convicted of the crime of larceny and sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the term of three years, from which judgment he appeals.

His counsel contend that the information does not state facts sufficient to constitute a crime, and that the evidence produced at the trial was insufficient to warrant a conviction, and hence the court erred in denying their request to instruct the jury, as follows: “I charge you fthat, under the testimony, you must find the defendant not guilty.” The information, omitting the title, the contra formara statuti clause, the signature of the prosecuting officer, the names of the witnesses and other indorsements, is as follows:

“F. K. Reyner, the above-named defendant, is accused by the District Attorney for the Tenth Judicial District of the State of Gregon, in this information, of the crime of larceny in a building, committed as follows: The said F. K. Reyner did, in the County of Union, and State of Oregon, on the 15th day of November, 1906, wrongfully, unlawfully and feloniously take, steal and carry -away in a certain store building, to wit, [226]*226the Owl Saloon, a certain sum of monejr, to wit, the sum of $81), lawful money and currency of the United States, the denominations thereof to the district attorney unknown, said money being then and there the personal property of one Louie Fagin, and of the value of $80.”

No demurrer to the formal accusation was interposed; but, a plea of not guilty having been entered, the defendant’s counsel objected and excepted to the introduction of any incriminating testimony against their client. Such evidence, though controverted, tended to show that, at the time stated in the information, the defendant was temporarily employed as a bartender in a saloon at La Grande; that the prosecuting witness, Louie Fagin, visited such resort, having in his vest pocket a roll of bills, whereupon the defendant proposed an exchange of vests with him; that Fagin removed his vest and handed it to the defendant, who, turning his back to such witness, took from the garment and retained the roll of bills, and thereupon handed the vest back to the owner. Fagin, as a witness for the State, in describing the money alleged to have been taken from him, testified that the night preceding his loss he left with one W. C. Iiesse, at La Grande, for safe-keeping, “two $20 pieces in paper, four $10 bills, and one $10 in gold,” and the next morning received the same, placing the paper money in his vest pocket and the gold in a purse, which he carried in his trousers pocket. The testimony of this witness is corroborated by that of Hesse as to the denomination and kind of money left with and given back by him. H. C. Cotner, the proprietor o£ the saloon where the defendant was employed, testified that, upon returning to his place of business, after a short absence, he found Fagin censuring the defendant for taking from him a package of paper money, saying:

“This foreigner was accusing this man Reyner, over there, that he had taken a roll of greenbacks from him, -his money, and he pulled open his coat that way, and said: ‘He took it out of there.’ * * Of course, he talked broken, but he made me understand there were $85 in it in greenbacks, paper money, and he says, ‘There is two $20 greenbacks, bills,’ and he made me understand the balance of it was $5 and $10 bills.”

[227]*227W. W. Crawford testified that he was in Cotner’s saloon, . November 15, 1906, and saw Fagin take “from his pocket what looked like greenback bills, and put them back in his coat pocket.” The foregoing is the only testimony tending in any manner to identify the kind of money alleged to have been taken, or to establish its value, and, 'based on such evidence, the court said to the jury:

“When you retire, gentlemen, you will select one of', your number as foreman, who will sign whatever verdict you agree 'upon. If you are satisfied from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant, as I have indicated to you, you will sign and return this verdict:

‘We, the jury in the above-entitled criminal action, find the defendant, F. Iv. Reyner, guilty of larcenjy and the value of the property stolen $-,’ filling in the number of dollars, the value of the property stolen, and sign i-t above the word ‘Foreman.’ ”

An exception to this part of the charge was reserved by the defendant’s counsel. Pursuant to the direction, however, the jury inserted in the verdict the following: “$80.00.”

The information hereinbefore set out is evidently based on an alleged violation of Section 1799, B. & C. Comp., which, so far as involved herein, is' as follows:

“If any person shall commit the crime of larceny in any dwelling house, banking house, office, store, shop or warehouse * * and commit the crime of larceny therein, such person, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished,” etc.

As this section is entitled “Larceny in House, Boat, or Public Building,” it is argued that the crime of larceny in a building is not. classified as a special offense under our statute, unless such structure is used by the public, and the defect in the information was not remedied by the averment “in a certain store building,” for the idea intended to be expressed by the use of that phrase is to charge the commission of an offense in a building, rather than in a store.

1. The failure of an information to state facts sufficient to constitute a crime may be taken advantage of at the trial, as was done in the case at bar, under plea of not guilty (B. & C. [228]*228Comp. § 1365), thereby making an examination of the charging part of the formal accusation necessary.

2. Before considering such question, however, attention is called to the testimony, which, it will be remembered, tended to show that the money alleged to have been stolen was taken by the defendant from a vest which was delivered to him by Fagin, the owner of the property. If it be assumed that the money was abstracted from the garment under the circumstances adverted to, the stealing was larceny from the person, provided the taking was without Fagin’s knowledge or consent, or so suddenly as to preclude resistance before asportation: Rapalje, Larceny, § 16; McClain, Crim. Law, § 575; Commonwealth v. Lester, 129 Mass. 101.

3. Our statute, prohibiting such thefts and prescribing the measure of punishment'therefor, is as follows:

“If any person shall commit the crime of larceny by stealing from the person of another, such person shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished,” etc.: B. & C. Comp, § 1800.

The conviction herein was undoubtedly 'based on a violation of Section 1798, as amended by Laws 1905, p. 83, which, so far as considered material in the case at bar, is as follows:

“If any person shall steal any goods or chattels, or any government note, bank note, * * which is the property of another, such person shall be deemed guilty of larceny, and upon conviction thereof, if the property stolen shall exceed in value $35, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years; but if the property stolen shall not exceed the value of $35, such person, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not less than one month nor more than one year, or by fine not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars.”

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Bluebook (online)
91 P. 301, 50 Or. 224, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reyner-or-1907.