State v. Styner

56 N.E. 98, 154 Ind. 131, 1900 Ind. LEXIS 20
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 31, 1900
DocketNo. 19,033
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 56 N.E. 98 (State v. Styner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana 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. Styner, 56 N.E. 98, 154 Ind. 131, 1900 Ind. LEXIS 20 (Ind. 1900).

Opinion

IIadley, O. J.

Indictment for obtaining ’property under false pretenses. Motion to quash the indictment sustained, and the State appeals.

Omitting formal parts, the indictment, in substance, charges: That the defendant, Harry N. Styner, on the 15th day of March, 1899, at Tippecanoe county, did, then and there, feloniously and knowingly, falsely pretend and represent to Alice Lightle, with intent to cheat and defraud her (Lightle), and for the purpose of obtaining from her the property hereinafter named, that he, Styner, had a bank check for $1,000, executed to him by his father, which he intended to deposit in the Eirst National Bank of Lafayette in the 'said Lightle’s name; and in support of which representations Styner presented to Lightle, for her inspection, what purported to be a-bank check for $1,000, executed by his father; and Styner did, then and there, further feloniously, etc., represent and pretend to her, the said Alice Lightle, that he intended to marry her, and that he had provided a house for them to live in as husband and -wife; and did further, then and there, feloniously, etc., represent and pretend to her that a certain unsigned bank check, bearing an uncanceled revenue stamp, which he then and there had and presented to her for her examination, was a check for $125 on the Eirst National Bank of Lafayette; while, in truth, it was an unsigned check for $725, a copy of which check is set out; that she, the said Lightle, relying upon said representations, and believing them to be true, and having [133]*133no means of ascertaining the contrary, and having unbounded confidence in Styner, did, upon Styner’s request, and being induced thereto by said false representations, sign her name to the check so represented by Styner to be for $125; and, being further induced by said false representations, did place the check, after signing, in .Styner’s possession, with the intention and purpose of making him a present of $125; that the check so signed was her property, and of the value of $725; and that by means of said false representations, Styner obtained from Lightle her signature, bank check, and property; that, in truth, Styner had no bank check, executed by his father, for $1,000, or for any other sum, and he knew the check he presented to Lightle and requested her to sign and which was signed by her, was for $725 and not for $125; that Styner did not intend to marry Lightle and had not provided a home for them to live in as husband and wife; and that, induced by the false representations, Lightle canceled the .revenue stamp upon the check, after signing it upon Styner’s request, and handed the check so signed to Styner; and that Styner, after receiving the same, indorsed his name on the reverse side.

The points made against the indictment are (1) that the facts averred constitute larceny and not false pretense; (2) the signed check was the property obtained, and it can not be separated; (3) the title to the property wras not parted with by the delivery averred; (4) a gift can not be the subject of a false pretense; (5) the alleged false pretenses were not the operative cause for parting with the check.

The first three points are so closely blended that they -will be considered together. As to the first, it does not follow that, because the facts averred exhibit a case of larceny, they do not also show a sufficient charge for obtaining property by false pretenses. There are many acts that offend against more than one of our criminal statutes. Larceny and robbery, assault and battery, assault and battery with intent to kill, assault and battery and an affray, are different [134]*134offenses that may spring from the same act. So, also, a sale of intoxicating liquors, without a license, to a minor on Sunday, while but a single act, may constitue three several and distinct offenses. State v. Gapen, 17 Ind. App. 524. So, also, a count for larceny may be joined with a count for obtaining the same goods by false pretenses or for obtaining the same goods by robbery, by burglary, by embezzlement, or for receiving, knowing it to have been stolen. §1817 Burns 1894, §1748 R. S. 1881 and Horner 1897.

The question, therefore, is: Do the facts pleaded constitute a sufficient charge of obtaining the property of the prosecuting witness by false pretenses? The principal distinction between the tortious taking of the property of another by false pretenses, and by such active fraud as constitutes larceny, is, that in the former the owner voluntarily and intentionally parts with the possession and .title of his property, being induced thereto by the false pretenses and deception of the defendant, while in the latter he ignorantly and unintentionally parts with the possession, but not with the title, it being essential to the transfer of title that the act be accompanied with knowledge and intention.

It will be observed that the indictment charges, in effect, that the false representations and pretenses were made for the purpose of inducing the prosecuting witness to execute and deliver a certain bank check to the defendant, — a check represented by him, and believed by her, to be for $125, but which was in fact for $725. Erom this it is argued by the defendant’s counsel that, since Lightle executed and parted with but a single check, and that for $725 ($600 more than she intended), there was no intentional delivery of the particular check, no parting with the title thereto, and hence the act was larceny, and not false pretense; the contention’ being that there can be no division in the amount of the check to characterize the offense.

The charge is that Lightle believed the check was for $125 only, and that she intended, by its execution and delivery [135]*135to the defendant, to give him $125. The paper was signed and delivered by her as a valid check for $125, and, if free from fraud,would have been a valid delivery for that amount, even though the face of it called for a greater sum. A part only of a chose in action may be assigned. Groves v. Ruby, 24 Ind. 418; Earnest v. Barrett, 6 Ind. App. 371; Fordyce v. Nelson, 91 Ind. 447. And an assignment of part implies a delivery of part. If the indictment was for larceny, the logic of the defendant would require us to hold that it was not larceny since she purposely and intentionally delivered the cheek for a part of the amount called for. The test is: Did the defendant induce the prosecuting witness to sign and deliver to him the particular check by the false representations and pretenses made to her, as charged? If he did, we do not perceive why he is not guilty of obtaining her property by false pretenses, within the meaning of the.statute. It would be a novel quality of justice that would grant the defendant his discharge upon his showing that, by his artful deception, he procured her to yield to him property of greater value than she intended.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 N.E. 98, 154 Ind. 131, 1900 Ind. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-styner-ind-1900.