State v. Teller

78 P. 980, 45 Or. 571, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 131
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 19, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 78 P. 980 (State v. Teller) 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. Teller, 78 P. 980, 45 Or. 571, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 131 (Or. 1904).

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Moore

delivered the opinion.

The defendant, Francis M. Teller, was convicted of the crime of larceny, alleged to have been committed in Harney County May 16, 1903, by unlawfully taking, stealing, and carrying away $145 in gold coin and $55 in currency of the United States, the property of one Mrs. L. S. Whitmer, and from the judgment which followed he appeals.

1. An exception having been taken, it is contended by defendant’s counsel that the court erred in refusing to charge the jury as they requested, to wit: “If the money alleged to have been stolen was given to Mrs. Smith and [572]*572the defendant by Mrs. Whitmer to keep for her until called for, then I instruct you to find the defendant not guilty.” It is argued that testimony was introduced at the trial tending to show that the money alleged to have been stolen came lawfully into the defendant’s possession, and that, if it be assumed, even, that he converted any part of it, though he might, under a proper indictment, have been found guilty of embezzlement, he could not have been convicted of larceny as charged, and hence he was entitled to have his theory of the case clearly stated to the jury. Larceny consists of an intent to trespass on the personal property of another, coupled with an intent wholly to deprive the owner thereof, and the crime is not committed unless such intents concurrently and contemporaneously exist: 1 Bishop, Grim. Law (7 ed.), §§ 207, 342 ; Rapalje, Larceny, § 20. In State v. Hull, 33 Or. 56 (54 Pac. 159, 72 Am. St. Rep. 694), Mr. Justice Bean, in discussing this subject, says: “To constitute the crime of larceny, as charged in the indictment, there must be a trespass, that is, a taking of the property without the consent of the owner.” In State v. Meldrum, 41 Or. 380 (70 Pac. 526), it was also said: “It is familiar law that, where property is delivered by the owner to another, and is received bona fide and in good faith, a subsequent wrongful conversion pending possession will not support an indictment for larceny in the original taking.” In Johnson v. People, 113 Ill. 99, in a very learned opinion, Mr. Justice Mulkey says: “As trespass is an injury to the possession only, it logically and legally follows that no one in the lawful possession of goods can commit larceny of them, for it would be idle and absurd to talk of one committing an injury to his own possession.”

2. It has repeatedly been held that, when a party to an action has given evidence tending to sustain the issues on his part, he is entitled to have the jury instructed on his [573]*573theory of the case; Fiore v. Ladd, 25 Or. 423 (36 Pac. 572); Barnhart v. Ehrhart, 33 Or. 274 (54 Pac. 195); Farmers’ Bank v. Woodell, 38 Or. 294 (61 Pac. 837, 65 Pac. 520); Lewis v. Craft, 39 Or. 305 (64 Pac. 809); Bingham v. Lipman, 40 Or. 363 (67 Pac. 98); State v. Smith, 43 Or. 109 (71 Pac. 973).

3. Based on these elementary rules, it remains to be seen whether or not any testimony was given tending to show that the money alleged to have been stolen came lawfully into the defendant’s possession. The transcript shows that in May, 1903, Mrs. L. S. Whitmer and her husband started from Huntington, Oregon, for California, with a team of horses and a wagon, and, having some money of her own, she wrapped it in cloth, securely sewing the edges, and placed the bundle in a box of household goods which they carried. These people quarreled on the road, in consequence of which Mrs. Whitmer concluded to leave her husband, and, after reaching Burns, Oregon, she opened the box without his knowledge, secured the package, and took it, unopened, to the Cottage Hotel, which was kept by Mrs. Smith, the defendant’s mother-in-larv, to whom she presented a letter of introduction, detailed the difficulty she had had with her husband, and stated that she feared he would try to get possession of the money. After consulting with the defendant, who suggested that it should be left with a merchant or at a bank, Mrs. Smith finally consented to hide it, whereupon the package and some currency that Mrs. Whitmer had upon her person were delivered to her, and, without the defendant’s knowledge, she placed them in a bureau in the room of the hotel occupied by him and his wife. Whitmer discovered that the money had been taken, and went to the hotel, claiming that it belonged to him, charging his wife with the larceny thereof, and creating such a disturbance that he was ejected. After he left the hotel, [574]*574Ms wife drew a check on a bank in Idaho, making it payable to the defendant, who deposited it with a bank in Burns for collection, and when the money was received thereon he delivered it to her.

The defendant, as a witness in his own behalf, testified that when he received the check Mrs. Whitmer said to him: “ I want you to take care of my money. I am going to have an awful time here.” He further said that in the evening of the day the package was left at the hotel, he and his wife having retired for the night, his sister-in-law entered their room, saying that Mrs. Whitmer had been arrested for the larceny of the money, and that the house would be searched in trying to find it; that, having promised Mrs. Whitmer to look after her money, though he had never seen it} he learned from his wife that it was in the bureau, to which he went, securing the package, and, knowing that Whitmer could accurately describe it, he removed the cloth, and wrapped the money in a towel, hiding it in a woodshed ; that immediately on returning his wife informed him there was also in the bureau $100 in currency belonging to Mrs. Whitmer, which he had overlooked, whereupon he placed $.40 thereof in his vest pocket, his wife putting the remainder with some gold she had; and that a peace officer came to the hotel, and searched Mrs. Whitmer’s trunk, but failed to find any money. This witness also said that the next morning after the arrest he went to the jail to see Mrs. Whitmer, who inquired of him, “Iseverything safe?” and receiving an affirmative answer, she thanked him ; that a few hours thereafter the charge preferred against her was examined .by a magistrate, and she was discharged; that Whitmer being unable to pay the bills he had incurred at Burns, his wife gave him $30 for that purpose, the witness paying her that sum from the currency which he had in his vest pocket; that Whitmer, upon receiving the money, resumed [575]*575his journey, leaving his wife at the hotel; that upon his departure the witness inquired of her, “ Shall I bring your money to you, Mrs. Whitmer?” saying, “I don’t want to be responsible for it,” and she, in answer thereto, referring to her husband, replied, “No, wait until he is well off the field ; way off.” After the money had remained in the shed three days, the defendant, at Mrs. Whitmer’s request, delivered it to her, wrapped in the towel, upon the receipt of which she claimed that a small sack of gold, which the package originally contained and some currency, amounting in all to $200, had been taken.

The defendant having testified that he lived at the Cottage Hotel, his counsel, in referring thereto,, inquired, “You helped conduct the institution and worked around the place?” to which he replied, “Yes, sir.” Mrs. Smith, as defendant’s witness, in referring to the delivery of the check to her son-in-law, and also to the request made at that time by Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
78 P. 980, 45 Or. 571, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-teller-or-1904.