White v. State

280 N.W. 433, 135 Neb. 154, 1938 Neb. LEXIS 151
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 28, 1938
DocketNo. 30384
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 280 N.W. 433 (White v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. State, 280 N.W. 433, 135 Neb. 154, 1938 Neb. LEXIS 151 (Neb. 1938).

Opinion

Messmore, J.

Plaintiff in error (hereinafter called defendant) was convicted of the offense of issuing a no-fund or insufficient-funds check to the Stickelman Auction Sales Company of Gothenburg, Nebraska, on June 12, 1937, in the amount of $2,466.76. Motion for a new trial was overruled, and the court imposed sentence. The defendant was tried on one count which was proper in substance and form to bring the case to this court for review upon the alleged errors made by the trial court and the sufficiency of the evidence, as contended by defendant.

Defendant was engaged in dealing in live stock in various towns in Nebraska. In the latter part of October or the fore part of November, 1936, he contacted Ernest C. Stickel[156]*156man, who was, and had been for the past 34 years, engaged in the live stock and commission business, and for the past six years in Gothenburg under the name of “Stickelman Live Stock Auction Sales Commission Company,” as sole owner. The defendant testified that he told Mr. Stickelman that he desired to buy live stock at his sales barn and gave certain references, First National Bank of Boulder, Colorado, where he lived; that on numerous occasions subsequent to that date he purchased live stock ranging in amount from $300 to $800, at different sales. On the day in question, June 12, 1937, he purchased some 81 head of hogs and eight head of cattle, giving in payment therefor a check in the sum of $2,466.76. This check was dated “7/12 1937;” in other words, it was postdated. On the evening of June 12, 1937, defendant loaded the stock which he had purchased; it was shipped to Denver, Colorado, and disposed of early in the following week. The check in question was deposited for payment and returned for the reason that it was not yet due; that it would be due July 12, 1937. At the time the check was presented to the clerks at the sales barn, no statement was made by the defendant as to the check; it was received by a young lady, handed by her to another clerk, and subsequently to a third clerk, who placed it in a drawer, none of the clerks noticing the date of the check. Mr. Stickelman did not see the check at the time. Later, he and one Burke, who had had a similar experience just previously, journeyed to Boulder, Colorado, in search of the defendant, but were unable to locate him either in Boulder or in Denver, and, in fact, he was not located until arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in September. On July 12,1937, there were insufficient funds in the bank at Boulder to pay the check; the check was protested, and the check and protest thereof were turned over to the county attorney.

The defendant contends that the verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence and is contrary thereto.

This prosecution was brought under section 28-1212, Comp. St. 1929, which reads in part as follows: “Any per[157]*157son who, with intent to defraud, shall make or draw, or utter, or deliver, any check, draft, or order for the payment of money, upon any bank or other depository, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, uttering or delivering, that the maker, or drawer has not sufficient funds in, or credit with, such bank or other depository for the payment of such check, draft or order, in full upon its presentation, shall upon conviction, be punished,” etc.

The defendant contends that the check in question is a postdated check and not within the contemplation of the above statute; that the statute contemplates a demand check, and that, at most, the check in the instant case is a promise to pay in the future and is analogous to a promissory note; that the record discloses no evidence that at the time of the issuance of the check the defendant had insufficient credit with or funds in the bank upon its presentation for payment, and that Stickelman, by not protesting the check until 30 days thereafter, July 13, acquiesced in extending credit to the defendant. Defendant contends that the gist of the offense is a failure to have sufficient funds or credit in the bank at the time of presentation, and that this check was returned by the bank because it was a postdated check.

Defendant cites cases holding to the effect that a postdated check is not within the purview of the statute making it an offense to draw a check without having sufficient funds with which to meet it. An analysis of most of the cases cited clearly indicates that the payee therein had an agreement with the maker to hold the check, thus creating a contractual relation to permit the maker to pay in the future, or the transaction was such that the holding of the check was a necessary incident by agreement of the parties. The payee having acquiesced in or agreed, there could be no intention to defraud. There are some cases cited which hold that a postdated check is not within the purview of the statute. We believe that this is not conducive to a logical conception, in view of the provisions of our statute and the circumstances of the instant case.

An examination of section 28-1212, Comp. St. 1929, indi[158]*158cates that it does not state “postdated check;” neither is the date of any instrument', as contained in the statute, given or required to be given. The principal ingredient of the offense is the intent to defraud.

The well-considered case of People v. Bercovitz, 163 Cal. 636, 126 Pac. 479, 43 L. R. A. n. s. 667, held that a postdated check was within the contemplation of the California statute which, in some particulars, is like the statute in Nebraska. In commenting on this point the court said in the body of the opinion (p. 638) : “There is nothing in the language used having the effect of excepting a case from the operation of the statute merely because the ‘check or draft’ is postdated. It is essential, of course, that there should be on the part of one giving the check or draft both present knowledge of the insufficiency of funds and absence of credit with such bank, etc., to meet the check or draft in full upon its presentation, and an intent to defraud, but no reason is apparent why both of these elements may not exist as well in the case of a postdated check or draft as in the case of one bearing the date of its delivery.” And, in considering the word “credit,” which appears in the California and in the Nebraska statute, the opinion quotes that part of the statute as follows: “The word ‘credit’ as used herein shall be construed to be an arrangement or understanding with the bank or depository for the payment of such check or draft.” The Nebraska statute (Comp. St. 1929, sec. 28-1212) refers to “cheek, draft, or order for the payment of money,” and is an independent act, founded upon the intent to defraud by the issuance of a check, draft, or order for the payment of money. The guilt of the defendant would be necessarily determined by his intention to defraud, whether the check is payable on demand or postdated. The case of People v. Bercovitz, supra, meets the situation as contended for by the state iri the instant case.

The defendant further contends that the check in question, being a postdated.check, payable in the future, constitutes one due and payable at a future time, and that the [159]*159statute, construed to provide criminal punishment for its nonpayment, is contrary to. section 20, art. I of the Constitution of Nebraska, which provides: “’No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action or. mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud.” Inasmuch as an intent to defraud must be.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
280 N.W. 433, 135 Neb. 154, 1938 Neb. LEXIS 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-state-neb-1938.