Williams v. Insurance Commissioner

308 P.2d 52, 149 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1957 Cal. App. LEXIS 2007
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 14, 1957
DocketCiv. No. 17222
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 308 P.2d 52 (Williams v. Insurance Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Insurance Commissioner, 308 P.2d 52, 149 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1957 Cal. App. LEXIS 2007 (Cal. Ct. App. 1957).

Opinion

BRAY, J.

The Insurance Commissioner after a hearing revoked petitioner’s licenses to act as a bail agent, bail permittee and insurance agent. After a trial, and an independent weighing of the evidence originally before the commissioner, the superior court denied petitioner’s application for a writ of mandate to annul the commissioner’s decision. Petitioner appeals.

Questions Presented

1. Sufficiency of the evidence and findings.

2. The power of the commissioner to revoke petitioner’s insurance license in addition to revoking his bail license.

1. Evidence and Findings.

A recital of the evidence favorable to the court’s findings shows that they are well substantiated, although in several instances, considering that evidence with petitioner’s denials and evidence, the court, had it believed petitioner, could have found the other way.

1(a). Motorola TY-Set Transaction.

The accusation before the commissioner charged and the commissioner and the court (finding III) found that [143]*143petitioner accepted said set as security for payment of a bail surety undertaking premium, suspecting the set to have been stolen. It was stipulated that it was a stolen set. Petitioner admitted its receipt for the purpose mentioned. Petitioner contends that his actions, from which the commissioner and the court drew the inference that he must have known that the set was a stolen one, do not justify that inference.

Police officers came to his office one morning and told him that he had some equipment they wanted to look at, as they suspected it to have been stolen. With his permission they took back to the department a typewriter and an adding machine. Petitioner went with them. It was arranged that the officers were to go to petitioner’s apartment that afternoon to see if he had other stolen property. One of the officers arrived at the apartment sooner than planned. Walking down the driveway, the officer saw petitioner come out of the apartment’s back door, carrying the television set, and start up stairs leading to the second floor. The officer called to him and asked where he was taking it, and he said to one Davis. Petitioner’s explanation of this was that after his visit to the police department, on returning he thought, “when I went to the office and they kept on after the investigation that morning, I started to thinking—what could I possibly have that I didn’t know about, to be certain? And at that time I went through my mind—I rambled my brains right fast to think.” He then thought of the fact that the person bonded had run away and “without thinking at all, I did move the T-Y at that time—that was the end of it—-. ...” Petitioner admitted that Davis had not asked him for the set and further stated that he did not think Davis was home at the time, and that he had not figured how he was going to get into Davis’ apartment, the door might or might not have been open. Petitioner conceded that he was getting the set out of the way before the officers arrived.

Petitioner’s actions in attempting to remove the set before the anticipated arrival of the officers reasonably justifies the inference that petitioner knew or suspected that the set was a stolen one when he received it. An inference of this kind, reasonably drawn, constitutes substantial evidence. (See People v. Lopez, 126 Cal.App.2d 274, 278 [271 P.2d 874] ; People v. Bycel, 133 Cal.App.2d 596, 599 [284 P.2d 927].)

l.(b) The Clary Adding Machine.

The accusation charged and the commissioner and [144]*144the court found (finding IV) that petitioner received and had in his possession a Clary adding machine, which he should have known was stolen property. As in the case of the television set, petitioner’s attack is on the sufficiency of the evidence to show that he should have known it was stolen. Petitioner’s claim was that this machine was a part of the equipment in the office when he took it over from his brother in January, 1952. He had witnesses to testify that they saw a Clary machine in the brother’s office and then in petitioner’s office from that time on, until taken by the officers. However, the machine was not stolen from its true owner until about March 20th. Petitioner also attacks the sufficiency of the evidence to show the identity of the stolen machine. However, this evidence is so strong as to not warrant detailing it here. Here, again, petitioner’s actions, particularly in contending that both he and his brother had the machine in their possession at a time when it was still in the possession of its true owner, raises a reasonable inference that petitioner knew or should have known it to have been stolen, even though the Oakland police captain testified that they had not prosecuted petitioner because they did not think they had sufficient evidence.

l.(c) The Branch Transaction.

Both the commissioner and the court found that petitioner in violation of section 2102, title 10, California Administrative Code, failed to keep proper records, as required by that section (findings XII, XIII and XIV). Of the violations found two refer to the Branch transaction. Petitioner failed to keep proper records of (1) cash received, and (2) considerations other than cash received for bail bond premiums. Section 2102 provides: “Every bail agent and bail permittee shall keep complete records of all business done under authority of his license. . . . These records shall be open to inspection or examination by the Commissioner at all times, at the principal place of business of the licensee. . . . Complete record of all business shall include the following :. . . (k) The date of each and every collection of premium or guard fee or service charge fees. ... (r) If any valuable consideration other than money is received directly or indirectly as premium, guard fee or service charge or as any part thereof, a full statement of such consideration and the circumstances attendant thereto.”

Branch paid petitioner $175 on account of a $600 bail bond premium. The Department of Insurance investigator Jordan [145]*145found no entry of any payment in petitioner’s “Receipt and Statement of Charges.” On questioning petitioner about the amount paid by Branch petitioner told him $60. Later on, again examining the above mentioned receipt, Jordan found that the figure of “$425” had been inserted as a balance. Petitioner then told Jordan he had received $135 on the account, but could not reconcile the conflict between the stated premium of $600, the balance due of $425, and the amount of $135 he claimed to have received. Jordan found a notebook of petitioner’s which indicated that petitioner had received more money than he admitted receiving. Although not shown to the investigator or present at petitioner’s place of business, petitioner claims that a little black book containing the proper figures which he produced later, and his explanation that he was merely careless in his manner of keeping accounts, showed no violation of section 2102. Both the commissioner and the trial court were justified in thinking otherwise. In addition to cash payments, Branch gave petitioner a bill of sale to, and physical possession of, a washing machine and a combination television set as security for the payment of the balance of the premium.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
308 P.2d 52, 149 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1957 Cal. App. LEXIS 2007, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-insurance-commissioner-calctapp-1957.