205 P. 881 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1922
Defendant was informed against for the crime of criminal conspiracy under the provisions of section *424
[1] As to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the judgment, no question can well be made. It was shown that four men, the defendant being one of them, appeared at Yorba Linda, and, pretending to be interested in oil lands, expressed their desire to purchase an option for a lease on certain lands then controlled by the president of the bank mentioned. This defendant was represented as a geologist, and another of the four men as an attorney who was passing upon the regularity of the transaction. One of the remaining men took the part of the chauffeur. The land in question was viewed and this defendant reported to his confreres that it looked "all right." The price to be paid for the option was $500. One of the men, called "Franklin," produced the two checks, drawn upon San Francisco banks, representing that he had the money there. He went with the president of the Yorba Linda bank to the latter institution, deposited the two checks, and in turn drew a check for $500, which was used in an escrow made in connection with the option transaction. He also was allowed to draw the sum of $300 in cash against the purported deposit, and also asked for and received a draft or cashier's check for the sum of $527.30, which at his request was issued payable to one De Witt. Without loss of time the defendant here, who had been known to the banker at Yorba Linda as "Sharky," appeared in a Los Angeles bank seeking to cash the cashier's *425 check, representing himself to be De Witt. The bank refused to honor the draft without evidence of identification, and for that reason defendant was unable to get the money. He was next heard from in the city of Long Beach. A jeweler of that city testified that a man whom he had known by the name of "Fields" — evidently the "Franklin" referred to herein — appeared at his store and stated that he had lost a watch which he had purchased of the jeweler at a time prior thereto, and desired to buy a new one. He selected a watch and presented in payment therefor the cashier's check for $527.30, and requested that the price be deducted therefrom, and that he receive the remainder in cash, which would have amounted to something over $400. The cashier's check at that time bore on the back the name of "De Witt," and "Fields" (or "Franklin") stated to the jeweler that he knew De Witt and knew that the signature was all right. The jeweler stated that he had not the amount of money in the store, but would go to the bank and get it. His real intent was to ascertain as to whether the cashier's check was good. He went to a bank in Long Beach, which in turn communicated by telephone with the Yorba Linda bank and received from that institution advice to hold the check and arrest the man. The jeweler returned to his store and found that "Fields" had gone, the latter having indicated to a clerk that he was going out to get something to eat. Shortly thereafter a messenger boy arrived at the store with a note directing the delivery of the watch and money to the bearer. A police officer had been secured in the meantime, and he gave direction to the messenger boy to take the package to the person who had sent him there, while the officer followed a short distance behind. The messenger boy testified that when he received the note from the man he had been told by him not to disclose his whereabouts. When the boy arrived at the place where the man had told him to report, that individual, observing the proximity of the officer, motioned to the boy to follow him and then proceeded in the direction of the beach. As the boy got close to him he told the boy not to give him the package, that someone was following him. This being the situation, the officer took the parcel from the boy and proceeded to arrest the man, who was fully identified as being this defendant. As to whether he was the *426 same person who appeared in the jeweler's store is not made certain by the record, but that is not material. Defendant's connection with the entire fraudulent scheme was fully established, and from the circumstances shown no reasonable mind could be left in any doubt at all as to the conspiracy having existed as charged in the information. The evidence introduced was competent to establish the essential facts.
[2] Appellant complains that the judgment as pronounced by the court was not only defective, but void, in that it did not sufficiently specify the crime for which defendant had been convicted. Attention is called to the fact that under the provisions of section
The judgment and order are affirmed.
Conrey, P. J., and Shaw, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing of this cause was denied by the district court of appeal on March 14, 1922, and a petition to have the cause heard in the supreme court, after judgment in the district court of appeal, was denied by the supreme court on April 14, 1922.
All the Justices concurred, except Sloane, J., and Shurtleff, J., who were absent.
Richards, J., pro tem., was acting for Waste, J., who was absent. *428