176 Ky. 343 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1917
Opinion of the Court by
Reversing.
This is a companion, case to that of Ivan W. Sanders against the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the opinion in which was rendered on a previous day of the present term of thjs court, and may he found in 176 Ky. 229, and wherein nearly all of the facts upon which this cause is based are set out at length, and a reference is made to that opinion for the facts of this case, which are not herein stated.
The indictment is against the appellant, Ed. Rand, and Ivan W. Sanders, jointly, and accuses them of the crime of obtaining money, by false pretenses, from Lewis county, in the sum of two thousand dollars. The trial resulted in the conviction of the- appellant, Ed. Rand, and a judgment sentencing him to a term of imprisonment in the state reformatory.
(a) That in order to make a sufficient indictment for the crime charged, it should have been alleged, that the person from whom the property was obtained, would not have parted with it, but for the alleged false token, statement or pretense; and (b) because the order signed by the county court clerk, which was presented, ultimately, to the treasurer of Lewis county by the Citizens Bank of Yaneeburg, was not a false pretense or token, but a writing signed in good faith.
"With regard to the first ground for demurrer relied upon, an indictment for false pretenses is sufficient, if it alleges that the person, defrauded, relied upon the truth of the false statement, token or pretense, and was induced thereby to part with the propérty or money. Bishop on Crimihal Law, vol. 2, sections 415, 462; 19 Cyc. 429. The indictment, in the instant case, specifically, alleges that the representatives of the municipality of the county, who had the control and custody of the money of the county, and which it was alleged that the appellant fraudulently obtained by false pretenses, relied upon the alleged false statements and representations, and paid to appellant the money, and that he obtained the money by reason of the false statements and representations. This is a substantial-averment, that the defrauded party, relying upon the false statement and representation, was thereby induced to part with the money. It is not necessary, in such an indictment, to use any particular words in alleging that the party defrauded relied upon the truth of the false statements and was induced thereby-to part with his money or property. If it was substantially alleged, in any words, which conveyed that meaning, the indictment will be sufficient. Smith v. Com., 141 Ky. 534. As regards the second ground, which is relied upon as making the indictment subject to demurrer, the indictment charges that the property obtained by the false pretenses was two thousand dollars in money, and there is nothing in the indictment with reference to any order signed by the county clerk, and which was obtained by the false pretense, for which the appellant was indicted.
The indictment, in substance, charged that the appellant and-Ivan W. -Sanders, who, as the county road engineer, feloniously and corruptly conspired to cheat and
To constitute the crime of obtaining money or property by false pretenses, the following things must appear: (1) A false pretense; (2) the false pretense must be made by the defendant, or by some one, whom he has induced to make it; (3) the defendant must have had knowledge of the falsity of the statement, token or pretense when he made it; (4) the person defrauded must have relied upon the pretense and been induced thereby to part with his property or money; (5) the property or money must have been obtained by the defendant or by some one in his behalf; (6) the defendant must have had an intent to defraud; (7) and lastly, an actual defrauding must have resulted. 19' Cyc. 393. The indictment, in substance, contains averments, by which are alleged all of the above essentials to the commission of the crime of obtaining money or property by false pretenses, and hence the demurrer was properly overruled.
(a) It is insisted that it was no part of the duty of Sanders, as road engineer, to make a statement of the claim of Band, as the county of Lewis was not indebted to Band and had no contractual relations with him, and hence the statement and certification made by Sanders 'and presented by Band to the county court, which, together with the. statement of appellant accompanying the certificate, was not a false pretense, as it should hot have, in any way, deceived the county court and the county judge should not have relied thereon. This contention is fully discussed and disposed of in the opinion of Sanders v. Commonwealth, and it is unnecessary to here advert to it.
(b) It is, likewise, claimed, that the claim of Band when presented to the county court was approved by the county judge and not by the county court, and there was no order or warrant of the county court, signed by the judge thereof, directing-its payment, but merely an order signed by the clerk of the county court, and hence the treasurer was not authorized to pay same, and the county did not part with or lose anything by the payment, as it could yet require its treasurer to account for same. It is true, that to commit the crime by obtaining money by false pretenses, an actual defrauding must take place, but it is not necessary to constitute the crime that actual pecuniary loss be suffered, or that it will necessarily be suffered, but if the party defrauded has been placed by the false pretense of the accused, in such a position that he may eventually suffer loss, is sufficient to support the charge. It is patent, if the false pretense of appellant caused the county treasurer to part with the money of the county to him, and although the county may yet be able to recover its losses from the treasurer or from the appellant by a civil action, upon the ground that the treasurer was not authorized to pay it out to appellant nor appellant authorized to receive it, still the county has been placed in a position that it may eventually suffer the loss. An actual loss is not necessary to make out the crime, and hence it is not a defense that the county may hereafter recover for any loss it sustained. If an
(c) It is, also, insisted, that the county judge, who approved the false claim and ordered its payment, was not deceived in any way by the statement or representations to him, and that he fully understood its contents and the facts in regard to it, and hence the charge of obtaining the money by a false pretense must necessarily fail, because the county judge did not rely upon the alleged false token or pretense and was not thereby induced to approve the false claim and direct its payment. This is a correct principle when applied to transactions between individuals, there is no doubt. As between individuals, if the party claiming to be defrauded knew that the pretense was false, he necessarily did not rely ■thereon and was not induced'thereby to part with Ms property, and in such case the crime of obtention of money or property by false pretense is not committed. The evidence, however, does not show, that the county judge knew the falsity of the pretense. However, the party alleged to have been defrauded, in the instant case, was Lewis county. The money of which it was defrauded,
(d) It is claimed that a fatal variance exists between the allegations of the indictment and the proof, which entitled appellant to a directed verdict in his favor. The indictment charges the appellant with having obtained money from the county by a false pretense, and it is claimed that the proof shows that what he obtained by the false pretense was an order of the county court, by which the treasurer was directed to pay to him the money; that he assigned this order to a banking institution, which transferred it to another bank, which received the money from the treasurer. A municipality must necessarily'have certain machinery, which must necessarily be resorted to when its funds are paid out, and the use of such means must be contemplated by any one who seeks to obtain money from it. In the instant case, a road claim must be stated and certified by the road engineer, and when presented to the county court, an order is made directing its payment by the treasurer, which, when-presented to the treasurer, the money is received. What the appellant obtained from the county by his false pretense was money,- and the order of the county court, and its transfer by him to a bank, was only a part of the necessary steps in the payment of the money, though he might have presented the order directly to the treasurer, but the fact that he transferred the order to another before it reached the treasurer would not and could not acquit him of his fraud as the order was only one of the steps in making payment by the county. Hence, this contention is altogether untenable.
(e) The false pretense, statement or token complained of, in the instant case, was the statement of the account of tlie appellant against the county for the con-' struction of a public highway, and which, under sections
“Under the common form of the statute, a specific intent to defraud is essential to the commission of the crime. ’ ’
And in-12 Cyc. 156, with reference to the presumption, that every one is acquainted with the law, the text is as follows:
“An exception to the general rule exists where a specific intent is essential to the crime, and ignorance of the law negatives the existence of such intent, as where a person charged with larceny or robbery believed the property to be his own. ’ ’ Com. v. Stebbins, 8 Gray 492; People v. Husband, 36 Mich. 306.
In the instant case, it does not appear that the appellant should be presumed to be better advised as to the law relating to the. building of the public highways than the county judge, the members of the. fiscal court and the county attorney, all combined. The certificate of the road engineer, which is the alleged false pretense, recites that “as said contract provides for partial payments as the work progresses, your engineer desires to make the following report as to the amount of work done and for which payment is due.” One of the items is the “to 20,000 ft. forms, 10c per ft., $2,000.00.” If appellant, without fraud and honestly believing, that he was entitled to receive payment for that sum for lumber, under the contract, at’the time the certificate was presented to the county court, he would not be criminally liable.' The court, instead of the first instruction, should give one, which submits to the jury the essential things necessary to constitute the crime of obtaining money by false "pretenses, in accordance with the allegations of the indictment, and instead of instructions two and four, it should substantially instruct the jury, that in accordance with the terms of the contract, under which, appellant made the claim alleged to be a false pretense, that he was entitled to receive payment for the lumber actually used by him in the construction of the small bridge upon the original route of the road, at ten cents per foot, board measure, and that for the construction of the two small bridges upon the route to which the road was changed, he was entitled to be paid for such quantity of lumbér
That portion of instruction two, which defines a criminal conspiracy, is not objectionable. It should, also, be borne in mind, that, although in order to constitute guilt of one accused of obtaining money or property by false pretenses, the accused should have knowledge of the falsity of the pretense, and that making a statement recklessly and without information justifying a belief in its truth is equivalent to the making of a statement, knowing it to be false.
The avowed order of the fiscal court approving the payment by the county court of the amount of appellant’s claim embraced in the certificate of the engineer, of date December 30th, is not material and was properly refused to be allowed 'in the evidence, as the Commonwealth relied for conviction upon the statement of the engineer, of date December 30th, and as any action by the fiscal court after that time would not shed any light upon the intent of the appellant and his action prior to that time. Conversations and discussions held in the fiscal CQurt and desultory conversations with the individual members of the fiscal court are not competent evidence for any purpose, because the court can only speak by its records. Any facts tending to. show the establishment by the county authorities of the road over the changed route, previous to the date of the false pretense relied upon for conviction, may be given in evidence, but the use of the changed road as a public highway since the date of the false pretense or steps taken by the county authorities in relation to it, since the date of the false pretense, are not material, as they would shed no light upon the motives and good faith of the appellant in making the pretense, which is alleged to be false.
For the reasons above 'given, the judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.