107 F. 916 | 8th Cir. | 1901
after stating the case as above, delivered ihe opinion of the court.
Certain technical objections were made in the lower court to that count of the indictment upon which a conviction was luid, and the same objections are urged in this court. These will be first noticed, ft is said — First, that the Townley note referred to in the indictment is not sufficiently described, because the name of the payee is not mentioned; second, that the pleader should have alleged that the misapplication of the funds of the banking association was “without the knowledge or consent” of the association, its directors and committees, instead of alleging such facts conjunctively by the use of the word “and”; and, third, that the allegation that the misapplication was “of the moneys, funds, and credits of said national hanking association” is too indefinite for a criminal pleading. Each of these propositions must he adjudged to he without substantial merit and untenable. In some cases, as in prosecutions for forgery or uttering a forged instrument, the instrument constitutes the subject-matter of the offense, and it is necessary to describe the same with great particularity. It will he observed, however, that the Townley note is not mentioned in that part of the count in which the pleader describes the offense complained of in the language of the statute; but it is referred to in that part of the count where the pleader, for the benefit of the accused, and to enable him to
It is further urged in behalf of the accused that there was such a variance between the proof and the description given in the indictment of the Townley note as entitled him to an acquittal. The indictment referred to the note as one “made and drawn by one Benjamin W. Townley, dated on the 8th day of December, 1894, for the sum of fifteen thousand and six hundred ($15,600) dollars, due and payable on the 11th day of April, A. D. 1894.” The proof, on the other hand, disclosed a note for the same amount .and of the same date as that stated in the indictment, and signed either “Benjamin ,W. Townley” or “B. W. Townley,”_but “due and payable four months
Counsel for the accused contend, however, that it" is not necessary that it should appear that the variance was so far material as to mislead the accused or put him ..to any disadvantage in making Ms defense. They insist, in substance, that the prosecution was bound to prove the execution of such a note as was described in the indictment, although the averment as to the day of maturity might have been omitted, and that such particularity of proof was requisite because an offense could not have been charged without referring to the Townley note, and that under such circumstances every allegation tending to identify the note became and was material. The rule of law thus invoked is one which is applied most frequently in prosecutions for larceny and embezzlement, although it is not confined in its application wholly to that class of cases. When one is accused of stealing or embezzling property of any sort, the description of the thing stolen or embezzled must usually be proven strictly as averred. The examples which are usually given to illustrate this rule are as follows: If one is accused of stealing a white horse or live turkeys, he cannot be convicted by proof of the theft of a black horse or dead turkeys; and, if one is accused of causing the death of another by poison, a conviction cannot be obtained by proof that the death was occasioned in an entirely different manner, as by shooting or by the use of a deadly weapon. U. S. v. Howard, 3 Sumn. 12, 26 Fed. Gas. 388, Fed. Cas. No. 15,403, and cases there cited. The reason underlying the rule as applied in the foregoing instances is obvious; the reason being that the record of a conviction or acquittal, where the proof, as respects objects described, differs so widely from the allegation, may not be readily available as a bar to a second prosecution for the same
That count of the indictment under which a conviction was had alleged, among other things, that the misapplication of funds by the defendant was “for the use, benefit, and advantage of the said David V. Rieger and the said Robert D. Covington, and other persons to the grand jurors aforesaid unknown.” In view of this allegation, it is insisted on the part of the accused that he was entitled to have the jury determine whether the grand jury did not in fact know when they returned the indictment the names of the other persons who realized a benefit or advantage by reason of the misapplication. It is said, in substance, that if the jury had found that the names of other persons benefited were known to the grand jury, or ought to have been known, it would have established such a variance between the proof and the allegation as in and of itself would have entitled the defendant to an acquittal. With reference to this contention it is quite sufficient to say that there was no substantial evidence, in our judgment, which would have warranted the jury in finding that the presentment was false, in that the grand jurors knew the names of other persons who were benefited directly or indirectly by the misapplication, and might have stated them. Moreover, it is impossible to see in what way the defendant was prejudiced by the supposed variance which he wished to establish. There was proof tending to show that-the misapplication was for the benefit and advantage of the accused, and the jury were required to find that fact, and did so find. The defendant was not put to any disadvantage in making his defense, even if the name or names of some other person or persons who were likewise benefited were known to the grand jury, or might have been known, and the name or names of such person or persons were not disclosed. Altogether the point now under consideration seems so highly technical and unimportant as not to deserve serious consideration by an appellate court.
Again, it is said that the trial judge erred in refusing to re-read that portion of his original charge relating to “the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt” when he re-read other parts of the original charge. The incident out of which this assignment of error arises, as disclosed by the record, was as follows: The jury returned into court on the day succeeding the submission of the cause, before a verdict had been reached, and requested the trial judge to
Some other errors are assigned, which, in our judgment, do not require extended consideration. It is said that the trial court erred in charging the jury, in substance, that, in determining whether the Townley note at the time of its discount was adequately secured, they might consider what was realized by the receiver of the bank, something over three years after the discount, from certain property which was hypothecated at the time of the discount to secure its payment. We perceive no substantial error in the direction so given, because the court- at the same time directed the jury to consider any facts and circumstances in evidence which tended to show that the property in question had depreciated in value after the Townley note was discounted, and before the receiver realized upon the property that had been hypothecated to secure it. With this admonition directing the attention of the jury to a possible depreciation in the value of the property through natural causes, we fail to see that the instruction given was in any respect erroneous.
It is said that an error was committed by the trial court in instructing the jury, as it did, in substance, that, if the alleged misapplication of the money and funds of the bank was without the bank’s knowledge or consent at or before the.wrongful act was committed, no subsequent knowledge or consent obtained or given by the bank could be considered by the jury as justifying the misapplication. We are of opinion, however,, that this direction was right. If the act complained of at the time it was committed constituted a willful misapplication of the money or funds of the bank, and was an offense against the laws of the United States, the fact that the act in question subsequently became known to the officers of the bank, and that they impliedly consented thereto, by taking no action or making no complaint, cannot be regarded as condoning the offense or as altering its criminal character. This point was adjudged, in substance, in U. S. v. Youtsey (C. C.) 91 Fed. 864, 870, and with the views expressed in that case on the point in question we fully concur.
Again, it is said that the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury, as requested, that the jury could find the defendant guilty or innocent of some of the various offenses charged in the indictment, and return a verdict of disagreement as to other counts. As we understand learned counsel for the accused, the benefit which the accused might have realized from this instruction was a verdict of disagreement on that count of the indictment upon which a conviction was obtained. Concerning this contention it is quite sufficient to say that the verdict of the jury cannot be impeached by indulging in speculations of that character. It must be presumed that the verdict of the jury finding the defendant guilty on the first count expressed the opinion of each and all of the jurors, founded upon the evidence and the instructions of the court, and that the result would not have been different if the refused request had been given. If it be conceded that the request was not objectionable in point of law, the refusal of the same was at most an immaterial error.
The argument in support of the first proposition is, in substance, that the charge preferred is defective for the reason that it contains no specific averment that the proceeds of -the Townley note after the discount were converted to his own use by the defendant, or that they were converted to the use of any other person. Such an allegation, it is said, is necessary in an indictment under section 5209 for a willful misapplication of moneys, funds, or credits. We are not able to assent to this proposition. It is well settled by several adjudications that an indictment for the crime in question, although it is declared by statute to be only a misdemeanor, is not sufficient if the offense is described simply in the language of the statute. And the reason given to sustain this view is that the funds of a national bank may be misappropriated or dealt with wrongfully without incurring the penalty denounced by section 5209, and that the accused, even in prosecutions for a misdemeanor, is entitled to information of the precise nature of the act complained of, if the language of the statute will not convey such information. Hence an indictment under section 5209, besides alleging the offense of misapplying funds in the language of the statute, should descend to particulars, and describe the act or transaction which is claimed to be an offense, and the manner in which the statute was violated. Such particularity of averment is essential, not only to advise the accused of the proof that will be adduced against him, but also to differentiate the act complained of from other acts, amounting to a misappropriation of funds, which, although unlawful, are not criminal. U. S. v. Britton, 107 U. S. 655, 661, 2 Sup. Ct. 512, 27 L. Ed. 520; Id., 108 U. S. 193, 196, 2 Sup. Ct. 526, 27 L. Ed. 701; Id., 108 U. S. 199, 206, 2 Sup. Ct. 531, 27 L. Ed. 698; U. S. v. Northway, 120 U. S. 327, 331, 7 Sup. Ct. 580, 30 L. Ed. 664; U. S. v. Harper (C. C.) 33 Fed. 471. In the first of the Britton Cases above cited it was said arguendo, while discussing the various offenses defined by section 5209, that “to constitute the offense of willful misapplication there must be a conversion to his own use or the use of some one else of the moneys and funds of the association by the party charged.” An equivalent expression is found in U. S. v. Harper (C. C.) 33 Fed. 471, 478, and similar expressions, perhaps, may be found in other cases. But no controlling authority has been called to our attention in which it is held' that an indictment for misapplying the funds or credits of a national bank must, in terms, allege a conversion of the same by the accused to his own uee, or a conversion to the use of some one else. The proof adduced to support the allegation, which is usually found in such indictments, that’ the act tvas done “for the use, benefit, and advantage” of the accused, will
Inasmuch as the second contention of counsel last above stated is, in effect, that the count of the indictment on which a conviction was had charge's one offense, to wit, a willful misapplication of money or funds, while the* proof offered in its support tends to show the commission of another and entirely different offense, we deem it essential at this point to state some of the more material facts relating to the Townley note which the testimony adduced at the trial tended to establish: The Missouri National Bank of Kansas City, Mo., hereafter, termed the “bank,” was organized in January, 1891, and until its failure in December, 1896, David V. Bieger, the defendant, was its president, and had full control of its affairs and dictated its policy. On December 8, 1894, the bank held among its bills receivable a note for the sum of 815,000 that had been executed by John J. Bieger, a brother of the accused. The defendant claimed that this note represented funds of the bank which líe, as president, had from time to time expended for its benefit, and that neither himself nor his brother were under a legal obligation to pay the same. The prosecution insisted, and adduced abundant evidence to sustain the contention, that the note represented an indebtedness of the defendant to the bank for borrowed money; that the bank had originally held the defendant’s note for the indebtedness; and that he had caused it to be shifted into the name of his brother in February, 1893, for the purpose of concealing his indebtedness to the association. Some time prior to May 25, 1894, the bank had become (he equitable owner and was in control of all of, the tangible property of a manufacturing concern that had previously done
The argument in support of the proposition that the facts above detailed have no tendency to sustain the charge which is made by the indictment proceeds upon the theory that no money or funds were willfully misapplied, within the meaning of the statute, because no money was paid to Townley at the time his note was discounted. It is said that the bank parted with money only at the time when the debt evidenced by the Sieger note was contracted; that the net result of the Townley transaction was the substitution of his note for that of J. J. Sieger, without the actual payment of any money; and that the real oifense which the proof discloses was ’the abstraction of a credit, to wit, the Rieger note, which oifense is not charged in that count of the indictment on which the conviction rests. It is erroneous, however, to assume or assert that none of the proceeds of the Townley discount were paid out by the bank; for, as we have heretofore shown, there was evidence from which the jury might well have concluded, and doubtless did conclude, that $345 was paid either to Townley in person, or to some one else pursuant to his order. But, aside from this view of the case, we are of opinion that money and funds of the bank (using the latter words in this instance as synonymous) were misapplied, notwithstanding the fact that the proceeds of the discount were not paid over the counter either to him or to any one else. By direction of the accused, and with full knowledge that the Townley note was worthless, or at least not properly secured, and would not he paid in full, the entire proceeds of the discount were placed to Townley's credit on the hooks of the bank, subject to his disposal. By that act the bank became Ms debtor to the amount of $15,345, and,, according to the customs and- usages of banks, was bound to honor his checks to the full amount of the fund standing
Counsel for the accused furthermore suggest that in this instance the banking association sustained no loss by the wrongful conduct of the accused, because the check which was delivered by Townley to Armstrong was ultimately delivered by the hitter to the accused, and was by him employed to retire the Kieger note, which was of no more value than the Townley note.. Concerning this suggestion it may be said that the record would not warrant this court in holding that the one note was as worthless as the other, and that the bank eventually sustained no loss or injury. The accused was its president, and was in receipt of a considerable salary; and the J. J. Kieger note evidenced his own indebtedness to the bank, as the jury found. If a proposition to take the Townley note in payment for the Kieger note had been submitted to the board of directors of the Missouri National Bank, it is more than likely that it would have been speedily rejected. Moreover, the fact that the transaction complained of was not communicated to the directors, as it probably would have been if the accused acted at the time in good faith and without fraudulent intent, raises a strong presumption that he knew that it was detrimental to the hank’s interests, and that it was undertaken by him for the purpose of reaping a personal benefit or advantage at the expense of the bank. The jury, we think, were well warranted in drawing such a conclusion.
Some oilier questions have been raised by counsel that are of less importance than those already noticed, all of which have received our careful attention, but do not require special comment. Upon the whole, we are of opinion that no material error prejudicial to the accused was committed in the course of the trial, and that the conviction ought to he affirmed. It is so ordered.
• I am unable to concur in the conclusion of the majority in this case, because, in my opinion, the plaintiff in error has been tried and convicted of an offense with which he was not charged. The statute under which the indictment was drawn provides:
“Kver,v president, director, cashier, teller, clerk, or agent of any association, who embezzles, abstracts, or willfully misapplies any of the moneys, funds, or credits of the association * * * with intent, in either case,'to injure or defraud the association * * * shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned not less than five years nor more than ten.”
Abstraction and misapplication are distinct offenses under this statute. The plaintiff in error has been tried and convicted of the abstraction from the bank of the promissory note of J. J. Rieger for $1.5,000, when the only charge against him was the misapplica
“If in tlie Townley transaction no money passed, so far as concerned the taking up of. J. J. Eieger’s note, and the real transaction as to that was that the J. J. Eieger note was taken up with the Townley note, then you must find for the defendants, .so far .as concerns the charge of misapplication of the*933 835,000, because there is no charge in the indictment that the note was abstracted, and the most the government could claim as to that particular transaction is that it was an abstraction, and not a misapplication.”
This refusal was a positive ruling that although none of the moneys, funds, or credits of (tie bank were affected by Ihe §15,000 transaction, except that the Rieger note was withdrawn, still the plaintiff in error might he convicted of a misapplication on account of this transaction. This, it seems to me, was an erroneous ruling, and the record is full of proof that it conditioned the trial of the only real issue in the case, — the question whether or not tlie plaintiff in error was guilty of abstracting the note of Rieger. It appears, that this was the only real issue in the case, from the ruling just quoted, from the opinion of the majority, a large portion of which is devoted to this question, and from the following excerpt from the brief of the counsel of the government in this court:
“Tbe charge in the indictment is that the defendant misapplied the moneys, funds, and credits of the bank. Tlie position of tlie government is that the J. J. Rieger note for 815,000, which in fact represented the indebtedness of D V. Rieger, was a fund or credit of the bank, and that the defendant misapplied this fund hy taking it out from tlie funds of the bank, and having it entered paid on tlie books of the bank, and substituting therefor tlie worthless note of Benjamin W. Townley. This is precisely wliat was done in the Evans Case, 153 U. S. 584, 14 Sup. Ct. 034, 38 L. Ed. 830. In that case the note of one A. B. Xettleton for seventy-five hundred dollars, which the indictment averred was lie¿d by tbe said bank as and for funds and credits, was delivered to Xelson E. Shuns without tlie sum of seventy-live hundred dollars or any part thereof being paid for the note. It is evident that no money passed in the Evans Case, tlie misapplication consisting in delivering up tlie Nettleton note without its being paid. So in the case at bar the misapplication consists in delivering up the J. J. Rieger note, and placing in its stead the worthless note of B. W. Townley.”
This is a correct statement of the position of the government and of the court below in the trial of this case, and the reason why it was erroneous is that the indictment neither charged nor mentioned the abstraction of the note of Rieger. In the cases of Evans v. U. S., 153 U. S. 584, 589, 14 Sup. Ct. 934, 38 L. Ed. 830, and U. S. v. Youtsey (C. C.) 91 Fed. 864, it will be found that the indictments carefully and clearly set forth a description of the notes which were abstracted, and alleged that they had been taken from the bank with intent to injure and defraud it. The note abstracted in tlie former case was one made by A. B. Nettleton, and it is carefully described in the indictment, while those abstracted in ihe latter case were the notes of Berry and Youtsey, which will be found 1o be described in the same way. In the indictment in the case at bar there is no charge that the note of Rieger was abstracted from the bank, and no mention whatever of'the note in the pleading'. The proof was conclusive and undisputed that in the entry of the credit and debit of §15,000, and in the abstraction of the Rieger note in connection therewith, not one dollar of the funds of the bank was misapplied, and no credit of the bank, except the note which was withdrawn, was in any way affected. In no case can there be .a misapplication of the funds or credits of a bank unless the funds or credits are lessened hy the transaction. Dow v. U. S., 82 Fed.
Hot only did the indictment fail to mention the note of Rieger, and fail to charge the abstraction of that note in any way, but it was fatally deficient in its pleading of a misapplication of the funds and credits of the bank. It is not every misapplication that constitutes a misdemeanor, under the statute in question. Hence a charge in an indictment that one has made an unlawful misapplication for the use of himself and others with fraudulent intent is insufficient. The indictment must set forth in what manner, by what means, the illegal misapplication was made, and it must so set forth these means that it will clearly appear that through them an unlawful appropriation and conversion of the funds and credits of the bank was effected. Batchelor v. U. S., 156 U. S. 426, 15 Sup. Ct 446, 39 L. Ed. 478; U. S. v. Eno (C. C.) 56 Fed. 218-220; U. S. v. Harper (C. C.) 33 Fed. 471, 477, 478; U. S. v. Northway, 120 U. S. 327, 332, 334, 7 Sup. Ct. 580, 30 L. Ed. 664; U. S. v. Britton, 107 U. S. 655-667, 669, 2 Sup. Ct. 512, 27 L. Ed. 520; Id., 108 U. S. 193, 196, 197, 2 Sup. Ct. 526, 27 L. Ed. 701; Mohrenstecher v. Westervelt, 87 Fed. 157, 161, 162, 30 C. C. A. 584, 588, 589, 57 U. S. App. 618, 627. Under these decisions the first portion of this indictment, down to the words, “in the manner and by the means following: That is to say,” — charges no offense, and the sufficiency of the pleading must be tested by the answer to the question whether or not its remaining averments show an unlawful appropriation or conversion of moneys or credits “for the use and benefit of David V. Rieger, Robert D. Covington, and other persons to the jury unknown.” When this portion of the indictment is carefully read and analyzed, it is found to charge nothing but the discount of the promissory note of an insolvent insufficiently secured. These allégations may or may not show a misapplication of the funds, but they certainly do not disclose a misappropriation or conversion of any of them for the use or benefit of Rieger, Covington, or persons unltnowh to the jury. They do not show in what manner or by what means the discount of the Townley note was used to enable Rieger, Covington, or any other person to convert or misapply any of the funds of the bank. On the other hand, they allege a discount of Townley’s note, and that averment necessarily negatives the misapplication of its proceeds for the use of Rieger, Covington, and other persons unknown, and alleges its appropriation to the use of the man whose note was discounted, to the use of Townley.
For these reasons, this indictment is, in my opinion, insufficient