Maulding v. United States

Citation17 Alaska 592,257 F.2d 56
Decision Date29 May 1958
Docket NumberNo. 15512.,15512.
PartiesGlenn P. MAULDING, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

T. N. Gore, Jr., Fairbanks, Alaska, Edgar Paul Boyko, Anchorage, Alaska, for appellant.

George M. Yeager, U. S. Atty., Paula A. Tennant, Asst. U. S. Atty., Fairbanks, Alaska, for appellee.

Before HEALY, POPE, and HAMLEY, Circuit Judges.

HAMLEY, Circuit Judge.

Glenn P. Maulding, a trailer dealer in Fairbanks, Alaska, was tried and convicted on a charge of feloniously and wrongfully converting to his own use the sum of $2,500, the property of the Bank of Fairbanks. It was alleged in the indictment that this sum had been received by Maulding for the sale of a house trailer. The trailer, according to the indictment, was the property of the bank, pursuant to a bill of sale from Maulding to the bank. It was further alleged that the bank had given Maulding custody of the trailer "in trust." The described acts were alleged to have been done in violation of § 65-5-62 of the Alaska Compiled Laws Annotated 1949, entitled "Embezzlement by Bailee."1

On this appeal, Maulding contends that, under the undisputed facts, it must be held, as a matter of law, that no relationship of bailor and bailee existed between the bank and appellant, and that the statute relied upon is therefore not applicable. On this ground, he specifies as error the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the evidence offered by the government, and the denial of his motion for a new trial.

Appellee has moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the motion for judgment of acquittal was waived, and that denial of a motion for a new trial is not reviewable in this court.

Appellant waived the motion for judgment of acquittal made and denied at the close of the government's case, when he thereafter produced evidence in his own behalf. Mosca v. United States, 9 Cir., 174 F.2d 448. This being the case, we cannot now review the action of the trial court in denying that motion.2

The trial court, however, considered the legal question as to whether a relationship of bailor or bailee existed as having been raised by the motion for a new trial. That court dealt with the question at length in its comprehensive decision denying that motion. United States v. Maulding, D.C., 147 F.Supp. 693. Such denial was specified as error. This court will review the ruling on a motion for a new trial for error of law or abuse of discretion. Cavness v. United States, 9 Cir., 187 F.2d 719, 722. We therefore conclude that the question is properly before us. The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.3

The following undisputed facts are to be considered in determining whether a bailor-bailee relationship existed between the bank and Maulding, within the meaning of the statute. In order to finance the acquisition of trailers for purposes of sale, Maulding entered into a "Floor Plan Agreement" with the Bank of Fairbanks. This agreement was not introduced in evidence. Thereafter, in May, 1952, according to an invoice introduced in evidence, Manhattan Trailer Sales, of California, sold the trailer in question to the bank for a purchase price of $2,510.39. The invoice indicates that the trailer was shipped to the bank. Maulding prepaid the freight.

On June 16, 1952, the bank "floored" the trailer with Maulding after he executed a trust receipt with attached promissory note and a bill of sale. The trust receipt, as indicated on its face, was issued pursuant to the Uniform Trust Receipts Law of Alaska, chapter 40, S.L.A.1951. In this instrument, Maulding acknowledged receipt of the trailer, designated "Trust Property." The trailer was stated to have an "invoice price" of $2,510.39, and a "minimum sale price" of $3,750.

The trust receipt also constitutes an acknowledgment by Maulding (designated "Trustee") that a "security interest" in the trailer (called "Trust Property") remains in the bank (designated "Entruster") "until payment in full by the Trustee of the note annexed hereto." The receipt contains a number of conditions and agreements. Maulding agreed to return the trailer "on demand and in good order and unused." He agreed to hold the trailer as "trustee" for the bank, but with the right to exhibit and sell it "for the account" of the bank for cash and for not less than the minimum price specified in the instrument. Maulding, as "trustee," also agreed, in the event of such a sale, (1) to notify the bank promptly, (2) to hold the proceeds "in trust" for the bank, and (3) to deliver such proceeds promptly to the bank.

Maulding also agreed, in this instrument, that he would not rent, mortgage, pledge, encumber, use for demonstration, operate, or otherwise use the trailer. He further agreed that he would make no sale of the trailer "except as trustee for the Entruster," and that "a security interest" in the trailer "remains and is fully preserved in the Entruster until payment of the note. * * *" The trust receipt contains a clause, quoted in the margin, making reference to the "Floor Plan Agreement."4

The promissory note signed by Maulding, which was attached to the trust receipt, is for the sum of $2,500, payable on demand to the order of the bank. It contains a clause referring to the Floor Plan Agreement, quoted in the margin.5 The bill of sale from Maulding (denominated "vendor") to the bank is in the usual form for such instruments.

On May 9, 1953, Maulding sold the trailer to Glenn and Janette Hanneman for the sum of $2,800 in cash. Maulding used all of the proceeds of this sale for other personal and business obligations. He did not notify the bank of the sale or account for, or deliver to, the bank any of the proceeds. In September or October, 1953, the bank learned of the sale. Maulding was not then in Alaska.

A relationship of bailor-bailee arises when the owner, while retaining general title, delivers personal property to another for some particular purpose upon an express or implied contract to redeliver the goods when the purpose has been fulfilled, or to otherwise deal with the goods according to the bailor's directions. Earhart v. Callan, 9 Cir., 221 F.2d 160, 163.

The parties and the trial court have assumed that the determinative question here is whether Maulding held the trailer as a bailment within the meaning of some such general definition of the term.

But Maulding was not charged with, or convicted of, embezzling the trailer. He was tried and convicted on a charge of converting to his own use $2,500 of the sum received by him from the sale of that trailer.6

This may have been an embezzlement of funds received as agent for another,7 and may be punishable as such under § 65-5-61 of the Alaska Compiled Laws Annotated 1949. Conversion of the funds (which was charged), as distinguished from conversion of the trailer (which was not charged), was not, however, an "embezzlement by bailee," under § 65-5-62, unless the $2,500 was being held as a bailment.

As indicated by the definition set out above, personal property can become the subject of a bailment only if the owner, while retaining general title thereto, delivers it to another for some particular purpose. The bank had neither possession nor ownership of the $2,500 prior to its acquisition by Maulding. The bank, therefore, was not a bailor, and Maulding was not a bailee of that money.

It follows that, if the indictment is to be read literally as charging embezzlement by bailee of the money and not the trailer, the judgment of conviction cannot stand.

We will proceed, however, to consider what the result would be if the indictment is read as charging embezzlement of the trailer by bailee. This is the light in which the parties and the trial court dealt with the case. The prime question then becomes one of determining whether a bailor-bailee relationship existed between the bank and Maulding concerning the trailer.

As before indicated, the transaction was intended to give application to the "Uniform Trust Receipts Law," enacted in Alaska in 1951. In all relevant respects, the Alaska statute is identical with the Uniform Trust Receipts Act adopted and approved in 1933 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.8

In the act, an "entruster" (here the bank) is defined as the person who has taken a "security interest" in goods, documents, or instruments under a trust receipt transaction. Purchase-money chattel mortgages and conditional sales vendors are specifically excluded from the term "entruster." Section 1(3). A "security interest" is defined in § 1 (12) as follows:

"(12) `Security interest\' means a property interest in goods, documents or instruments, limited in extent to securing performance of some obligation of the trustee or of some third person to the entruster, and includes the interest of a pledgee and title, whether or not expressed to be absolute, whenever such title is in substance taken or retained for security only."

A trust receipt transaction, within the meaning of the act, occurs when the entruster or any third person delivers to another ("trustee"), for the purpose described in the act, goods, documents, or instruments in which the entruster has, or is to acquire for new value, a security interest, under a writing designated a "trust receipt" describing the goods, documents, or instruments, and reciting that the entruster will retain or acquire a security interest therein. Section 2(1, 2). One of the purposes for which such a transaction may be entered into is to permit the trustee to sell the goods, documents, or instruments described in the trust receipt. Section 2(3) (a).

Where the trust receipt gives the trustee liberty of sale and he sells to a buyer in the ordinary course of trade, such buyer takes free of the entruster's security interest in the goods sold. Section 9(2) (a). An entruster who retakes possession under...

To continue reading

Request your trial
15 cases
  • Town of Lovell v. Menhall
    • United States
    • Wyoming Supreme Court
    • 29 October 1963
    ...76 S.Ct. 59, 100 L.Ed. 740; United States v. Maulding, D.C., 147 F.Supp. 693, 696, 16 Alaska 566, reversed (on other grounds) 9 Cir., 257 F.2d 56, 17 Alaska 592; Oberan v. Western Machinery Co., 65 Ariz. 103, 174 P.2d 745, 748; State v. Kershaw Manufacturing Company, 273 Ala. 215, 137 So.2d......
  • Verdugo v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 7 October 1968
    ...75 S.Ct. 186, 99 L.Ed. 202 (1954); see also Benchwick v. United States, 297 F.2d 330, 335 (9th Cir.1961); Maulding v. United States, 257 F.2d 56, 58, 17 Alaska 592 (9th Cir. 1958). Since we do not rely upon Verdugo's testimony, we need not consider the exception suggested in Franklin and 5 ......
  • Detroit Institute of Arts Founders Soc. v. Rose
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
    • 23 January 2001
    ...to otherwise deal with the goods according to the bailor's directions." B.A. Ballou & Co., 591 A.2d at 129 (quoting Maulding v. United States, 257 F.2d 56, 60 (9th Cir.1958)). The bailor has a property interest in the goods bailed, while the bailee merely possesses them. Id. The bailee's po......
  • Benchwick v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 4 December 1961
    ...error the trial court might have made in denying the motion to acquit at the close of the government's case. Maulding v. United States, 257 F.2d 56, 58, 17 Alaska 592 (9 Cir., 1953); Lii v. United States, 198 F.2d 109, 112 (9 Cir., 1952); Mosca v. United States, 174 F.2d 448, 451 (9 Cir., 1......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT