Jackson v. State, 43285

• Decision Date: 11 January 1965
• Docket Number: No. 43285,43285
• Citation: 251 Miss. 529,170 So.2d 438
• Parties: Houston JACKSON v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 438

170 So.2d 438

251 Miss. 529

Houston JACKSON v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 43285.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Jan. 11, 1965.

Robert E. Arrington, Lawrence D. Arrington, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

ETHRIDGE, Justice.

Houston Jackson, appellant, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Pearl River County of obtaining money under false pretences by the issuance of a bad check. He contends that he was entitled to a peremptory instruction or at least that the verdict is contrary to the great weight of the evidence. However, we affirm the judgment.

The pertinent statute makes it a felony for any person, with intent to defraud, to issue a check ($25 or more) to another person for value on a bank, 'and thereby obtain from such other person any money, goods or other property of value,' where he has no funds on deposit in such bank to cover the check, and it is not paid by the drawee. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 2153 (Supp.1963); Miss. Laws 1958, ch. 282.

Jackson's defenses are that (1) the check was executed by him for a limited purpose, as a performance bond to assure his removal of the houses given him and clearing the lot; and if not, (2) the issuance of the check by Jackson was in payment of a preexisting debt, not a contemporaneous transaction by which the property was obtained. The payment of a preexisting debt by a 'worthless check' does not come within the ban of the statute. The bad check law does not cover the obtaining of goods where they have already been delivered and have passed completely out of the seller's possession. So an essential element of the offense under section 2153 is the making and delivering of the check to another person for value, and thereby obtaining from such other person money, goods, or other property of value. Moore v. State, 205 Miss. 151, 38 So.2d 693 (1949); Broadus v. State, 205 Miss. 147, 38 So.2d 692 (1949); Annot., 59 A.L.R.2d 1159 (1958); 35 C.J.S. False Pretenses Sec. 21c (1960); 22 Am.Jur. False Pretenses Sec. 71 (1939); cf. Blakeney v. State, 216 Miss. 211, 62 So.2d 313 (1953) (prosecution under general false pretences statute, Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 2149, 1956).

Curtis Alexander was a businessman of Bay Springs. He owned some land in Pearl River County, in the buffer zone adjacent to the National Aeronautics and Space Authority's test center. On it were an old house and outbuildings. Fred Goolsby worked as his agent in buying and selling property. Jackson was in the house-moving business. The state's evidence was to the effect that Alexander made an agreement to sell Jackson the house and outbuildings on this lot for the sum of $800. Jackson would remove them from the tract, and clear it. In order to determine whether he should buy the house and whether it was movable, Jackson put his equipment under it and raised it from the foundation to inspect joists and other framing. The house was raised solely for that purpose but had not been moved from its location.

On May 22, 1963 Jackson gave Alexander a check on a bank in the amount of $800, which recited that it was for a house, small barn, and all outhouses. The check was presented to the drawee bank in due course, and returned to Alexander marked insufficient funds. After the check was given by Jackson to Goolsby to be forwarded to Alexander, Goolsby handed Jackson Alexander's bill of sale, and authorized Jackson to remove the buildings, which he did.

On the other hand, Jackson's version was this: The house was so old and dilapidated that it was...