Johnson v. State

• Decision Date: 22 December 1904
• Citation: Johnson v. State, 142 Ala. 1, 37 So. 937 (Ala. 1904)
• Parties: JOHNSON v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

37 So. 937

142 Ala. 1

JOHNSON v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Alabama

December 22, 1904

Appeal from Criminal Court, Jefferson County; D. A. Greene, Judge.

W. E Johnson was convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses, and appeals.Reversed.

The first count of the indictment was in words and figures as follows: "The grand jury of said county charge that before the finding of this indictment W. E. Johnson, whose name is to the grand jury otherwise unknown, did falsely pretend to Louis E. Brinkmeyer, with the intent to defraud that he had and owned one-third interest in a United States Government certificate for the sum of fifty eight hundred dollars, which had been given for work done in Mississippi for the United States Government, and by means of such false pretense obtained from the said Louis C. Brinkmeyer twenty-five dollars in lawful money of the United States of America."To this count of the indictment, the defendant demurred upon the following grounds: "(1) Said count fails to aver or show that defendant obtained money or property from any one by means of his said false pretenses.(2) Said count fails to aver or show that defendant obtained any money or property from W. E. Brinkmeyer, or that said W E. Brinkmeyer was injured or suffered by reason of said false pretenses."This demurrer was overruled.

McCLELLAN C.J.

The court did not err in overruling the demurrer to the first count of the indictment.It is in the Code form.Code 1896, § 4923, form 48;Cr. Code 1896, p. 330.The case being tried on the first count, a primal ingredient of the offense was the falsity of the alleged representations whereby defendant obtained...