Knopp v. State, No. 29152

• Docket Nº: No. 29152
• Citation: 233 Ind. 435, 120 N.E.2d 268
• Case Date: June 17, 1954
• Court: Supreme Court of Indiana

Page 268

120 N.E.2d 268 233 Ind. 435 KNOPP
v.
STATE. No. 29152. Supreme Court of Indiana. June 17, 1954.

Mann, Stohr & Mann, Hansford C. Mann, Terre Haute, for appellant.

[233 Ind. 436] Edwin K. Steers, Atty. Gen., Owen S. Boling, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

GILKISON, Judge.

In the trial court appellant was charged by affidavit with obtaining money under false pretense. Omitting formal parts and

Page 269

the bank check which is set out therein, the affidavit is as follows:

'Ethel Jane Richardson, being duly sworn upon her oath says that William Knopp, late of said County, on or about the 26th. day of January, A.D., 1951, at said County and State aforesaid, did then and there unlawfully and feloniously, designedly and with intent to cheat and defraud Ethel Jane Richardson and for the purpose of obtaining the signature of the said Ethel Jane Richardson to a certain written instrument for the payment of money, which written instrument is, and was in the words and figures, to-wit: (Bank check) The said William Knopp did then and there unlawfully, feloniously, falsely and designedly pretend and represent to her, the said Ethel Jane Richardson, that he, the said William Knopp was the owner of a certain building in the City of Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, known and numbered as 16 North Fourteenth and one half street in said City, and would sell said building to the said Ethel Jane Richardson for six hundred dollars ($600.00), whereas in truth and in fact the said William Knopp did not own said building, and that the pretenses made were false; that by means of said false pretenses aforesaid, and believing and relying on the same to be true, and being deceived thereby, and having no means of learning the facts to the contrary, she, the said Ethel Jane Richardson did affix her signature to the written instrument aforesaid, and did execute and deliver the said written instrument to the said William Knopp; and the said William Knopp did receive as the proceeds of said written instrument the sum of six hundred dollars ($600.00) in money, the property of the said Ethel Jane Richardson, to the injury of the said Ethel Jane Richardson, all being then and there contrary to the form of the Statute in such cases made [233 Ind. 437] and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Indiana.'

The affidavit purports to allege an offence under Sec. 10-2103, Burns' 1942 Repl. which so far as material, is as follows:

'Whoever, with intent to defraud another, designedly, by * * * any false pretense, obtains the signature of any person * * * to any written instrument, or obtains from any person * * * money, or the transfer of any bond, bill, receipt, promissory note, draft or check, or thing of value * * * shall, on conviction, be imprisoned in the state prison not less than one (1) year nor more than seven (7) years, and fined not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1000.00), or, at the discretion of the court or jury trying the cause, shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the county jail not more than six (6) months nor less than ten (10) days, and fined not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor less than ten dollars ($10.00).'

The cause was put at issue by plea of not guilty. Trial by the judge without a jury resulted in a finding and judgment of guilty as charged, sentence to 180 days on the Indiana State Farm and fined $50 and adjudged to pay the costs.

A motion for new trial for causes (1) that the decision is not sustained by sufficient evidence, (2) the decision is contrary to law, (3, 4 and 5) error in overruling appellant's several objections to questions asked of witnesses by the State. In each instance the question is properly presented, and (6) error in everruling appellant's motion to grant a mistrial because of...