People v. Butts

• Decision Date: 25 September 1901
• Citation: 87 N.W. 224,128 Mich. 208
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Parties: PEOPLE v. BUTTS.

87 N.W. 224

128 Mich. 208

PEOPLE v. BUTTS.

Supreme Court of Michigan

September 25, 1901

Exceptions from superior court of Grand Rapids; Richard L. Newnham Judge.

William Butts was convicted of larceny, and he brings exceptions. Affirmed.

L. B. Gardner and McGeorge Bundy, for appellant.

Horace M. Oren, Atty. Gen., and Frank A. Rodgers, Pros. Atty., for the People.

MOORE J.

An information was lodged against the respondent, reading as follows after the formal heading: 'Frank A. Rodgers prosecuting attorney for the courty of Kent, aforesaid, for and in behalf of the people of the state of Michigan, comes into said court, in the May term thereof, A. D. 1900, and gives it here to understand and be informed that one William M. Butts, late of the city of Grand Rapids, of the county of Kent, on, to wit, the 1st day of March, 1899, at the city of Grand Rapids, county of Kent, aforesaid, being then and there an officer, to wit, secretary, of the Worden Grocer Company an incorporated company organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the state of Michigan, and not being then and there an apprentice nor other person under the age of sixteen years, did, by virtue of his said employment, then and there, while he was such an officer of said incorporated company, as aforesaid, receive and take into his possession certain money to a large amount, to the amount of, to wit nine thousand (9,000) dollars, and of the value of nine thousand (9,000) dollars, of the property of the said Worden Grocer Company, the incorporated company aforesaid, and which said money came to the possession of the said William M. Butts by virtue of said employment, and the said money then and there fraudulently and feloniously did embezzle and convert to his own use, without the consent of the said Worden Grocer Company, the incorporated company aforesaid, his said employer; and the said prosecuting attorney further gives the court to understand and be informed that the said William M. Butts then and there, in manner and form aforesaid, the said money, the property of the said Worden Grocer Company, the incorporated company aforesaid, his said employer, from the said Worden Grocer Company, the corporation aforesaid, feloniously did steal, take, and carry away, contrary to the statute,' etc. The respondent was tried by a jury, and convicted. The case is brought here on exceptions before sentence.

There are 145 assignments of error. The case is greatly simplified by the testimony of the respondent, who was a witness in his own behalf. The record discloses that during the temporary absence in Chicago of the respondent a large discrepancy was found between the cash account as kept by him and the cash on hand. A telegram was sent to him, asking his return to Grand Rapids, and he came at once. An interview was had between him and the officers of the company, which it is not necessary to detail. Shortly after this, respondent had at least two interviews with Judge Wanty, who was acting as the attorney for the company. Upon the trial Judge Wanty testified as to what was said at the interview of October 19th in part as follows: 'I asked him what the shortage was, and he said that the books now showed something between $38,000 and $39,000; and I asked him if any one took it--any of this money--except himself, and he said 'No.' he was responsible for it, but that he was quite sure there would be some errors found that would reduce this amount; and I asked him how much he took, and he said he took, he should think about $10,000; and then I asked him again what he did with it, and he replied that the money he received for his salary he turned over to his wife every Saturday night; got it in an envelope; and that everything outside of the actual living expenses at the house, for which this was expended, he took the money from the company from time to time to pay; and he said that he had sent his father money enough so that he had practically kept his father's family, who lived in Ohio, and that money had been taken from the company, and these investments--his insurance policies. He said that he had had doctors' bills that had amounted to, some years, as much as $300, which he paid; but he said that the whole amount that he had taken did not amount to as much as the books show. * * * I then asked him what he had done with this money, and he said nothing any further than what he had said; and I said then. 'The impression is that you have been dealing on the Chicago market in margins, in pork or wheat or something of that sort;' and he said, 'No.' he had not. Q. Do you remember, Mr. Wanty, in any of these conversations of asking Mr. Butts anything in regard to his private account upon the books? A. Yes, sir; and I think that was in the first conversation. I asked Mr. Butts if any of this money had been charged to him. I asked him first if he had an account on the books, and he said, 'Yes, I have an account on the books, but it refers only to a lawsuit;' and I said, Was any of this money charged to you on 'Was any of this money charged to you on envelope system, and no money that was paid to me for my salary, or any of those sums that I took, have ever been charged to me on the books.' The Court: I would ask if this last reply, 'None of this money was charged on the book,' did that have reference to his salary, or what? A. He said that neither his salary nor any other money that he has taken was charged in an account against him on the books.' Mr. Butts, among other things, testified as follows: 'I was one of the directors and secretary of the Worden Grocer Company from 1895 to the 16th of October, 1899. At the time the company was organized, C. F. Rood, N.E. Avery, W. F. Blake, W. L. Freeman, W. O. Telford, C. W. Garfield, and myself became directors. A. E. Worden was president, W. D. Telford vice president, W. L. Freeman treasurer, and myself secretary. * * * Q. I understood you to say that you told Mr. Wanty Substantially as he told it here upon the stand? A. Yes, sir. Q. Judge Wanty testified that you told him that you gave your wife your salary, as you drew it weekly, for the current expenses of the house. A. Yes, sir. Q. That was true, wasn't it? A. Yes, sir. Q. That you paid your coal bills, and your doctors' bills, and all of your personal expenses out of money that you took from the Worden Grocer Company. That is true, isn't it? Now, I am referring to these six months from March 1st to September 1st. A. That is substantially right; yes, sir. Q. How much money did you spend for insurance from March 1 to September 1,--March 1, 1899? I will state now, whenever I inquire of you about any transaction in this regard, unless I especially mention it, I mean the period covered by this information from March 1 to September 1, 1899. A. Why, I think, about $75 or $80 during that period. * * * Q. That was $75 or $80 you took from the Worden Grocer Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. How did you take it? A. Currency. Q. Out of the drawer? A. I presume I did, or out of the safe. Q. You are not able to tell the jury whether you took it out of the drawer or out of the safe? A I could not say; no, sir. * * * Q. Did you buy any coal during that time? A. Yes, sir; I think I did. Q. Where did you get the money to pay for that? A. The Worden Grocer Company. Q. Did you take that in currency? A. I presume I did; yes, sir. Q. How much did you pay for the coal? A. Well, I generally paid, I presume, $15 or $25. I generally bought two or three tons at a time. Q. You are not able to tell this jury how much money you took during the period for coal for your own private family...