People v. Walters

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: MORSE, J.
• Citation: People v. Walters, 76 Mich. 195, 42 N.W. 1105 (Mich. 1889)
• Decision Date: 11 July 1889
• Parties: PEOPLE v. WALTERS.

42 N.W. 1105

76 Mich. 195

PEOPLE v. WALTERS.

Supreme Court of Michigan

July 11, 1889

Exceptions from circuit court, Newaygo county; J. H. PALMER, Judge.

MORSE J.

The respondent was convicted in the Newaygo circuit court for the larceny of certain goods claimed to have been stolen from the store of James C. Townsend, in the village of White Cloud. The respondent was arrested at Grand Rapids, under the following circumstances, as shown by the proofs on the trial On the 4th or 5th of January, 1889, he and another man went to the second-hand clothing store of Mr. Hyman, at 141 Canal street, and offered some goods for sale. The goods were in a satchel. The other man brought the satchel in and opened it to show the goods. Both of them were engaged in the attempt to sell. Hyman testified that the respondent among other things, said that Hyman need not be afraid to buy them; that they got the goods an hundred miles east; he thought "they would not be down to it;" and, if Hyman bought these, they would bring him some more. They offered to sell the goods in the satchel for $10, but Hyman pretended that he had but $3. They were willing to sell for the $3 cash, and to trust Hyman for the balance, but he told them he would not buy unless he could pay cash in full for them. No purchase was made, and when they left the store the other man carried the satchel. They then went to another second-hand clothing store at 115 Canal street. Here they were arrested. At the time of the arrest the respondent had the satchel. He carried it to police headquarters. The officer who made the arrest testifies that respondent said the satchel belonged to him. He said he obtained it somewhere near Detroit. Some of the goods, about $10 worth, were positively identified by Mr. Townsend as his property, some of them having his private mark upon them. As to the balance he testified that they were similar to those that he had lost, or had been stolen from him. The goods in the satchel were worth at least $50. The store of Mr. Townsend was pillaged on the night of January 1, 1889, and the property stolen in all amounted to about $100.

The respondent, upon the trial, gave testimony in his own behalf explanatory of his possession of the goods found in the satchel. He admitted that the satchel belonged to him, but testified that he was a peddler, residing at present in Detroit, and had never been at White Cloud in his life. He claimed that the man who was with him at Hyman's store was one he met at a lodging-house on the west side in Grand Rapids. He was introduced to him as another peddler. This man proposed going to Hyman's. Said he had sold goods there before, and wanted respondent to go with him. The goods belonged to this man, who put them in respondent's satchel at the lodging-house, before going to Hyman's, because it was larger than his own. This man carried the satchel and the key to Hyman's. When they came out of Hyman's, he asked respondent to carry the satchel, which he did. He went to Hyman's to help this man sell the goods. He claimed that he made no representations there as to where the goods came from. It was the other man who said they came from an hundred miles east. The respondent told Hyman that, as far as he knew, they were all right and straight. He claims that when he left the lodging-house he did not know what was in the satchel, as he did not see the man fill it. He testified that he had been in Grand Rapids but one night coming in from Detroit, having walked all the way selling button-hooks, patent button-fasteners, and such little articles. He admitted that he told the officer who arrested him that the goods and the satchel were his. He says he claimed the goods were his, because they were for the time being, as he then had possession of them. The man who was with him escaped. The respondent claimed he had been acquainted with...