State v. Martin
| Decision Date | 19 April 1927 |
| Docket Number | 5834. |
| Citation | 137 S.E. 885,103 W.Va. 446 |
| Parties | STATE v. MARTIN. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Submitted April 12, 1927.
Syllabus by the Court.
Although section 23, chapter 145, Code, provides that a person obtaining property by false pretenses shall be deemed guilty of larceny, the specific punishment therein prescribed (not exceeding five years in the penitentiary), and not the punishment for ordinary larceny, is applicable in such case.
Error to Circuit Court, Summers County.
R. L Martin was convicted of larceny, and he brings error. Reversed and remanded.
Thomas N. Read and Thos. Leigh Read, both of Hinton, for plaintiff in error.
Howard B. Lee, Atty. Gen., and R. A. Blessing, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
The defendant R. L. Martin was tried and convicted upon an indictment charging him with the larceny of $47.10 belonging to C. C. Lane. Martin obtained the money from Lane by indorsing and delivering to him a draft payable to "R L. Martin," which the defendant had received through the mail. The draft was intended for R. T. Martin, and, as shown on the face thereof, was issued in payment for certain railroad ties sold and delivered by him to the Mercereau-Hawkins Tie Company. The defendant, who lived in Summers county, left the day he negotiated the draft to Lane for Staunton, Va., where he remained until arrested on the charge and returned to this state.
Lane testified that the defendant represented to him at the time he cashed the draft that he was running a sawmill in Summers county, and had been delivering ties on the railroad. This statement was untrue. The defendant testified he thought the draft had been sent to him through an arrangement with R. E Lucas, who then owed him about $50, pursuant to a promise made by Lucas to him several days previously. Lucas was not called as a witness.
The grounds relied on for reversal are: (1) The evidence does not show that the defendant indorsed and delivered the draft with criminal intent; and (2) his punishment is excessive, in contemplation of section 5, art. 3, of the state Constitution.
The intent of the defendant was, under the evidence, a question for the jury.
The prosecuting witness having parted with the title as well as the possession of his property, the act of the defendant in acquiring the same by pretenses found by the jury to be false constituted the crime of obtaining property under false pretenses. State v. Edwards, 51 W.Va. 220, 41 S.E. 429, 59 L. R. A. 465.
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Legg
...convicted of grand larceny 'shall * * * be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years; * * *.' State v. Martin, 103 W.Va. 446, 137 S.E. 885; State v. Grove, 74 W.Va. 702, pt. 2 syl., 82 S.E. After a writ of error was granted and after the case had been placed on ......
-
State v. Augustine
... ... cattle. The cattle were delivered into the custody of ... defendant on the assumption that a cash settlement would be ... forthcoming. This, at most, was but a conditional delivery, ... and did not vest title in the defendant. State v ... Martin, 103 W.Va. 446, 137 S.E. 885; Commonwealth v ... Devlin, 141 Mass. 423, 6 N.E. 64. It was not until the ... settlement in which the checks were given that title to the ... cattle actually passed. As already recited, the checks bore ... notations indicating date of presentment. These checks ... ...
-
State v. Lilly
... ... 145, § 23; 1931 ... Code, 61-3-24. "Under a count for simple larceny, it is ... admissible to prove that the property was obtained by false ... pretense with intent to defraud." State v ... Williams, 68 W.Va. 86, 69 S.E. 474, 32 L. R. A. (N. S.) ... 420. In conformity: State v. Martin, 103 W.Va. 446, ... 137 S.E. 885. The state's charge against Lilly is that he ... obtained money of L. N. Hendrick and his wife, Minnie A ... Hedrick, by false pretense with intent to defraud, and is ... therefore guilty of larceny under the statute ... At the ... time of ... ...