State v. Mason
| Decision Date | 23 January 1922 |
| Docket Number | 4906. |
| Citation | 204 P. 358,62 Mont. 180 |
| Parties | STATE v. MASON. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Deer Lodge County; Geo. B. Winston Judge.
Jack Mason was convicted of obtaining money by false pretenses denied a new trial, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded for new trial.
John W James, of Anaconda, T. G. Latham, of Great Falls, and Sydney Sanner, of Butte, for appellant.
W. D Rankin, Atty. Gen., L. A. Foot, Asst. Atty. Gen., and J. B. C. Knight, of Anaconda, for the State.
The defendant, Jack Mason, was convicted of the crime of obtaining money by false pretenses under the provisions of section 8683 of the Revised Codes, and sentenced to imprisonment in the state penitentiary. From the judgment of conviction and from an order denying his motion for a new trial defendant appeals.
The facts developed by the state at the trial disclose that the defendant appeared at the banking room of the Daly Bank & Trust Company of Anaconda, Mont., on or about the 15th day of January, 1921, and in a conversation with J. R. Harrington, the cashier of said bank, represented himself to be a rancher in the Big Hole Basin, in Beaverhead county, Mont., and stated that he wished to move his family to Anaconda and was desirous of establishing business relations with the bank. Mr. Harrington informed the defendant that Mr. E. J. Bowman, the president of the bank, was absent from the city, and to call again. Defendant returned on the 19th day of January, but found that Mr. Bowman was still absent. He visited the bank again on January 24th, and found that Mr. Bowman had returned.
Defendant at that time stated to Mr. Bowman that he owned and operated a ranch in the Big Hole country; that he had about 1,500 head of cattle on his ranch; that he had been doing his banking business with Yegen Bros. of Butte and owed them about $6,000; that he had some accounts he could not pay; that he could borrow no more money; and started to tell Mr. Bowman about his property, when interrupted by Mr. Bowman with the request that the information be given to Mr. Harrington, the cashier, who would fill out the printed form of property statement used by the bank, and stated that the bank could then decide whether or not it would make the loan. The information given by the defendant was incorporated in a property statement by Mr. Harrington. Among other assets given by the defendant and noted in the statement, were 3,480 acres of land, over 1,500 head of live stock, and about 2,500 tons of hay. Mr. Bowman discussed the various items in the statement with Mr. Mason, and particularly the item of 206 head of beef cattle, which cattle defendant stated he had sold, or contracted to sell, delivery to be made in about 60 days, and from the proceeds of which sale he would satisfy the loan he desired the bank to make. Some further conversation was had as to the weight of these animals and the price to be paid by the buyer. Mr. Bowman went over the statement with Mr. Mason and questioned him in regard to the facts set forth therein. The statement, however, through an oversight, was not signed by the defendant until January 27th.
After the discussion was concluded, Mr. Bowman authorized the loan of $10,000. Immediately thereafter a demand note for $10,000 was drawn by Mr. Harrington, payable to the Daly Bank & Trust Company and signed by Mr. Mason; the $10,000 being credited to Mason's account. At the same time a draft for $6,000 was drawn, payable to Yegen Bros. Bank in Butte; the draft was delivered to the defendant and paid by the Daly Bank & Trust Company on January 25th. Two checks, bearing date the 21st day of January, 1920, payable to cash, for the sum of $1,200 and signed by the defendant, were paid to him in cash on January 24, 1921. Another check, bearing date the 24th day of January, 1921, for the sum of $250 and signed by the defendant, was presented by him to the bank and a draft for said amount issued on Seattle and delivered to him. The last check drawn by the defendant on his account was dated January 25, 1920, for the sum of $500, payable to John T. Stevenson, and was paid by the bank on January 27, 1921. There was paid to the defendant, or for his benefit, by the bank and charged to his account, the sum of $7,700. The bank, having learned that the representations made to it by Mr. Mason were false, withdrew the balance of his credit, amounting to $2,050, and stopped payment on the draft issued on Seattle. Mr. Mason had no account at the bank prior to January 24, 1921.
The testimony showed that both Mr. Harrington and Mr. Bowman believed the representations made to them by Mr. Mason as to the amount of property he owned, and by reason of such representations Mr. Bowman authorized the loan. The testimony on the part of the state further showed that defendant did not own the property set forth in the property statement, and that such representations were false.
The defendant did not take the witness stand, so that the testimony of the state remains practically uncontradicted. He offered to prove by the witnesses Latham and Bowman an assignment to the bank of $8,000 worth of bonds which he claims the bank accepted as full restitution of the amount of money he had received from the bank. The offer, however, was by the court refused.
It is contended that the information does not state facts sufficient to constitute a public offense. With this we do not agree. The information sufficiently charges the offense of obtaining money by false pretenses under section 8683 of the Revised Codes, and clearly meets the requirements of the rule laid down in State v. Bratton, 56 Mont. 563, 186 P. 327.
The contention that there is a fatal variance between the allegations of the information and the proof in this, that the information charges the obtaining of money by false pretenses, while the proof shows merely the passing of a credit by the bank to defendant's account on the faith of the note, is likewise without merit.
When the $10,000 was credited to Mason's account, possession and title to the money passed from the bank to Mason, and it was as much a money transaction as if he, in fact, had received the money and placed it back in the bank, or had received the money and carried it away with him. It was his to do with as he liked. But in this case defendant, on the day charged in the information, actually received on two checks which he presented at the teller's window the sum of $1,200 in cash. There was also delivered to him, immediately following the execution of the note, a draft for $6,000 payable to Yegen Bros. of Butte, which was paid by the Daly Bank & Trust Company on the day following.
Nor is the fact that defendant received only a part of the money alleged in the information of any consequence.
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