State v. McKeen
| Decision Date | 24 April 1936 |
| Docket Number | 25996. |
| Citation | 56 P.2d 1026,186 Wash. 127 |
| Parties | STATE v. McKEEN. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Department 1.
Appeal from Superior Court, Chelan County; W. O. Parr, Judge.
Kenneth W. McKeen was convicted of grand larceny, and he appeals.
Affirmed.
Sam R Sumner and Harvey F. Davis, both of Wenatchee, for appellant.
Sam M Driver and L. J. Gemmill, both of Wenatchee, for the State.
This is an appeal from an order denying a motion to vacate a judgment of conviction and sentence in a criminal case.
By information filed in the superior court of Chelan county September 11, 1935, defendant was charged with the crime of grand larceny. On the following day he was arraigned and given twenty-four hours in which to plead to the charge after which he was taken to the county jail. There, after some discussion with the sheriff, defendant decided to plead guilty. The sheriff immediately escorted him back to the courtroom, where he entered a plea of guilt. The court then entered a judgment of conviction and sentenced him to the penitentiary. Defendant was not represented by counsel in any of these proceedings.
On the day following defendant's father, living at Tacoma, came to Wenatchee and secured the services of an attorney to investigate the case, with the view of determining the justification of the charge, the plea of guilt, and the sentence. As a result of his investigation, the attorney thus retained served upon the prosecuting attorney a motion to vacate the judgment and sentence and to permit the defendant to change his plea from 'guilty' to 'not guilty.' Accompanying the motion were a number of affidavits in support of the application. Resisting affidavits were filed by the prosecuting attorney. The appellant's motion was regularly heard by the court on October 9, 1935, on these affidavits. After full consideration of the matter, the court denied the motion. This appeal was then taken by the defendant.
The only assignment of error is that the court erred in denying appellant's motion to vacate the judgment and refusing to permit him to change his plea from 'guilty' to 'not guilty.' For a clearer understanding of appellant's contentions, a further statement of the facts is necessary.
Appellant is about 35 years of age. In April, 1933, he entered the employ of True's Oil Company, which was then engaged in the business of selling gasoline, greases, and lubricating oils in Eastern Washington, with its main office in Spokane. Appellant was put in charge of the Wenatchee district, comprising Chelan, Okanogan, and Douglas counties. No office, however, was maintained at Wenatchee.
The company shipped its products to Wenatchee, where they were stored in bulk tanks or containers. Appellant's duties were to make sales of the products, deliver them by truck to various service stations in the district, collect the money therefor, and deposit the same in the company's bank account in Wenatchee on the next day after he had collected it. The appellant was supplied with sales books, made up of duplicate invoices, numbered consecutively, for use in his sales. On making a sale it was his duty, and custom, to fill out, and deliver to the customer, the original invoice, showing the details of the transaction and to send in the duplicate copy to the main office in Spokane. He was also required to make daily and monthly reports of his sales to the company. Appellant had no books to keep, as all bookkeeping was done at Spokane. His sales averaged about $300 a day, in amounts ranging from $5 to $125. At times, the money in his possession amounted to as high as $2,000, owing to the fact that on Sundays and holidays he was unable to deposit it in the bank.
In the spring of 1935 a shortage developed in appellant's accounts, the reason for which appellant said he could not understand. The company, however, was not at that time informed of the fact. By March or April the shortage amounted to $200, and, in order to keep his accounts straight, appellant secured a loan in that amount and sent in the money as a part of his collections. Each month thereafter, however, the shortage continued, and, to offset it, appellant, during the summer, altered a number of the duplicate sales slips in such a way as to make his cash balance with his inventory. These altered slips he sent in to the company.
In August, 1935, the company wrote to appellant, calling his attention to the fact that his reports were coming in late. Shortly thereafter appellant went to Spokane to consult the officers of the company with respect to that matter, and it then developed that he was short nearly $900. Appellant insisted, however, that he had not taken the money, but he could not explain the reason for the shortage. This was the company's first knowledge of the condition of affairs. It was agreed that the parties should hold another conference in Wenatchee on the following day, which was done. There, upon further investigation, the officers of the company were apprised of the details concerning appellant's method of altering the invoices. As a result of the conference, a written statement was prepared, which appellant signed. In that statement, appellant admitted taking $882.45 from the company, without authority. After signing the statement, appellant accompanied the officers of his employer to the office of the prosecuting attorney, where, after a further consultation, an information was prepared, pursuant to which appellant was immediately placed under arrest.
The position taken by appellant in his affidavit is that the statement which was signed by him was untrue; that, although he was unable to account for the shortage, he, nevertheless did not take the money himself; that the officers of the company induced him to sign the statement by telling him that he was liable to prosecution for embezzlement because of the discrepancy in his accounts; that it was represented to him that the purpose of having him sign the statement was simply to afford evidence to the state tax commission of loss sustained by the company; that the officials of the...
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State v. Sampson
...treated as a motion to vacate the judgment pursuant to RCW 4.72.010. State v. Roberts, 136 Wash. 359, 240 P. 3 (1925); State v. McKeen, 186 Wash. 127, 56 P.2d 1026 (1936); State v. Taft, 49 Wash.2d 98, 297 P.2d 1116 (1956); State v. Mempa, 78 Wash.2d 530, 477 P.2d 178 (1970). Nonetheless, i......
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State v. Hensley
... ... State ... v. Cimini, 53 Wash. 268, 101 P. 891; State v ... Wilmot, 95 Wash. 326, 163 P. 742; State v ... Lindskog, 127 Wash. 647, 221 P. 582; State v ... Roberts, 136 Wash. 359, 240 P. 3; State v ... Danhof, 176 Wash. 573, 30 P.2d 387; State v ... McKeen, 186 Wash. 127, 56 P.2d 1026; State v ... McDowall, 197 Wash. 323, 85 P.2d 660; State v ... Wood, 200 Wash. 37, 93 P.2d 294 ... If ... appellant's original motion for permission to change his ... plea was in fact denied by the former judge, of which fact ... ...
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State v. Mason
... ... for the modification or vacation of judgments. State v ... Armstrong, 41 Wash. 601, 84 P. 584. These statutes, ... Rem.Rev.Stat. §§ 464-473, inclusive, have been ruled ... applicable to judgments in criminal cases by State v ... McKeen, 186 Wash. 127, 132, 56 P.2d 1026, and cases ... therein cited. On the other hand, this court has impliedly ... recognized coram nobis as an available writ. In ... [172 P.2d 208] ... Humphreys v. State, 129 Wash. 309, 224 P. 937, 33 ... A.L.R. 78, such a writ was ... ...
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State v. Loux
...showing of a defense on the merits. State v. Williams, supra; State v. Roff, 44 Wash.2d 309, 266 P.2d 1059 (1954); State v. McKeen, 186 Wash. 127, 56 P.2d 1026 (1936). No such showing has been made In this case we find no abuse of discretion. The defendant had the benefit of counsel. The st......