State v. Van Cleve
| Decision Date | 31 January 1893 |
| Citation | 32 P. 461,5 Wash. 642 |
| Parties | STATE v. VAN CLEVE. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Appeal from superior court, Spokane county; R. B. Blake, Judge.
William Van Cleve was convicted of theft, and appeals. Reversed.
Thos C. Griffitts and Richard W. Nuzum, for appellant.
Appellant was tried in the superior court of Spokane county on the 4th day of March, 1892, upon an information charging him with having stolen 17 head of horses. The information filed, and to which he pleaded not guilty, charged that the horses were the property of "Wm." Burbank. After the commencement of the trial the court allowed the prosecutor to amend the information by changing the name of Burbank from "Wm." to "Walter." Among other exceptions, the appellant presents this ruling as error, and seeks a reversal of the judgment.
It is conceded by the appellant that an information might be amended in this manner if the amendment went to matters of form merely, and not to a material allegation. The question then, is whether the change in the name of the party whose property is alleged to have been stolen is a material allegation. The charging part of the information was that appellant "did unlawfully and feloniously steal, take, and drive away seventeen head of horses, of the value of $700, being then and there the property of one Wm [Walter] Burbank." As we read this charge, the only possible means that the appellant had of identifying the particular act with the commission of which he was charged was by reference to the alleged ownership of the property. No distinguishing marks of the horses were given, and no place except the county of Spokane. William Burbank might easily have been one person and Walter Burbank another, and each might have suffered the loss of horses by theft on or about the 15th of December, 1890. The charge of theft of the property of either could not be proven by evidence satisfying the jury of the theft of property of the other; and, if in this case there had been no amendment of the information, the testimony showing that Walter Burbank's horses had been taken would have been such a material allegation as would have defeated the prosecution. It must therefore follow that the amendment was unlawful, and the judgment must be reversed. People v. Hughes, 41 Cal. 235. The vice of this sort of an amendment is made clear when reference is made to the statute, which requires informations to be...
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State v. Schaffer
...P. 608 (1902) (reversing conviction for stealing Canadian currency when charged with stealing United States currency); State v. Van Cleve, 5 Wash. 642, 32 P. 461 (1893) (denying amendment changing name of larceny victim from Wm. Burkbank to Walter In this case, the prosecution amended the i......
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State v. Hurd
... ... proceedings were concerned ... [105 P.2d 61] ... It is ... well settled that a substantial amendment of an information ... requires that the accused be arraigned on the amended ... information. State v. Van Cleve, 5 Wash. 642, 32 P ... 461; State v. Hamshaw, 61 Wash. 390, 112 P. 379; ... Bohannan v. State, 11 Okl.Cr. 69, 142 P. 1092; ... People v. Clement, 4 Cal.Unrep. 493, 35 P. 1022; ... Annotation, 58 L.Ed. 772; 14 Am.Jur. 941, § 253 ... Where, ... however, ... ...
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State v. Farris
... ... otherwise described so as to identify the offense, the ... allegation of ownership is a material part of the description ... of the offense charged. (People v. Frank, 1 Idaho ... 200; People v. Hughes, 41 Cal. 234; People v ... Wallace, 94 Cal. 497, 29 P. 950; State v. Van ... Cleve, 5 Wash. 642, 32 P. 461; Clark v. State, ... 29 Tex. App. 437, 16 S.W. 171; Sharp v. State, 29 ... Tex. App. 211, 16 S.W. 176; McDowell v. State, 68 ... Miss. 348, 8 So. 508; Bishop's Criminal Procedure, 3d ... ed., 488b, 718, 723, 752; People v. Hall, 19 Cal ... 425.) As to the proposition ... ...
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State v. Bruno
... ... alleged larceny. As to the amendment in this [97 Utah 26] ... regard we think the position of the state is well taken ... Appellant cited in support of his assignment the cases of ... State v. Jensen , 83 Utah 452, 30 P.2d 203, ... and State v. Van Cleve , 5 Wash. 642, 32 P ... 461. We have read these cases and find that in neither ... instance do they have to do with partnership property. In ... view of the provision of the Utah Statutes relating to the ... matter, the court was justified in permitting the ... amendment--as a matter of fact ... ...