State v. Zingher
Citation | 259 S.W. 451,302 Mo. 650 |
Decision Date | 04 March 1924 |
Docket Number | 25215 |
Parties | THE STATE v. NATHAN ZINGHER, Appellant |
Court | United States State Supreme Court of Missouri |
Appeal from Jackson Circuit Court; Hon. E. E. Porterfield Judge.
Reversed (and defendant discharged).
Burns & Watts for appellant.
(1) The information is insufficient in law, and does not state facts sufficient to charge any offense against the defendant. State v. Donaldson, 243 Mo. 472; State v Martin, 226 Mo. 538. (2) The court erred in giving State's instruction numbered 2. (a) It is broader than the scope of the evidence. State v. Sullinger, 143 Mo.App. 703; State v. Ware, 62 Mo. 597; State v Berry, 179 Mo. 377; State v. Simpson, 237 S.W. 748. (b) The instruction is argumentative, confusing, misleading and assumes the facts in issue. State v. Steele, 226 Mo. 593. (3) The court erred in refusing to give defendant's Instruction "Y." State v. Johnson, 213 S.W. 794; State v. Majors, 237 S.W. 486. (4) The court erred in not sustaining the defendant's instruction in the nature of a demurrer at the end of all the evidence. State v. Chick, 221 S.W. 10; State v. Dines, 206 Mo. 649.
Jesse W. Barrett, Attorney-General, and J. Henry Caruthers, Assistant Attorney-General, for respondent.
(1) The information is sufficient. Sec. 3343, R. S. 1919; State v. Samis, 246 S.W. 957; State v. Foley, 247 Mo. 628. (2) State's instruction numbered 2 is not open to the criticism leveled at it by appellant, and as declared by this court in the case of State v. Steele, 226 Mo. 597, cited by appellant. The court in the instant case, when referring to the negative allegations, used this language: "and the court further instructs the jury that if they further find and believe from the evidence that" (then follows negative averments) and "if you so find, then you will find the defendant guilty," etc. See approved Instruction 2 in State v. Samis, 246 S.W. 959. (3) The refusal to give appellant's instruction "Y" was not error under the evidence. The issue referred to therein was fully covered by the given instructions. (4) Where there is substantial evidence supporting the verdict, as in this case, this court will not interfere. State v. Fields, 234 Mo. 627. Where the evidence is conflicting, it is for the jury to weigh and give such credit as they see fit. State v. Cook, 207 S.W. 832; State v. McKenzie, 177 Mo. 717.
The defendant was convicted of having obtained a loan of $ 4000 from the Union State Bank of Kansas City by false pretenses as to his financial worth, and sentenced to a term of four years in the penitentiary. The information is based on Section 3343, Revised Statutes 1919.
The appellant, by his motion in arrest, challenges the sufficiency of the information. Omitting formal parts, it charges that on May 25, 1920, the defendant did then and there "represent, pretend and say to the Union State Bank, its agents and officers, that he, the said Nathan Zingher, then and there had in his possession, under his control and owned by him assets amounting to $ 34,700, and that his total liabilities were $ 7900, and that he, the said Nathan Zingher, was then and there actually worth in moneys and property over and above his debts, liabilities and exemptions, the sum of $ 26,800, and that the amount of all his liabilities of any kind or character whatever on the 25th day of May, 1920, amounted to $ 7900." Then follow averments that the officers and agents of the bank, believing and relying on said representations, made defendant a loan of $ 4000 of the bank's money, and the defendant, by means of said false pretenses, obtained a loan of $ 4000 from the bank, with intent to cheat and defraud, and that defendant did not then and there have assets in the amount of $ 34,700; that $ 7900 was not all of his liabilities, and defendant was not worth over and above his debts, liabilities and exemptions, $ 26,800.
I. The statement, as pleaded, was that the defendant had assets, etc.; that his total liabilities were $ 7900, and that he was worth in moneys and property over and above his debts, liabilities and exemptions, the sum of $ 26,800. Obviously the statement of the value of his property and of his net worth was not the statement of the value of his property and of statement of a fact, but the defendant's opinion or judgment. In 25 Corpus Juris, p. 595, sec. 19, it is said: "The statement of an opinion or judgment, even if false, will not sustain an indictment for obtaining property by false pretenses." See cases cited in note, among others, that a certain party was wealthy or worth a certain specified amount, citing Com. v. Stevenson, 127 Mass. 446. This accords with the rulings in Missouri. "A mere opinion, however false, is not a false pretense." [State v. Bradley, 68 Mo. 140, 142, cited in State v. Eudaly, 188 S.W. 110, 112.]
In State v. Barbee, 136 Mo. 440, 445, Sherwood, J., said:
The subject was thoroughly considered by the late Judge Ellison in Bragg v. Kirksville Packing Co., 205 Mo.App. 600, 608, 226 S.W. 1012, where the learned judge said:
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