The State v. Mason
| Decision Date | 16 October 1886 |
| Docket Number | 12,631 |
| Citation | 8 N.E. 716,108 Ind. 48 |
| Parties | The State v. Mason |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
From the Jay Circuit Court.
The judgment is affirmed.
F. T Hord, Attorney General, O. H. Adair, Prosecuting Attorney, D T. Taylor, J. M. Smith, T. Bailey, R. S. Gregory and A. C Silverburg, for the State.
J. P C. Shanks, C. M. C. Shanks, L. I. Baker and M. S. Williamson, for appellee.
On the 20th day of May, 1885, the grand jury of Jay county returned an indictment against the appellee, John W. Mason, late treasurer of that county, for embezzlement. The indictment was in three counts.
The first count charged that Mason had been the duly elected, qualified and acting treasurer of Jay county for two consecutive terms, the first having commenced in November, 1878, and the last having ended on the 28th day of November, 1882; that on said last named day one John T. Hanlin became his duly elected and qualified successor in office; that during his terms in office there came into the hands of the said Mason, as such treasurer, the sum of $ 50,000, the personal property of said county of Jay, which sum of money he, the said Mason, had, at the expiration of his said second term of office, failed to account for, and to pay over to the said Hanlin, as his successor in office, or to any one else lawfully entitled to receive the same; that, on the 2d day of July, 1883, the said Hanlin, then and still being treasurer of Jay county as above stated, called upon, and at said county of Jay demanded of the said Mason that he should account for and pay over to him, the said Hanlin, the said sum of $ 50,000, which still remained in his, the said Mason's possession, but that he, the said Mason, then and there unlawfully, fraudulently and feloniously failed and refused to account for and to pay over said sum of money to the said Hanlin, and, in like manner, purloined, carried away, secreted and appropriated said money, and converted the same to his own use.
The second count was similar to the first, except that it charged Mason with having fraudulently failed and refused to account for and pay over the money in his hands to his successor in office at the expiration of his second and last term, and a further demand and felonious failure and refusal to account for and pay over such money on the 14th day of February, 1884.
The third count differed from the two preceding counts in only charging an unlawful, fraudulent and felonious failure and refusal on the part of Mason to pay over upon demand, to his successor in office, the money remaining in his hands at the expiration of his term as treasurer, on the 28th day of November, 1882.
A motion to quash all the counts of the indictment was sustained, and Mason was accordingly discharged.
The State appeals upon the ground that the indictment was sufficient in law, and that, consequently, the circuit court erred in sustaining the motion to quash it.
The propriety of the action of the circuit court in the respect complained of is sought to be maintained upon the ground that the statute on the subject of embezzlement, which was in force when Mason's second term of office expired, was repealed by the subsequent act of March 5th, 1883, on the same subject, without any saving clause as to offences previously committed, and upon the further ground that the offence charged in each count of the indictment was barred by the statute of limitations when the indictment was returned by the grand jury.
Section 1943, R. S. 1881, reads as follows: "Any county treasurer, county auditor, sheriff, clerk, or receiver of any court, township trustee, justice of the peace, mayor of a city, constable, marshal of any city or incorporated town, or any officer or agent of any county, civil or school township city, or incorporated town, who shall fraudulently fail or refuse, at the expiration of the term for which he was elected or appointed, or at any time during such term, when legally required by the proper person or authority, to account for, deliver, and pay over to such person or persons as may be lawfully entitled to receive the same, all moneys, choses in action, or other property which may have come into his hands by virtue of his said office, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the State prison for any period not more than five years nor less than one year, and fined in any sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and rendered...
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