Vann v. State
| Citation | 207 P. 102,21 Okla.Crim. 298 |
| Decision Date | 29 May 1922 |
| Docket Number | A-3738. |
| Parties | VANN v. STATE. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Syllabus by the Court.
Where a criminal statute defines the crime of "forgery" as the doing of some particular act or acts, the accused will be held amenable for the doing of only such acts as come properly within the definition; and where the evidence fails to show that the accused committed the forgery, or aided or abetted in its commission, but shows that the accused, after the forgery was complete, conspired with the forger and others to obtain the proceeds of the forgery, the accused will not be held amenable for the original offense.
Under such circumstances, under our statute, he is an accessory (after the fact) only, and cannot be prosecuted as a principal, jointly or separately, for the original forgery.
Appeal from District Court, Muskogee County; Benjamin B. Wheeler Judge.
Billy Vann was convicted of forgery in the first degree and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in the state penitentiary, and he appeals. Reversed.
Gavin & Porter, of Muskogee, for plaintiff in error.
S. P Freeling, Atty. Gen., and W. C. Hall, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Billy Vann, in this opinion referred to as the defendant, was jointly with W. A. Rentie, Tom Peters, Freddie Rentie, Roy Rentie, and Rebecca Mays, charged with the crime of forgery in the first degree, by information filed on June 17, 1918. This prosecution grew out of a conspiracy entered into between W. A. Rentie, Freddie and Roy Rentie, Rebecca Mays and Tom Peters to have Rebecca Mays, a young negro girl, impersonate one Katie Thompson, a Creek freedman allottee of land. It was agreed that Rebecca Mays should sign, execute, and acknowledge a deed to 80 acres of the Katie Thompson allotment, and that these conspirators should collect the purchase money, to be divided among themselves for their own use and benefit. Pursuant to this conspiracy, Rebecca Mays represented to J. A. Evans, agent for J. C. Smith, that she was Katie Thompson and pretended to sell this particular 80 acres of land to Smith, impersonating Katie Thompson and signing her name to the deed, acknowledging its execution as Katie Thompson, and receiving therefor a part of the agreed purchase price from Evans. The balance of the purchase price, about $1,100, was to be paid so soon as the abstract of title was examined and approved.
After the forgery of this deed as stated, on the 18th day of May, and after the deed had been delivered and recorded on the 20th day of May, Evans, the agent of the grantee named in the deed, not being satisfied that the grantor was indeed Katie Thompson, inquired of Billy Vann, this defendant, whether he knew Katie Thompson. The defendant stated that he knew Ned Thompson well and knew that he had a daughter. The evidence is conflicting as to whether the defendant knew that the daughter's name was Katie. In order to avoid paying the balance of the purchase price to the wrong person, on the 21st day of May Evans requested the defendant Vann to go with him to the place where Rebecca Mays was staying in Muskogee, for the purpose of identifying her as Katie Thompson. Evans, Fred Rentie, W. A. Rentie, Tom Peters, and the defendant drove to the place where Rebecca Mays was, and the defendant identified her, or partially identified her, as being Katie Thompson. There is evidence tending to show that for this identification Vann was to be compensated by payment to him of a part of the unpaid balance of the purchase price.
Later, upon further investigation, Evans ascertained that Rebecca Mays had impersonated Katie Thompson, and he thereupon caused the arrest of all the parties implicated in the conspiracy. Fred Rentie, Roy Rentie, and Rebecca Mays pleaded guilty to the information. As to what disposition was made of the charge against the other defendants does not appear of record here.
The charging part of the information upon which the conviction of this defendant was based recites that the defendants, naming them, did on the 17th day of May, 1918, knowingly, willfully, unlawfully, fraudulently, falsely, and feloniously make and forge a certain deed and instrument in writing, the same purporting to be the act and deed of one Katie Thompson and purporting to convey the rights and properties of the said Katie Thompson in the land described therein, with the unlawful and felonious intent to defraud J. C. Smith.
It is urged by the defendant that there is no testimony in this record indicating that he was in any way connected with the original conspiracy to forge this instrument; and that he had nothing whatever to do with the transaction until after the instrument was forged, delivered, and recorded; and that the testimony is therefore wholly insufficient to support the verdict as to this defendant, finding him guilty of forgery.
A careful examination of all the evidence supports the claim that this defendant had nothing whatever to do with this transaction until after the deed had been forged, delivered, and recorded. This brings us to the question of whether the defendant can be held upon a charge of forgery where he participated only in the fraudulent scheme to procure money by reason of a forged deed, after the deed had been uttered, delivered, and recorded by means of the scheme perpetrated by the original conspirators.
Section 2104, R. L. 1910, is as follows:
"All persons concerned in the commission of crime, whether it be felony or misdemeanor, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, though not present are principals."
Section 2105 defines "accessories" as follows:
"All persons who, after the commission of any felony, conceal or aid the offender, with knowledge that he has committed a felony, and with intent that he may avoid or escape from arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment, are accessories."
Section 2107 provides for the punishment of accessories:
"Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by law, an accessory to a felony is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary not exceeding five years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment."
It will be observed that this defendant was not prosecuted as an accessory, but was prosecuted as a principal, under section 2621, R. L. 1910, which is, in part, as follows:
To continue reading
Request your trial