West v. State
| Decision Date | 26 March 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 31117,31117 |
| Citation | 235 N.E.2d 53,250 Ind. 378 |
| Parties | Charles Wayne WEST, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Frank E. Spencer, Indianapolis, for appellant.
John J. Dillon, Atty. Gen., Lawrence D. Frutkin, Michael V. Gooch, Deputy Attys. Gen., for appellee.
The appellant was charged by affidavit with falsely and fraudulently forging and uttering a certain rental agreement purporting to have been executed by one Walton Evans, agreeing to pay rental in the amount of $11.00 per day to Red Cab, Incorporated, a corporation doing business as Avis Rent A Car. A copy of the instrument executed was set out in the charge. The defendant was found guilty by the court of forgery 'as charged', as stated by the appellant in his brief. None of the briefs set out the charge verbatim.
Error is assigned in the overruling of the motion for a new trial, the main contention being that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the finding of guilty in the following particulars, as urged by the appellant in his brief:
1. That there was no evidence to establish that the defendant falsely and fraudulently forged the instrument.
2. That there was no evidence to establish that the defendant entered into or made any rental agreement of any kind agreeing to pay any amount to Red Cab, Incorporated.
3. That there was no evidence that the defendant did anything with intent to secure possession of anything from Red Cab, Incorporated.
4. That there is no evidence which established the defendant intended to defraud Red Cab, Incorporated.
5. That there is no evidence which established that the actions of the defendant, as stated in the affidavit, occurred in Marion County.
With reference to the contention that Red Cab, Incorporated was not defrauded and te car was not obtained from that corporation or any contract made with it, we point out that the appellant has failed to set out in his brief the affidavit and charge made against the appellant, and we are not compelled to search the record to find exactly what the allegations were with reference to ownership. Suffice it to say, however, that the evidence showed that 'Avis Rent A Car is a franchise operation and Red Cab, Incorporated owns the franchise for Indianapolis' and that Red Cab, Incorporated was the owner of the car involved. An exhibit in the case shows a contract was entered into by the appellant under the name of Walton Evans with Avis Rent A Car through a franchise of Red Cab, Incorporated.
The testimony shows that on September 23, 1966 at the office of Avis Rent A Car, a franchise of Red Cab, Incorporated, a rental contract was executed by the appellant using the name of Walton Evans, for the rental of a 1966 hardtop Chevrolet, the possession of which he thereby obtained. The agreement was to extend until September 25, 1966. The contract had printed at the top '42 S. Illinois Street, Indianapolis, Indiana' and at the bottom near the signature 'Indianapolis, Indiana'. In the space marked 'owning city' was written 'Indpls.'. Judy Rowe testified she was an employee of Avis Rent A Car and worked at 42 South Illinois. Sandra Cunningham stated that Judy Rowe was an employee working under her supervision at the place of business located in Marion County, Indiana. The appellant testified that after he had been in the northern part of the state, when he came back he attempted to call the Indianapolis office with reference to extending the time for keeping the car. From the testimony a jury has a right to draw the inference that this car was obtained and this contract entered into at an Indianapolis office of Avis Rent A Car. It is not necessary that venue be proved by direct evidence, although we feel there is some direct evidence that the office where the contract was made with Judy Rowe, an employee, is located in Marion County, Indiana. It is sufficient that the facts and circumstances are shown by the evidence from which a jury may find where the crime was committed. Weaver v. State (1963), 243 Ind. 560, 187 N.E.2d 485;...
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Miller v. State
...was made by anyone other than himself. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected such a reading of the forgery statute in West v. State, 250 Ind. 378, 235 N.E.2d 53 (1968), reh. denied. The defendant in West obtained a rental car by using a false name. The court held that the execution of a rental......