Whitmore v. State
| Decision Date | 20 May 1941 |
| Citation | 238 Wis. 79,298 N.W. 194 |
| Parties | WHITMORE v. STATE. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to the Municipal Court of Rock County; Ernest P. Agnew, Judge.
Howard Whitmore was convicted of the offense of obtaining money by false pretenses in violation of section 343.25, St. 1939, and to review the judgment he brings error.-[By Editorial Staff.]
Affirmed.
On June 10, 1940, the district attorney of Rock county filed an information charging plaintiff in error with the offense of obtaining money by false pretenses in violation of sec. 343.25, Stats. The case was tried to the court and a jury, and a verdict of guilty rendered. Judgment of conviction was entered July 10, 1940, and defendant was sentenced to confinement in the state's prison for a term of not less than one year and not more than a year and a day. Plaintiff in error appeals. The material facts will be stated in the opinion.
Fisher & Fisher, of Janesville, for plaintiff in error.
John E. Martin, Atty. Gen., and William A. Platz, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.
On April 20,1940, plaintiff in error purchased a 1933 Ford automobile upon a conditional sales contract. The purchase price was $80. By the terms of the conditional sales contract title was reserved in the vendor until the full purchase price was paid. Plaintiff in error gave to the vendor as a down payment a check on the Footville State Bank in the sum of $45. Upon execution of the contract and delivery of the check, plaintiff in error was put in possession of the car. The check failed to clear the bank because plaintiff in error did not have sufficient funds to cover it. The vendor would not have parted with possession of the automobile solely upon the down payment but the conditional sales contract was an essential part of the transaction. The statute which is claimed to have been violated is sec. 343.25, Stats., which reads as follows:
“Any person who shall designedly, by any false pretenses or by any privy or false token and with intent to defraud, obtain from any other person any money, goods, wares, merchandise, or other property, or shall obtain with such intent the signature of any person to any written instrument, the false making whereof would be punishable as forgery, shall if the amount of money or other property so received or the face value of such written instrument shall exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than one year, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or less than two hundred dollars, and if the amount of money or property so received or face value of such written instrument so procured, shall not exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, he shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison or county jail not more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars.”
[1] Plaintiff in error first contends that the offense of obtaining money by false pretenses in violation of this section is not established because the evidence fails to show that the vendor delivered the car in sole reliance upon the worthless check. Corsot v. State, 178 Wis. 661, 190 N.W. 465, and Palotta v. State, 184 Wis. 290, 199 N.W. 72, are cited as holding that one of the requisites of obtaining money by false pretenses is reliance by the defrauded person upon the false pretenses or token. We see...
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Bohling v. State
...such a requirement would make it impossible for the crime to be consummated. Martins, 17 Wyo. at 330, 98 P. at 712 ; Whitmore v. State, 238 Wis. 79, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (1941) ; Chappell v. State, 216 Ind. 666, 25 N.E.2d 999, 1001 (1940). When, because of his fraud, the accused obtains voidab......
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Shropshire v. Com.
...a conviction of obtaining money by false pretenses . . . ." Lewis, 28 Va.App. at 168, 503 S.E.2d at 224 (quoting Whitmore v. State, 238 Wis. 79, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (1941)); see Franklin v. State, 44 Ala.App. 521, 214 So.2d 924, 925 (1968); People v. Aiken, 222 Cal. App.2d 45, 34 Cal.Rptr. 82......
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Massey v. Commonwealth
...obtained by fraud is voidable and the requirement would make it impossible for the crime to be consummated'" (quoting Whitmore v. State, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (Wis. 1941))). The evidence further supports a finding that, as a result of that contract, the appellant received some or all of the $50......
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Bohling v. State, S-16-0144
...such a requirement would make it impossible for the crime to be consummated. Martins, 17 Wyo. at 330, 98 P. at 712; Whitmore v. State, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (Wis. 1941); Chappell v. State, 25 N.E.2d 999, 1001 (Ind. 1940). When, because of his fraud, the accused obtains voidable title to propert......
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TABLE OF CASES
...1933), 151, 152 White v. State, 585 S.W.2d 952 (Ark. 1979), 368, 369 White, State v., 270 P.2d 727 (N.M. 1954), 330 Whitmore v. State, 298 N.W. 194 (Wis. 1941), 539 Whitner v. State, 492 S.E.2d 777 (S.C. 1997), 47 Whitten, People v., 647 N.E.2d 1062 (Ill. App. 1995), 560 Wichita, City of, v......
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§ 32.10 FALSE PRETENSES
...the equitable interest obtained by the purchaser is sufficiently great that the offense of false pretenses applies. Whitmore v. State, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (Wis. 1941).[114] . Chaplin v. United States, 157 F.2d 697, 698-99 (D.C. Cir. 1946).[115] . Model Penal Code § 223.3(1).[116] . People v. ......
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§ 32.10 False Pretenses
...the equitable interest obtained by the purchaser is sufficiently great that the offense of false pretenses applies. Whitmore v. State, 298 N.W. 194, 195 (Wis. 1941).[114] Chaplin v. United States, 157 F.2d 697, 698-99 (D.C. Cir. 1946).[115] Model Penal Code § 223.3(1).[116] People v. Thomas......