II. STATUTORY CHEATS BY FALSE PRETENCES. MASSACHUSETTS. Obtaining by false pretence, or privy or false token, goods, &c., on the signature to a written instrument, &c., § 2072. NEW YORK. Obtaining by false token, or writing, or false pretence, the signature to a written instrument, or money, personal property, &c., § 2073. Same when the thing obtained is a bank note, &c., § 2074. Same where the pretended purpose is charitable or benevolent, § 2075. PENNSYLVANIA. Obtaining by false token, writing, or pretence, property, &c., § 2076. Obtaining credit at hotel by same, &c., § 2077. VIRGINIA. Obtaining by false pretence, or token, property, &c., or signature to paper, § 2078. Оню. Obtaining money by false pretences, making fraudulent transfer of property to cheat creditors, § 2079. Selling or conveying land without title, § 2080. 1. CHARACTER OF THE PRETENCE, § 2085. (a.) As to defendant's means, § 2085. Possession of wealth and credit, § 2086. Possession of certain specified assets, § 2087. (b.) As to defendant's character and personality, § 2092. That defendant had supernatural powers, § 2092. That defendant had delivered That defendant was sent for cer- That defendant represents a prin- Selling under weight, § 2105. False warranty, § 2106. per not larceny but false pre- (d.) The pretences must have been false, § 2110. Only strong probability of falsity Expecting to pay, no negation, § 2112. (e.) They need not be in words, § 2113. (a.) Fraud need not be latent, § 2128. (d.) That prosecutor made false rep- (e.) Nor is his gross credulity, § 2132 6. (f.) "Brag" and loose talk, § 2133. (g.) Indebtedness of prosecutor to defendant no defence, § 2133 a. 3. PROPERTY INCLUDED IN STATUTES, § 2134. (a.) Obligations, § 2134. (b.) Money paid in satisfaction of debt, § 2137. (c.) Credit on account will not sustain indictment, § 2138. (d.) But otherwise as to goods not at the time in existence, § 2138 a. (e.) Actual injury to owner need not be proved, § 2139. (f.) Goods must not have belonged to defendant either in whole or in part, § 2139 a. (g.) Goods must have been obtained for defendant in accordance with his directions, § 2140. (h.) Property must pass, and not mere use, § 2140 a. (i.) Property not larcenous not within statutes, § 2140 b. 4. WHERE THE OFFENCE IS TRIABLE, § 2141. (a.) Pretences uttered in one place and goods forwarded from another, § 2141. (b.) Pretences uttered in one place and goods obtained by agent in another place, § 2142. (c.) Asportation, § 2142. (d.) Continuous obtaining, § 2142 b. 5. INDICTMENT, § 2144. (a.) "That A. B., &c., did falsely Joinder of defendants, § 2144. § 2144 a. "Pretend," "falsely," § 2144 b. (b.) "To C. D.," &c., § 2145. Party injured as in larceny, § 2145. Pretences to agents, § 2146. (c.) "That," &c. (statement of pretences), § 2148. Variance between averment of pretence and evidence, § 2148. Use of spurious coin or paper, § 2148. In sales, relation of sale must appear, § 2149. Rule in fraudulent purchase, § 2150. Rule in obtaining money by false weight, § 2150. Defendant's statement as to his property, &c., must be proved as laid, § 2151. Spurious bank note need not be set out at large, § 2152. Pretences divisible, and only part need be proved, § 2153. Verbal accuracy not required, § 2154. When necessary to explain by innuendoes and definition, § 2154. (d.) Description of property, § 2155; same as in larceny, § 2155. Value, § 2155. Descriptions need not be exhaustive, § 2156. Property obtained must be indi- Owner must be stated, § 2157. (g.) "By means," &c., of which pre- Formal statement of means, § Substantial statement, § 2162. Varying counts, § 2162. 6. ATTEMPTS, § 2162 a. STATUTES. The 30 Geo. 2, c. 24, after reciting that divers evil-disposed persons had, by various subtle stratagems, &c., fraudulently obtained divers sums of money, &c., to the great injury of industrious families, and to the manifest prejudice of trade and credit, enacted: "That all per § 2069. Obtaining goods, &c., by false pretences. sons who knowingly and designedly, by false pretence or pretences, shall obtain from any person or persons money, goods, wares, or merchandise, with intent to cheat or defraud any person or persons of the same, shall be deemed offenders against law and the public peace," and, shall be punished as therein required. The 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 30, s. 53, provides: § 2070. Same, provided if offence amount to larceny there be no acquittal."That if any person shall, by any false pretence, obtain from any other person any chattels, money, or valuable security, with intent to cheat or defraud any person of the same," such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished as therein required: "Provided, always, That if upon the trial of any person indicted for such misdemeanor, it shall be proved that he obtained the property in question in any such manner as to amount in law to larceny, he shall not by reason thereof be entitled to be acquitted of such misdemeanor; and no such indictment shall be removable by certiorari; and no person tried for such misdemeanor shall be liable to be afterwards prosecuted for larceny on the same facts." q § 2071. The distinction between the two statutes, it will be q See 2 Russ. on Cr. 6th Am. ed. 286. observed, consists in two features, and with these exceptions, the interpretation given by the courts to the one may be considered as equally applying to the other. In the first place, by the 30 Geo. 2, c. 24, the subject matter, the obtaining of which by false pretences is made indictable, is limited to "goods, wares, or merchandise;" by the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 53, it comprises "any chattels, money, or valuable security." In the second place, what constitutes the main point of difference, and what the preamble of the latter statute indicates when it states that a failure of justice frequently arises from the subtle distinction between larceny and fraud, is, that under the 30 Geo. 2, c. 24, whenever the offence on trial proved to amount to constructive larceny, the common law, by merging the misdemeanor in the felony, worked the acquittal of the defendant; whereas by the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 53, it is provided that by reason of such merger he shall not be entitled to acquittal. MASSACHUSETTS. § 2072. Obtaining by false pretence, or privy or false token, goods &c., or the signature to a written instrument, &c.—Whoever designedly, by a false pretence, or by a privy or false token, and with intent to defraud, obtains from another person any property, or obtains, with such intent, the signature of any person to a written instrument, the false making whereof would be punishable as forgery, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison, not exceeding ten years, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment in the jail not more than two years; but the provisions of this section shall not apply to any purchase of property by means of a false pretence relating to the purchaser's means or ability to pay, when, by the terms of the purchase, payment for the same is not to be made upon or before the delivery of the property purchased, unless such pretence is made in writing, and signed by the party to be charged. r [By Stat. 1863, ch. 248, the offence may be prosecuted in any county in which the goods may be bought. By the same statute the offence is so extended as to include whoever, "under false color and pretence of carrying on business, and dealing in the 114, ed. 1835) embraces the provisions of 33 Hen. 8, 32 Geo. 2, and 52 Geo. 3; and the English decisions are there adopted. State v. Rowley, 12 Conn. r Gen. Stat. ch. 161, sect. 54. As to Maine and Vermont, see Rev. Stat. Vermont, ch. 95, sect. 15; State v. Mills, 17 Maine R. 211. In Connecticut, the statute (title 21, sect. 101. [§ 2076. ordinary course of trade," obtains, &c. And the receiving of goods obtained by false pretences is by the same statute made indictable.] NEW YORK. § 2073. Obtaining by false token or writing, or false pretence, the signature to a written instrument, or money, personal property, &c. - Every person who, with intent to cheat and defraud another, shall designedly, by color of any false token or writing, or by any other false pretence, obtain the signature of any person to any written instrument, or obtain from any person any money, personal property, or valuable thing, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison not exceeding three years, or by a fine not exceeding three times the value of the money, property, or thing so obtained, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (5 R. S. 677, sect. 53.) § 2074. Same when the thing obtained is a bank note, &c.— If the false token by which any money, personal property, or valuable thing shall be obtained, as specified in the last section, be a promissory note, or other negotiable evidence of debt, purporting to have been issued by or under the authority of any banking company, or moneyed corporation not in existence, the person convicted of such cheat may be punished by imprisonment in a state prison not exceeding seven years.s (Ibid. sect. 54.) § 2075. Same when the pretended purpose is charitable or benevolent. "Section fifty-three of article four, of title three of chapter one, of part four of the Revised Statutes, shall be held to apply, in addition to those cases to which it is now applicable, to every person who, with intent to cheat or defraud another, shall designedly, by color of any false token or writing, or by any false pretence, obtain the signature of any person to any written instrument, or obtain from any person any money, personal property, or valuable thing, for any alleged charitable or benevolent purpose whatsoever." (Statutes, 1851, chap. 144, sect. 1.) PENNSYLVANIA. § 2076. Obtaining by false token, writing, or pretence, property, &c. If any person shall by any false pretence obtain the signature of any person to any written instrument, or shall obtain from any other person 8 In an indictment for obtaining the on the facts stated in the indictment, signature of a person to a written in- it would be void for fraud. People v. strument, by false pretences, it need Crissie, 4 Denio, 525. See People v. only appear that the instrument, on Galloway, 17 Wendell, 540. Post, its face, is one calculated to prejudice § 2134. the party who has signed it, though, VOL. II. -34 529 |