People v. Barry

The appellant and John Guild!ach were jointly indicted for the crime of grand larceny in the first degree. Barry had a separate trial. lie was found guilty under the second count of the indictment, which charges larceny as bailee, trustee and agent, under the second subdivision of section 538 of the Penal Code, of thirty-six promissory notes for $3,000 each.

Sherman & Go. manufactured safety razors and pocket cutlery at Keyport, H. J. Desiring to increase its plant and extend its business, on April 1, 1907, the board of trustees authorized the officers to issue $150,000 worth of notes to obtain money for such purposes.

Mr. Sherman, the president of the company, saw an advertisement in the Sunday Herald in the early part of April, 1907, "which he answered. He received in reply a letter from Gundlaeh, dated April 16, 1907, who stated that he was in a position to use a large amount of paper. “ I have several parties who will indorse the paper and use one-half of it, paying-

On the twenty-fifth of April Gundlaeh acknowledged in writing the receipt of the notes and wrote“ Kindly expect me at your Broad St. Station to-morrow afternoon abt 12:45 p. m. as Mr. Eisenberg requests the indorsement of your officers.” In a previous letter Gundlaeh had written: “ Beg ta submit one of my parties who is in the Fur Import business,. A. M. Eisenberg, 40 W. 34 st. * * * While he is not using any credit here I understand he is not rated, but is in a position to discount $50,000 or more of your paper; that means that he must be of high standing with his banks.” Gundlaeh appeared the next day and examined the manufactory and the officers indorsed the notes as requested.

A short time after this Hull, the treasurer, went to Hew York and met Gundlaeh and Barry. Gundlaeh introduced Barry and Hull asked what position the defendant held with Gundlaeh. Gundlaeh said, “ Why, he is my principal, he is my adviser.” Whereupon Hull said, “ Mr. Gundlaeh, do you realize that we have been doing business with you only ? How if this man is connected with you I want to know what kind of position he holds with you ? ” “ Well,” he said, “ Mr. Barry can speak for himself.” Hull said, “ Mr. Barry, will you please give me some references.” Whereupon Barry proceeded to tell him that he was the principal attorney in the Cronin murder case in Chicago; that he was the secretary of some irrigation company, some $30,000,000 corporation of Chicago ; that he was the president of some German association at the World’s Fair; that his office was in the Betz Building in Philadelphia; that he was associated in business with Major Weidemann who was offered the German consulate under Cleveland’s administration. Gundlaeh spoke up and said,

The evidence shows a number of communications between Gundlach and Sherman & Co., which were drafted by Barry, but that no money was ever received- by Sherman & Co. The only thing it ever did receive for its $108,000 of notes was a $1,500 sight draft of .one Trautwein which was unpaid and protested. These notes were hawked about by Barry and Gundlach and finally, Sherman & Co. receiving no returns, attempted to get them back. On June first the company wrote to Gundlach demanding the return of all the notes. To this Gundlach replied in a long letter drafted by Barry, winding up as follows: “ In conclusion must state that I have considerable of yotir paper out—all in absolutely responsible hands; that in each case a contract relation has been established and that I could not, if I were disposed, cancel same without "the consent of the other parties, and that I do not propose to in

The force and effect of this argument is destroyed, however, by what occurred after the demand and refusal to return the notes on the seventh of June. Campbell testified that on the thirty-first of May he received about $60,000 worth of these notes from Gundlach and Barry; that Gundlach and Barry used to call at his office pretty nearly every day; that he received a letter from Mr. Hull about June first which he showed to Gundlach and Barry demanding that Campbell return the notes to Hull and not return them to Gundlach, and that they were not to be discounted; that Gundlach and Barry demanded that he should not return the notes to Sherman & Co. and that about the middle of June he gave back the notes to Gundlach and received back the receipt'which he had given for them. That thereafter Gundlach and Barry called again and asked Campbell to take the notes back again and try to discount them; that he said it would be very hard to do that because the notes would have to be verified, and. Sherman & Co. would not do so when they were demanding their return; that Barry said that that could he arranged; to have the parties who were to discount the notes communicate with him; that he was the Hew York representative and that he could satisfy anybody on that point; that Campbell took the notes again and tried to raise money on them; that he found a party who said that he could get about $20,000 on the notes; that he told Barry and Gundlach that of the $20,000 Miller was to get $8,000, Gardner $5,000, himself $5,000, and there would be $2,000 in it for Gundlach; that he would not consent to that; that Barry said if they got half of the $20,000 they would accept it; that they had been to expense and trouble to getxpeople together on the proposition and that they were going to get something for their trouble. This distribution of the proposed proceeds not

But the appellant urges that Campbell was a convict and an accomplice and was not corroborated. Section 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that “ A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless he be corroborated by such other evidence as tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime.”

The plain language of this provision and the interpretation thereof by the courts has established the rule that the corroborative testimony need not of itself be sufficient to prove that the defendant committed the crime, but that it is enough if it merely tends to connect him with the commission of the crime. People v. Hooghkerk, 96 N. Y. 149 , 2 N. Y. Crim. 204 ; People v. Elliott, 106 id. 288 . As stated in People v. O’Farrell,

The learned court in its charge in four separate requests tendered by the defendant, carefully and sufficiently instructed the jury that it could not convict upon the testimony of Campbell alone, unless there was other evidence in the case tending to connect defendant with the conversion of the notes.

There is abundant • evidence of the direct participation of Barry in all the transactions in relation to these- notes down to the time of the demand for their return and refusal on the seventh of June. There is not a particle of "doubt but that the notes were redelivered to Campbell after they had been returned by him, and after the seventh of June. This is positively testified to by Gundlach, a witness produced by the defendant, and evidenced by the receipt in writing given to Campbell by Gundlach, so that the conversion after the seventh of June is proved by uncontradicted testimony.

The defendant testified that he never went to see Campbell in his office at all; that he never went to see Campbell after the notes had been handed back to Gundlach; that he knew nothing whatever of Gundlach’s second delivery of the notes to Campbell, when it was done, and not- until months subsequent; that he never spoke to Campbell in his office after the 1st of June, 1907.

Park testified that the first time he saw' Barry it w'as at 150 Nassau street, in Campbell’s office, w'here he- was talking to Campbell, in the latter part of May, 1907; that he- saw the defendant there again about five or six times after the first time; that he was employed by Campbell at that time at that office and had taken a letter or message to Barry; that he went

Righter, who had desk room in the same offices, testified that he saw Gundlach come in with Barry and talk to Campbell; that both of them talked to Campbell. The first time was in the month of May; that he had left that office on the seventeenth of July and that to the best of his recollection Barry came into Campbell’s office and talked to Campbell down to the time that he left.

The testimony of these witnesses, therefore, is a flat contradiction of the defendant’s statement and a corroboration of Campbell, in so far as it sustains his evidence that Barry was in the office and talking with him a.t or about the time that he testified to. Barry wrote a letter to Gundlach, dated August third, as follows: “ For months I advised you to take legal steps to recover the Sherman Co. (Keyport, FT. J.) notes from Stein and Campbell, and repeatedly told you that if you failed to do so and got into trouble you need not come to me for aid of any kind. Yesterday I urged you for the last time. In reply you not only refused to follow my advice, but became disrespectful to me. As a consequence, that' ends our /relations, both present and future', and you are hereby notified not to use my name as your personal or business reference. This is my last communication to you and requires no reply from you.”

This letter is entirely inconsistent with his testimony that he knew nothing whatever about the second delivery of the notes until months subsequent, and in answer to the question by his own counsel, “ Did you directly or indirectly or remotely aid, advise, counsel or abet in the second delivery of any notes to Campbell ? A., I did not, and on the contrary, the notes were all left in the safe of Mr. McBurney when I ceased my activity on my own recommendation.” This second delivery was on or about the fifteenth of June. ■ Yet on August third he

We think that, taking this evidence in connection with all the other evidence in the ease which establishes the active participation of Barry in every step of the preliminary proceedings, a pure question of fact was presented for the jury; that the evidence corroborated Campbell, tended to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime, and entitled the jury to draw the inference which the verdict establishes it did draw.

The appellant contends that the cross-examination of the defendant was improper, and it certainly did cover a pretty wide range; but as the defendant commenced his own examination in chief with an account of his early life, from the time of his birth, his education, his business, his associates and his friends, presumably for the purpose of convincing the jury that it was not probable that such a man could be guilty of the crime charged, he ought not to complain if the cross-examiner marched through the door which he had so widely opened. “ It is the well-established rule,” said Werner, J., in People v. Hinksman, 192 N. Y. 421 , 22 N. Y. Crim. 585 , “ in this State that a defendant in a criminal action who offers himself as a witness may be interrogated as to any vicious or criminal act of his life,” citing People v. Webster, 139 N. Y. 73 , 10 N. Y. Crim. 486 ; Brandon v. People, 42 id. 265; People v. Giblin, 115 id. 196; People v. McCormick, 135 id. 663, and People v. Casey, 72 id. 393. We do not think the discretion of the court upon the cross-examination of the defendant was improperly exercised.

The appellant contends that some remarks of the assistant district attorney in the summing up in alluding to the absence of character witnesses for the defendant was reversible error, but the learned court in its charge said: “At the District Attorney’s request I- advise you to disregard the comments made by the District Attorney on that evidence, and the

The appellant claims that the prosecution failed to prove that the notes in question had any value. At the time of the alleged conversion they were negotiable instruments of a going concern, duly authorized by the directors thereof, and, undoubtedly, valid obligations for the payment of money in the hands of bona fide holders, and seem to be covered by the provisions of section 545 of the Penal Code, that, “ If the thing stolen consists of a written instrument, being an evidence of debt, other than a public or corporate certificate * * * or security having a market value, * * * the amount of money due thereupon or secured to be paid thereby and remaining unsatisfied, or which in any contingency might be collected thereupon or thereby, or the value of the property transferred or affected, or the title to which is shown thereby, or the-sum which might be recovered for the want thereof, as the case may be, is deemed the value of the thing stolenand there is nothing in the point- taken.

Upon the whole case we find no reversible error. It follows, therefore, that the judgment appealed from should be affirmed.

Patterson, P. L, Ingraham, Houghton and Scott, JJ., concurred.

Judgment affirmed.

NOTE ON LARCENY BY AGENT.

BY AGENT ON COMMISSION.

One selling goods under an agreement that he is to have fifty per cent, of the profits on goods sold by him, his employer to advance him thirty-five dollars per week, to be accounted for on the division of the profits, and that any checks for merchandise sold may be made payable to him, but that he

BY ATTORNEY.

Obtaining by attorney of money or property by false or fraudulent representations not governed by section 148 of Penal Code, but is under section 527 of that Code. People v. Reavey, 4 N. Y. Crim. 1 .

Fraudulent conversion of proceeds of loan obtained by defendant on property entrusted to him for the purpose of obtaining loan thereon, held not L. of the property. People v. Cruger, 4 N. Y. Crim. 452 .

Evidence that defendant told a woman that he had bought stock in a. corporation for her, which stood in her own name on the books thereof, and that it was necessary for her to make payments thereon, that he received money from her for that purpose and subsequently paid her dividends, that, on her discovery that the stock had never stood in her name, he admitted that it had never been bought and that the money was gone, held, sufficient, to submit the question of L. by false pretenses to the jury. People v. Lewis, 9 N. Y. Crim. 340 .

• Where, in prosecution for larceny of money claimed to have been paid to defendant to pay off a mortgage, the testimony is given by mortgagee’s, husband that all payments indorsed thereon had been paid to him or his wife in his presence, a refusal to charge that the facts that the payment was not made in the witness’s presence, that his wife never in any way informed him of it, and that he never knew of it, were no evidence that the payment was not made, held erroneous. People v. Dorthy, 14 N. Y. Crim. 545 .

An attorney prosecuting an action for a contingent fee on effecting a settlement and receiving the money represented to his client that he had received a less sum and only paid over the agreed percentage on the less sum, retaining the' balance. Held, evidence sustained a conviction for Grand L., second degree. People v. Birnbaum, 20 N. Y. Crim. 295 .

BY CUSTODIAN.

Prosecutor handed to prisoner, a bartender, a fifty dollar bill, to take out ten cents in payment; prisoner put down a few coppers on the counter and when asked for the change, put prosecutor out of doors and kept the money, held, that prosecutor did not part either with possession of or property in the bill, but, until change was given back, the delivery was incomplete, and the bill remained in legal contemplation under his control and in his pos

Where holder of promissory note having received partial payment from maker, hands it to him to indorse the payment, and latter took it away and refused to give it up, held, that possession remained in owner, and subsequent conversion found to be felonious, was larceny. People v. Call, 1 Den. 120 .

BY EMPLOYER.

Where, by trick or artifice, owner of money is induced to deposit same with prisoner for particular purpose, without intending to part with the title, the money to be retained only for the accomplishment of such purpose, and it is the design and intent of the prisoner at the instant of time that the money is delivered to him, to obtain and appropriate it feloniously to his own use, without the consent of the depositor and against his will, the crime is larceny. People v. Morse, 3 N. Y. Crim. 104 .

BY PARAMOUR OF WIFE.

Receipt from wife of goods of husband by adulterer, or one intending to elope with her and live in adultery with her, held larcen» from husband. People v. Schuyler, 6 Cow. 572 .

BY PARTNER.

Fact that defendant did not apply the identical check for the purposes of the partnership did not make him guilty of L. nor of embezzlement of the contemplated interest in the property to be purchased. People v. Hart, 20 N. Y. Crim. 199 .

BY SERVANT.

Cashier in State Treasurer’s office, by converting instead of depositing draft committed to his care, commits larceny from the State in whose constructive possession the draft is. Phelps v. People, 72 N. Y. 334 .

Hostler who feloniously appropriates horse in his charge held guilty of larceny. People v. Wood, 2 Park. Crim. 22.

Where defendant employed to collect rents on fixed commission, collected same, and deposited in bank as trustee, and failed to account therefor, held L. People v. Civille, 5 N. Y. Crim. 530 .

Evidence sustaining a judgment convicting defendant of L. in appropriat. ing proceeds of a note which he had been given to discount for another, considered, and conviction sustained. People v. Conlon, 20 N. Y. Crim. 448 .

In order to sustain a conviction under subd. 2 of sec. 528, Penal Code, providing that a person having custody of the property of another as bailee, agent or trustee, etc., who appropriates the same with intent to defraud the true owner of his property is guilty of L., it is essential to show an intent to deprive or defraud the owner of his property or of its use. Mot essential to show an intention by defendant to reap any personal advantage from the taking, as the crime consists in the intent to despoil the owner of his property. People v. Burnham, 21 N. Y. Cr. 192.