In Re Cruickshank
In Re Cruickshank
Opinion of the Court
The trial of defendant, an attorney at law, upon an accusation filed by the Los Angeles Bar Association charging him with the commission of acts involving moral turpitude, resulted in a judgment of disbarment, from which, and an order overruling his motion for a new trial, he appeals.
*498 The gist of the accusation is that appellant obtained from Henry Goetz the sum of ten thousand dollars upon the representation that the same would not be used otherwise than in the construction and equipment of a certain plant and patented process for extracting ore from the black sands of certain lands located near Watsonville, California, wherein he and one J. R Ghiselin owned a controlling interest; that instead of using the money for such purpose,, he divided the same between himself and Ghiselin, both of whom appropriated the money to their ■ own uses. That such was the theory adopted by the trial court conclusively appears from this statement made in the course of the trial, wherein the judge said: “The only issue is what this money was going to be used for. All they claim is that they said the money was not used for what Mr. Cruickshank said it was going to be used'. . . . That is all I am going to try. . . . The question is whether he [Cruickshank] represented that it would be used for a certain purpose and did not use it for that purpose. That is all there is, and that is all the complaint states.”
While the evidence is to some extent conflicting, that of Goetz, which the court accepted as true, tends to show the following facts: That he and appellant had for many years been intimately acquainted and the latter had from time to time acted as his attorney in certain matters. In September, 1917, he, at the request of appellant, called at the latter’s office, when appellant told him he had a proposition that was going to make lots of money; that he, with Ghiselin, was interested to the extent of seventy per cent in a patented process to separate iron ore from black sand upon which they had an option, and needed ten thousand dollars toward putting up the plant. Goetz said he did not want to gamble, but could let him have the money, provided his banker approved, to which Mr. Ghiselin, who was present, replied: “We are not going to give our secrets away.” Whereupon Goetz said: “That lets me out,” to which a Mrs. Thorkildsen, who was present, replied: “Well, all right, I will put up the money.” Thereupon Goetz left the office, followed by appellant, who expressed his friendship for the former and the fact that there were tremendous profits in the proposition, and that, notwithstanding Mrs. Thorkildsen was going to put up ten thousand dollars, which *499 he thought sufficient for the purpose, nevertheless they should have the additional money on hand for use as an emergency fund, since other money might be needed to complete the plant and its equipment; and hence it was desired that they be prepared with money for such purpose, and that if the money so advanced by Mrs. Thorkildsen was insufficient for the purpose, then and only in such case would his money be used therefor. Meanwhile he was assured the money was to be deposited and kept in bank. Goetz visited the property in company with appellant and Ghiselin, at which ■ time he was cautioned by appellant and Ghiselin not to talk about the business in the presence of others, and by their acts and representations he was favorably impressed with the merits of the proposition. Upon returning to Los Angeles Goetz was shown certain photographs of the proposed plant, tending to convince him that the plant could be erected for the money obtained from Mrs. Thorkildsen, and on September 21, 1917, when G'oetz gave the check, appellant, in his office, said to him: “Henry, we don’t really need your money. I have money in the safe, ten thousand dollars, but I will not use that money [represented by the Goetz check] for any other purpose than what it is intended for.” Whereupon Ghiselin got up and pulled out the drawer in the safe and showed him the money. In delivering the check, Goetz said to appellant that he did not want Ghiselin to have anything to do with it, and stated: “Now, Vernon, here is my check, hoping and trusting that everything you told me is nothing but the truth.” He had full confidence in the appellant and advanced the money to him, believing that it would be kept in the bank at Watsonville and only used in ease the money obtained from Mrs. Thorkildsen was insufficient to erect the plant, in which case the money so advanced would be used toward such purpose; otherwise returned to him. Goetz obtained the money by borrowing it from his bank, appellant agreeing to reimburse him for such rate of interest as he was compelled to pay therefor, and voluntarily, it seems, proposed giving him a contract for a five per cent interest in that of appellant and Ghiselin, similar to one which appellant said they were giving to Mrs. Thorkildsen. This receipt recited that Goetz had loaned them ten thousand dollars, in consideration of which they conveyed to *500 Mm a five per cent interest in the option therein described and in certain alleged patent rights in the machine to separate iron and steel from the black sands therein mentioned. No part of the money so advanced went into the construction of any plant or process, but upon receiving it appellant gave one-half thereof to Ghiselin, and the former used a part of his share in a trip to New York, made for the purpose, as claimed by him, of financing the black-sand proposition. There is much other evidence touching the question, but that referred to tends to show that appellant and Ghiselin engaged in a dishonest scheme to obtain the ten thousand dollars from Goetz and did not intend to use it toward the completion of the proposed plant, but did at the time intend to appropriate it to their own use, and thus by deceiving Goetz he was fraudulently induced to advance the money, no part of which, other than one thousand six hundred dollars, did he collect.
Another argument made by appellant is that there existed between appellant, Goetz, and Ghiselin the relationship of copartners. This is based upon the fact that appellant and Ghiselin conveyed to Goetz five per cent interest in their option. We are unable to perceive any merit in the contention.
At the close of the trial the court in rendering its judgment, said: “I realize the seriousness of disbarring.an attorney, but the accused is not doing a very substantial amount of law practice, according to his own statements, and there would not be much damage done by disbarring him. ’ ’
The judgment is affirmed.
Conrey, P. J., and James, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the Matter of the Proceedings for the Disbarment of Vernon Cruickshank, an Attorney and Counselor at Law.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published