People v. Faust
People v. Faust
Opinion of the Court
It is provided by section 397 of the Penal Code, as amended in 1893, that: “ Every person who
Appellant argues that more than one offense is charged in the information, because he is thereby accused of furnishing liquor to two Indians, but, obviously, the act charged is single; just as when, by a single act, larceny is perpetrated of two or more coins or other chattels. (Wharton’s Criminal Pleading, 254.)
It is claimed that on the trial there was a variance between allegation and proof, in that the evidence showed that the liquor was furnished, if at all, to one Indian only. Conceding to the exigence of the argument that such a variance would be material, we think none appears; the evidence tended to show that the two Indians were together in a barroom, and that one of them gave the defendant money with which he purchased a bottle of whiskey at the bar; both Indians repaired to a convenient rendezvous where defendant met them, and he there designedly placed the bottle within their reach, or delivered it into the hand of the one from whom he received the money; both then drank from the bottle, though not in defendant’s presence. These facts, unexplained as they were, justify the inference that liquor was furnished to two Indians.
There is an objection that the venue of the offense was nqt proved. The evidence showed that it occurred at Susanville, and it is judicially noticed that Susanville is the county seat of, and situated within Lassen county. (People v. Etting, 99 Cal. 577.)
Vanclief, C., and Belcher, C., concurred.
For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment and order denying defendant’s motion for new trial are affirmed.
Temple, J., McFarland, J., Henshaw, J.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE PEOPLE, etc. v. P. J. FAUST
- Cited By
- 19 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Criminal Law—Selling Liquor to Indians—Sufficiency of Information—Omission of Names—Identity of Officers.—An information charging the defendant with willfully and unlawfully selling intoxicating liquor to two Indians is not rendered insufficient in not naming the Indians; and if the defendant is again prosecuted for the same offense, he may plead the conviction, and establish the identity of the offense by parol evidence; and little aid in this regard would be furnished by designating the Indians by name, their names being seldom a matter of notoriety among the white population. Id.—Single Offense.—An information charging the defendant with the selling and furnishing of intoxicating liquor at the same time and place to two Indians states but a single offense. Id.—Proof of Offense Charged—Variance.—Where the defendant is charged with selling liquor to two Indians, the offense charged is substantially proved without material variance, where the evidence shows that two Indians were together in a barroom, and that one of them gave defendant money, with which he purchased a bottle of whiskey at the bar, after which both Indians repaired to a convenient place, where the defendant met them and delivered a bottle of whiskey to the Indian who paid him the money, after which both of them drank from the bottle, though not in the defendant’s presence. Id.—Venue—Judicial Notice.—Where the evidence shows that the offense was committed in the town where the trial was held, the court will take judicial notice that it is the county seat, and is situated within the county, and the venue of the offense is sufficiently proved.