Brady v. State
Brady v. State
Opinion of the Court
This is a conviction for embezzlement. When defendant was put upon trial he interposed a plea in bar of the prosecution, which was held bad upon demurrer, and this is the first question presented.
Did this plea show former jeopardy, such as would bar a farther prosecution? The facts set out in this plea are, in substance,
It has been held by this court in Varnes v. The State, 20 Texas Court of Appeals, 109, that it is only where the discretion conferred by Article 701 of the Code of Criminal Procedure upon the trial court to discharge the jury when they have been kept together such a length of time as to render it altogether improbable they can agree, has been abused to the injury of the defendant’s rights, that this court wifi interfere. In' this case there is no such abuse or consequent injury shown, and we are of the opinion that the court did not err in sustaining the demurrer to the plea.
Another question presented by the record is:- Does the evidence sustain and warrant the conviction for the crime of embezzlement? To constitute the crime of embezzlement under our code, the conviction must be of money or other property of the principal, or employer, and it must have come in to possession of the agent, or employe, by virtue of such agency or employment. Unless these two facts are proven, the conversion may be a crime, but it is not the crime of embezzlement. It is the breach of a trust reposed in the agent, or employe, by his principal, or employer, which is the gist of the offense. (Johnson v. The State, 21 Texas, 775.)
The defendant in the case at the bar presented to one Dahlich a bill, or account, against Dahlich, and in favor of Patterson, for the price of a bale of cotton. Dahlich, knowing the bill to be due and owing to Patterson, and knowing that defendant was, or had been, in the employ of Patterson, and believing defendant authorized to collect the money, paid it to defendant. The defendant never accounted for the money to Patterson.
Patterson’s testimony, so far as it bears upon the issue we are
To recur to our question: Did this money come into the possession of defendant by virtue of his agency or employment? Was the money thus in the possession of defendant the money of Patterson? If these questions are to be answered in the affirmative, the conviction is right and must stand; otherwise not. v
We are of the opinion that the money was not collected by the defendant by virtue of his employment, and that the money converted was not the money of the principal, Patterson, for the reason that after the collection made by defendant, Dahlich’s debt to Patterson still existed.
Because the evidence does not support the allegation in the indictment that the money appropriated was the property of Patterson, the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David J. Brady v. State
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Former. Jeopardy—Discharge oe Jury.—It is only when the discretion conferred upon the trial court to “discharge the jury when they had been kept together such a length of time as to render- it altogether improbable they could agree,” has been abused to the prejudice^ of the accused, that this court will interfere. See the opinion for circumstances under which it is held that the trial court, upon a former trial of the case, did not abuse the discretion conferred upon it by the said article by discharging the jury after it had been out nearly two days, including Sunday. 3. Embezzlement—Fact Case.—To constitute embezzlement under the code of this State, the conversion must be of money or other property of the principal or employer, and it must have come- into the possession of the agent or employe by virtue of his agency or employment. See the opinion for the substance of evidence held insufficient to support a conviction for embezzlement, in as much as it does not establish the necessary fact that the money converted was the property of the employer.