People v. Murphy

The defendants have appealed from judgments of conviction of the offenses of unlawfully selling shares of stock of a mining corporation without having procured a license therefor, contrary to the provisions of the Corporate Securities Act of California. (Stats. 1917, p. 673, and amendments; 2 Deering’s Gen. Laws, p. 1924, Act 3814.) They have also appealed from the order denying their motion for a new trial.

It is contended the verdicts and judgments of conviction are not supported by the evidence; that the court was guilty of prejudicial misconduct, and that it erred in admitting evidence in the course of the trial and in giving to the jury certain instructions.

The evidence is conflicting, but the following statement of facts is adequately supported by the record. The defendants are husband and wife. During all of the time involved in this transaction they resided in Stanislaus County, California. They were neither miners nor mining experts, but were engaged solely as stock brokers. In 1927, Andrew Johnson and Stephen Gardella located and owned nine adja cent mining claims in Sierra County, California. Johnson and Gardella organized a California mining corporation under the…