Rittenhouse

This appeal is taken from a judgment of conviction of the crime of embezzlement and of the crime of forgery, charged in the third and fourth counts of an indictment against the defendant, which indictment contained five counts. Appellant was found “not guilty” on count one and the district attorney, prior to the trial, dismissed as to counts two and five.

Appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict. The defendant, Rittenhouse, in July, 1920, was employed as a bookkeeper for the Valley Oil Company, in Fresno, California. Among his duties- were those of keeping the books of the company and of signing checks of the company, jointly with the president, Edward L. Tobin. The Valley Oil Company kept a checking account in the Bank & Trust Company of Central California, in Fresno, which bank, a short time prior to the date of the alleged commission of the crimes' herein considered, had changed its name to the Fidelity Trust & Savings Bank. Mr. Tobin, as president of the Valley Oil Company, secured a loan from this bank in the sum of $2,500 and had it deposited in the bank to the credit of the Valley Oil Company. By some mistake occurring during the transfer…