People v. Cummings

The indictment charged the obtaining of the property of C. Schnelle by means of false and fraudulent pretenses. Defendant was convicted, and appeals from the judgment and-from the order denying him a new trial.

His first attack is upon the form of the indictment. It will serve no beneficial purpose to set out in full this pleading, which is of great length, and, without doing so, no satisfactory analysis of appellant's objections thereto can be made. It must suffice to say, that after a critical examination we hold the indictment to be sufficient in law to charge the appellant with the designated offense.

The gravamen of the charge is this: That in an exchange of property induced to be made by Schnelle under the fraudulent representations of Cummings, Schnelle was defrauded of “his, C. Schnelle’s, promissory note for the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, which said note was dated October 3,1894, and was payable thirty days after date in gold coin of the United States, and said note was paid by said C. Schnelle in gold coin of the United States on or about the sixteenth day of November, 1894, to the assignees of said James H. Cummings, which said note was the *499…