People v. McKenna

The defendant was tried and convicted on an information which charged that, “on or about the fifteenth day of July, 1888, at the county of San Luis Obispo, state of California, [the defendant] did' unlawfully, knowingly, and designedly, by false and fraudulent representations and pretenses, defraud one David Taylor of personal property, to wit, twenty hogs, of the value of $203.40, in lawful money of the United States, *159 the personal property of the said David Taylor, coiltrary to the form, force,” etc.

The most important question in the case is whether the facts stated are sufficient to support a conviction. There was no demurrer to the complaint, but there was a motion in arrest of judgment and a motion for a new trial. It is claimed on behalf of the respondent that the information is sufficient in the absence of a demurrer; that if the defendant had desired the information to be made more specific, he should have demurred on the ground that it did not substantially conform to the requirements of sections 950, 951, and 952 of the Penal Code. If, however, the facts stated in the information do not constitute a public offense, the objection to its sufficiency maybe made at any…