Ex parte Williams

Citations

• 121 Cal. 328
• 53 P. 706
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 904

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Defrauding Innkeeper—Constitutional Law. — Section 537 of the Penal Code, making it a misdemeanor to commit frauds and impositions upon innkeepers and the like persons, is not unconstitutional.</p> <p>Id.—Distinction Between Offenses.—Section 537 of the Penal Code contemplates three classes of offenders who are amenable to its provisions: 1. Those who obtain food or accommodation at such a resort, without paying therefor, with intent to defraud; 2. Those who obtain credit thereat by the employment of any false pretense; and 3. Those who, after obtaining such credit or accommodation, abscond and surreptitiously remove their baggage without paying their score.</p> <p>Id.—Habeas Corpus — Sufficiency of Complaint. — On a proceeding on habeas corpus, to be relieved from a conviction under said section, a complaint which states facts sufficient to constitute an offense as first defined therein will be held sufficient to support the judgment notwithstanding it contains other and insufficient allegations of obtaining credit by the use of false pretenses.</p>