People v. Cobler

Citations

• 108 Cal. 538
• 41 P. 401
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 888

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Embezzlement — Sufficiency of Indictment.— Under sections 967 and 1131 of the Penal Code, it is not necessary to specify in an indictment or information for the embezzlement of money or to prove at the trial the coin, number, denomination, or kind of money embezzled; and it is sufficient to describe the money appropriated as lawful money of the United States.</p> <p>Id.—Manner and Purpose of Receipt of Money.—An indictment stating that the money embezzled consisted of public funds of the county, and was received .by the defendant as deputy county assessor for the use and benefit of the county, sufficiently states the manner in which the defendant received the money, and the use and purpose for which he held it.</p> <p>Id.—Proof of Official Position—Presumptions.—Evidence showing who was acting as assessor of the county during the year in which the embezzlement took place, and that the defendant was acting as his deputy, is sufficient proof of the official position of the defendant; and it is not necessary to prove either that the assessor or deputy assessor had properly qualified, but the law presumes that a person acting as a public officer has been regularly appointed to it, and that official duty has been regularly performed.</p> <p>Id.—Embezzlement by Acting Deputy.—If the defendant, while acting as deputy assessor, received as such officer moneys belonging to the county, and fraudulently appropriated them to his own use, he is guilty of embezzlement under section 504 of the Penal Code.</p> <p>Id.—Failure of Field Deputy to Return- Assessment—Collection of Personal Tax—Public Funds.—The fact that a field deputy who assessed and collected taxes on personal property, which is the money alleged to have been embezzled, did not return a statement of the assessment or of the amount received at the assessor’s office, and that no entry was made in the assessor’s books, does not tend to show that the money collected does not constitute a part of the publi