People v. Eagan

Citations

• 116 Cal. 287
• 48 P. 120
• 1897 Cal. LEXIS 539

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Election Frauds — Indictment — Conspiracy — Completed Offense—Duplicity.—An indictment under the “Act to promote the purity of elections,” charging that six defendants, who were officers at an election precinct, confederated and conspired together to sign, certify, and attest, as true and genuine, the tally lists and returns of the precinct, each knowing that the returns signed and certified by him were false and untrue in certain particulars specified, in falsely increasing the votes of one candidate for county clerk, and falsely diminishing the votes of another candidate for the same office, does not state a conspiracy as a substantial offense, but charges only one completed felony, in which the precedent acts of conspiracy were merged, and is not demurrable for duplicity.</p> <p>Id.—Insufficiency of Circumstantial Evidence — Opportunity for Fraud—Facts Consistent with Innocence—Failure of Proof— Question of Law.—Circumstances relied upon to establish the guilt of one accused of crime must not only be consistent with that hypothesis, hut also inconsistent with any other rational conclusion; and, where there were other election officers, who were not before the court, but who had equal opportunity for fraud with the defendants charged with the offense, the mere testimony of each of five codefendants as witnesses for the people, that he had himself honestly performed his part of the work, is insufficient to convict the other defendant, there being no evidence, aside from error in the returns, that the other defendant ever indicated, by word or act, an intent to falsify the vote, or that he had any motive to do so; and he, having testified in his own behalf that he had honestly performed his part of the work, and had no knowledge of any error when he joined in certifying the returns; but, in such case, every fact proved is consistent with the reasonable conclusion that the false return resulted, without his connivance, from the acts of persons who h