People v. Frigerio

Citations

• 107 Cal. 151
• 40 P. 107
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 725

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Sufficiency of Information.—Where an offense is charged in the information in the language of the statute the information is in substantial compliance with the requirements of the code, and a demurrer thereto is not well taken.</p> <p>Id.—Swindling by Use of Cards — Larceny. —Where a defendant is charged with a felony committed by fraudulently obtaining money from another person by trick and device by the use of cards, and the evidence discloses that the means employed was a trick of the defendant and his confederate of pretending to play a game of cards, wherein the defendant, as an inducement to the prosecuting witness to part with his money, was permitted repeatedly to win; but the moment the money of the prosecutor was put up, it was apparently lost by the defendant to his confederate, who immediately disappeared with it, the evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction under the information; and the fact that the circumstances disclosed are such that the defendant might have been charged with and convicted of larceny does not make the offense any less one of the special class provided for in section 332 of the Penal Code, nor render the defendant less amenable to a prosecution under that section.</p> <p>Id.—Conduct of District Attorney—Improper Allusion to Appearance of Defendant—Effect of General Objection.—Where an objection to the language of the district attorney used on the argument is general, and the court’s attention was in no way directed to any particular feature complained of, the fact that the district attorney improperly commented upon or called attention to the personal appearance of the defendant as a factor in the evidence, though the defendant did not submit himself as a witness in the case, cannot be taken advantage of for the first time on appeal. In order to avail himself of the objection, it was the duty of the defendant to direct the court’s attention specifically to such transgression of the people’s privilege.</p>