State v. Pellerin

Citations

• 118 La. 547
• 48 So. 159
• 1907 La. LEXIS 762

Syllabus

<p>1. Embezzlement — What Constitutes.</p> <p>Embezzlement is not a common-law crime, but one created by a statute of Louisiana. In determining whether the acts charged to have been committed constitute embezzlement, the terms of the statute are controlling.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — Eor cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 18, Embezzlement, § 2.]</p> <p>2. Same.</p> <p>The term “embezzle” used in the statute is one which has a well-recognized and accepted common meaning. It is a broader term than “larceny,” but not exclusive of it. “Embezzling” is the wrongful and felonious appropriation to himself by a servant, employe of a civil corporation, or other person designated in the statute, of property intrusted to him by his employer.</p> <p>8. Same — Evidence,</p> <p>Under an indictment, which charges a defendant, in terms legally sufficient under the statute creating embezzlement, with the commission of acts which bring him within the grasp of the statute, the jury may find him guilty of embezzlement, though the acts charged to have been committed would be characterized legally as larceny, if not committed by him in violation of the fiduciary relations existing between himself and his employer. Violation of these fiduciary relations transforms his acts of wrongful and felonious appropriation from acts of larceny into acts of embezzlement under the statute.</p> <p>4. Indictment — Sufficiency — Statutory Crime.</p> <p>In charging a person in an indictment with a statutory crime, the use of the identical words of the statute is not sacramental. Any words may be used which will unequivocally convey the meaning of the statute, so that the defendant cannot be misled as to the charge he is to answer. He must be fully informed of the crime.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 27, Indictment and Information, §§ 289-294.]</p> <p>5. Same — “Wrongfully.”</p> <p>When there is a change in the phraseology, and a word not in the statute is substituted for one that i