State v. Phelps

Citations

• 41 Wash. 470
• 84 P. 24
• 1906 Wash. LEXIS 992

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Obtaining Property Under False Pretenses — ■ Information — Sufficiency. An information for the offense of obtaining property under false pretenses sufficiently states the essential elements of intent to defraud, the design, and the means by which the fraud was perpetrated, where it is charged that the accused obtained the signature of one B. to a promissory note by means of false representations respecting the organization of a bank at a particular place, that certain parties had subscribed for its stock, that a little ready money was required for a certain purpose, which could be procured on said note, and that a certain banker had sent the accused to said B. for that purpose; since all these statements were representations of material, past, or present facts calculated to deceive said B. and induce him to deliver the note, which was a thing of value although not made to a definite payee (Rudkin, J., dissenting):</p> <p>Same — Information—Sufficiency—Tendency to Deceive. Any pretense which actually deceives the person defrauded is sufficient to sustain a conviction of the crime of obtaining property under false pretenses, it not being essential that it be sufficient to deceive a person of ordinary intelligence.</p>