United States v. Comyns

Citations

• 248 U.S. 349
• 39 S. Ct. 98
• 63 L. Ed. 287
• 1919 U.S. LEXIS 2318

Syllabus

<p>A bill of particulars supplementing an indictment is no part of the record for the purpose of deciding a demurrer.</p> <p>An indictment alleged a scheme to defraud divers persons, through use of the mails, by representing that certain land'could be purchased by them under fhe Timber & Stone Act for less than its value, and that defendants would secure it for them in return for fees part payable in advance, and would refund such advance payments in case of non-success, whereas the defendants well knew they could not carry out- the agreement, but intended to secure the advance payments and to appropriate them to their own usé.</p> <p>Held: (1) That a decision sustaining a demurrer was based upon á construction of § 215 of the Criminal Code, and was reviewable under the Criminal Appeals Act.</p> <p>(2) That the indictment charged a “scheme or artifice to defraud,” etc., within the meaning of said § 215.</p> <p>Reversed.</p>