People v. Lima

VAN DYKE, P. J.

Appellant and two nonappealing co-defendants, namely one Aldo and one Guzmano, were charged by indictment with criminal conspiracy to commit grand theft. Appellant and Guzmano were charged with grand theft and by another count Guzmano and Aldo were also charged with grand theft. All three were convicted as charged. Appellant appeals from the judgment against him and from the trial court’s order denying his motion for new trial.

In 1951 appellant and Aldo were separately engaged in buying grapes on their own account and selling them to the Farmington Winery, hereinafter called “Farmington.” Guzmano was employed by Farmington and among his duties was that of deputy public weighmaster under a license issued to one Cellini, who was general manager of Farmington. The grapes sold by appellant and Aldo were processed by Farmington into wine for the account of Italian Swiss Colony, a corporation, hereinafter called “Italian Swiss.” Farmington received a tonnage price for this processing and it had contracted to purchase and to process 4,500 tons of grapes. The grapes delivered by appellant and by Aldo were weighed at Farmington’s public scales and were paid for on a tonnage basis either by a flat rate per ton or on a basis of sugar content per ton. Italian Swiss paid Farmington, but, because it suspected Farmington’s solvency, it adopted the device of making checks direct to those who delivered grapes to Farmington. These checks were generally sent to Farmington for distribution to grape sellers. Payments were made weekly and were computed from the weight certificates issued at Farmington’s public scales. Usually Guzmano weighed the grapes, but sometimes other deputy weighmasters, or even

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Cellini as a licensed weighmaster, did the weighing. At the end of the crushing season differences arose between Farmington and Italian Swiss, the latter contending that the grapes purchased for it had not yielded the quantity of wine which the weights indicated. Ensuing investigation led to charges that the weighing and the issued weight certificates were fraudulent in that they showed tonnages far in excess of the actual weights, so that Italian Swiss had been paying those who delivered grapes to Farmington for it in excess of the amounts justly due. The indictments followed. At first, indictments were returned against Cellini, as well as the three we have named, but he was not proceeded against and the charges against him were dismissed.