People v. Chand

FINCH, P. J.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of perjury. This appeal is from the judgment.

The information charges that the defendant, in a civil action in which he was plaintiff and Joseph Taylor was defendant, gave false testimony as follows: “ Q. Mr. Chand, at the time you gave to Mr. Taylor the two drafts that you testified about, did you receive from him another paper? A. No, sir; nothing. Q. Isn’t it a fact that he gave you a Bill of Sale? A. No, sir; never. Q. Isn’t it a fact that Mr. Taylor, in his office, gave you a Bill of Sale ? A. Never; he took me to his back room and received two drafts, one $500.00 and the other $400.00 and got me to endorse. Q. And you testified that you did not receive any Bill of Sale? A. Nothing, sir, and nobody was there, and he received the two drafts in his back room. Q. Do you know a man by the name of J. C. Williams ? A. I never been acquainted with him. Q. Don’t you know, as a matter of fact, that you took Mr. Williams to the office of Mr. Taylor, the defendant, and you instructed him to make the Bill of Sale in Mr. Williams name? A- I never been acquainted with that party.” The complaint and answer in the civil action were introduced in evidence. The defendant stipulated that “they are the complaint and answer in that action” and that, at the trial thereof, the defendant herein was duly sworn as a witness and gave the testimony set out in the information.

The complaint so introduced alleged that the defendant in that action was indebted to the plaintiff therein “for money had and received from said plaintiff in the sum of one thousand seventy-five dollars to and for the use of plaintiff,” The answer denied the allegations of the com

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plaint and alleged that “as agent and broker for one Marie Smith, defendant . . . sold to plaintiff for the agreed price of $1000 the contents, that is to say, furnishings then and there in and upon the premises then and there owned by the said Marie Smith, and known as the Queen Booming House ... in the city of Stockton. ... At the time and place of the making of the said sale, as alleged, plaintiff made a deposit ... in the sum of $200. . . . On September 8th, 1924, the balance of the purchase money in the sum of $800 was paid to defendant by plaintiff, and an additional sum of $75 was paid at the same place and time by plaintiff to defendant as an adjustment on rentals due from tenants of the ‘Queen.’ At the said time and place . . . defendant . delivered to plaintiff a bill of sale covering the property just purchased, signed by the said Marie Smith of the said premises to plaintiff; that defendant at all times acted for and on behalf of his principal, the said Marie Smith, in the said transaction, and not for plaintiff.”