People v. Caridis (1915) · DecisionDepot

People v. Caridis

Name: California Superior Court Tentative Rulings
Creator: DecisionDepot
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

California Court of Appeal Dec 14, 1915 No. Crim. No. 578.Published

Before: Lennon

AI Brief

AI-generated · verify before citing

Holding. The court held that a lottery ticket representing a debt from an illegal enterprise lacks the legal validity or value required to support a charge of grand larceny.

Issues

Whether a lottery ticket representing a debt from an illegal enterprise constitutes property of sufficient value to support a charge of grand larceny.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“It is a well-settled principle that an obligation which exists in defiance of a law which denounces it has, in the eye of the law, neither validity nor value.”

“Being a void and valueless obligation in the eye of the law from its very inception, it could not be transformed into a legitimate and valuable thing by a voluntary payment, which in itself was a contravention of the law.”

Synopsis

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco allowing a demurrer to the information. George H. Cabaniss, Judge.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

U. S. Webb, Attorney-General, Frank L. Guerena, and John H. Riordan, Deputies Attorney-General, for Appellant.

LENNON, P. J.

The defendant in this case was, by an information filed in the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco, charged with the crime of grand larceny, alleged to have been committed as follows:

“The said Antonio Caridis on the 29th day of July, A. D. 1914, at the said City and County of San Francisco, State of California, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously steal, take and carry away one lottery ticket of the Original Nacional Company, No. 16235, that theretofore and on the 27th day of July, 1914, the said ticket was, after a drawing held by said Original Nacional Company, and its officers, representatives and agents, declared by said Original Nacional Company and its officers, representatives and agents, to be one of the winning tickets of the said Original Nacional Company, and its officers, representatives and agents, after said drawing aforesaid, did become liable for and did promise to pay to the holder of said ticket the sum of twelve hundred and fifty ($1250.00) dollars in gold coin of the United States of America and did then and there promise to pay to the holder of said ticket the sum of twelve hundred and fifty ($1250.00) dollars in gold coin of the United States of America;

“That thereafter, and "on the 30th day of July, 1914, the said Antonio Caridis did present said ticket to said Original Nacional Company and to its officers, representatives and agents, and did receive from said Original Nacional Company, and its officers, representatives and agents, the sum of twelve hundred and fifty ($1250) dollars in gold coin of the United States of America therefor;

“That at all of said times the said lottery ticket was the personal property of Jim Papas and was of the value of twelve hundred and fifty ($1250.00) dollars in gold coin of the United States of America.”

A demurrer to the information was allowed upon the ground that the facts stated did not constitute a public offense, in the particular that it affirmatively appeared that the subject matter of the alleged larceny had no legitimate

[168]

value. The action was thereupon dismissed and the people have appealed from the order allowing the demurrer.

People v. Caridis

AI Brief

Synopsis

LENNON, P. J.

More from California Court of Appeal

Related research

AI Brief