People v. Tambara

CONREY, J.,

pro

tem.

The defendant was charged with the crime of embezzlement, by an information filed in the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco, in

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the charging part of which it was alleged that the defendant, on or about the ninth day of October, 1920, was entrusted by one F. Hachiyama with certain bonds issued by the Japanese imperial government, the property of said Hachiyama, and of the aggregate value of $1,350, and that the said defendant having then and there received said personal property as bailee, and while he was so entrusted and in the possession of said personal property, he did unlawfully, feloniously, and fraudulently embezzle and appropriate the same to Ms own use. To this' information the defendant pleaded not guilty and was thereupon put upon trial before a jury, which returned a verdict of “guilty of the crime of felony, to wit, embezzlement by bailee as charged in the information.” The defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied and from the judgment which followed he prosecutes this appeal.

The contentions of appellant are that the evidence is not sufficient to prove that he was entrusted by Hachiyama with the bonds, or that Hachiyama was owner of the bonds, or that appellant disposed of the bonds while they were in his possession or without authority.

During the year 1920 appellant was engaged in the business of a merchandise broker in San Francisco. He had business relations with one Inouye, a retail provision dealer in Watsonville. Inouye had among Ms customers F. Haehiyama and one Mitsui, who were mutually interested in the business of raising and selling strawberries. In April, 1920, Mitsui applied to Inouye for a loan of $1,000. Thereupon Inouye negotiated by telephone with Tambara and secured the latter’s consent to make the loan. Thereupon Tambara sent down to Inouye a promissory note for $1,000 payable eighty days after date to himself or assigns with interest at twelve per cent per annum. Accompanying this note was another document in the form of a general power of attorney to be also signed by Mitsui, constituting Tambara his attorney in fact “with full authority to make all contracts and do all other acts of a business nature except a conveyance of lands.” These two documents were duly executed by Mitsui and were returned to Tambara together with the bonds, which were negotiable in form and transferable by bearer. These bonds had been delivered by Hachiyama to Mitsui with the understanding that they would be pledged