People v. Ah Woo

By the Court,

Sanderson, C. J. I. The objection to the indictment upon the ground that it does not contain a copy in the Chinese language of the forged and counterfeit order therein mentioned is not well taken, even though it should be conceded that it would have been fatal at common law. As we have had frequent occasion to remark, the forms of pleading in criminal actions in this State are prescribed in the “Act to regulate proceedings in criminal, cases,” and the sufficiency thereof is to be determined by the rules or tests therein provided. Such is the express will of the Legislature, and we are not allowed to disregard it. (Section 235 ; People v. Ah Sing, 17 Cal. 598; People v. Vance, 21 Cal. 403; People v. King, 27 Cal. 507.) With much particularity that Act provides a series of tests by which to determine the sufficiency of an indictment. If an indictment upon a fair reading is found to stand these statutory tests it must be declared sufficient, notwithstanding a contrary result might follow when subjected to the tests of the common law. These tests are enumerated in section two hundred and forty-six. The sixth and seventh in order are the ones applicable to the question now before us. The first provides that the act or omission charged as the offense shall be clearly and distinctly set forth in ordinary and concise language, without repetition, and in such a manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended. The last requires that the act or omission charged as the offense shall be stated with such a degree of certainty as to enable [209]the Court to pronounce judgment upon a conviction according, •to the rights of the case.

The question before us relates solely to the description of the forged instrument which, it is charged, the defendant uttered and passed; and under the foregoing tests we think the description given in the indictment is sufficient for all purposes which can be directly or remotely subserved by the record in this case. The instrument is described as purporting to be an order of one Wang Ah Chung for the payment of one hundred dollars, written in the Chinese language. An English translation is then given which, so far as the demurrer is concerned, must be assumed to be literally .correct. (If the translation is not correct, the objection could be made by demurrer to the evidence when the instrument is offered at the trial.) In one sense an exact copy in the Chinese language would have been a more perfect description, yet for all practical legal purposes a correct translation would be far more useful to the Court and the jury. While the highest degree of certainty in point of description is desirable, it does not follow that a less degree is not sufficient for all legal purposes. A description which serves to establish the legal character of the instrument, to show that it is one of those enumerated in the statute against forgery, and to identify the offense sufficiently to protect the defendant against a second prosecution, answers every useful purpose, and more than that our forms of pleading do not require. A correct translation of the instrument in question is sufficient to enable the Court to determine its legal character, even if we assume that the Chinese language is as familiar to the Court as household words. It is equally as effectual to protect the defendant against a second prosecution. What useful purpose, then, can a copy in the Chinese language serve which is not as well served by a correct translation? If it be said that greater certainty would be attained, the answer is that where sufficient certainty is attained greater certainty is not needed. Not unfrequently a more certain and complete description of stolen