People v. Dowd (1879) · DecisionDepot

People v. Dowd

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

California Supreme Court Dec 27, 1879 No. No. 10,448Published

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Holding. The court held that the defendant must be acquitted of violating section 476 of the Penal Code because the prosecution failed to prove that the name signed to the check was a fictitious person.

Issues

Whether the prosecution must prove that the name signed to the check was a fictitious person to sustain a conviction under section 476 of the Penal Code.
Whether the evidence presented was sufficient to support the conviction.

Disposition. Reversed and remanded

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“The evidence failed to prove that fact, and the jury should, on that ground, have acquitted the defendant.”

Synopsis

Criminal Trial.—Where a Verdict Against the Defendant is Found Contrary to the Evidence and the court’s instructions, the supreme court will reverse the judgment and remand the cause for a new trial.1

By the COURT. The defendant was indicted under the provisions of section 476 of the Penal Code. The court in[69]strueted the jury that they must acquit the defendant unless it was proven that T. A. Dowd, the name signed to the check in question, was a fictitious person. This proposition is not contested by the prosecution. The evidence failed to prove that fact, and the jury should, on that ground, have acquitted the defendant.

Judgment and order reversed and cause remanded for a new trial. Remittitur forthwith.

MeKinstry, J., dissented.

People v. Dowd

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