and so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say, that he the said J. J. on the said day of in the year aforesaid, with force and arms, at, &c. in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously did steal, take, and carry away the said bank notes from his said employers the said trustees of the Liverpool docks, the said bank notes being then and there the property of the said trustees of the Liverpool docks, on whose account the same were received by and taken into the possession of him the said J. J. being such clerk as aforesaid, and the several sums of money payable and secured thereby being then, to wit, at the time of committing the felony aforesaid, to wit, at, &c. due and unsatisfied to the said trustees of the Liverpool docks, the proprietors thereof, against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace, &c. 2nd count charges the like felony by the said J. J. being employed in the capacity of clerk to the said trustees of the Liverpool docks. 3rd count charges the like felony by the said J. J. being a servant to the said trustees of the Liverpool docks. 4th count charges the embezzling of the property of H. C. to whom the said J. J. was clerk. 5th count charges the embezzling of the property of H. C. he the said J. J. being employed in the capacity of a clerk to the said H. C. 6th count states the embezzlement of the property of H. C. he the said J. J. being a servant to the said H. C. 7th count. And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present, that the said J. J. afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, with force and arms, at Liverpool aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, feloniously did steal, take, and carry away divers, to wit, nine other bank notes for the payment of money, that is to say, for the payment of nine pounds elusion from the premises, and 66 at, &c. fraudulently and feloniously did steal, take, carry away, embezzle, and secrete the same," i. e. by engrafting the words of the stat. upon the common law description of larciny. and of the value of nine pounds, the said last-mentioned bank notes, at the time of committing the felony last aforesaid, being the property of the said H. C. and the several sums of money payable and secured thereby, being then due and unsatisfied to the said H. C. the proprietor thereof, against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace (n), &c. 90. Indictment for stealing goods let by contract to be used with a lodging (o). (As in pr.87. to the *.) Of the goods and chattels of (n) The prisoner was convicted upon this indictment, coram Le Blanc, J. at the spring assizes for Lancashire, 1814. Two objections were made in arrest of judgment; 1st. That the prisoner was not charged with having embezzled any one bank-note of a specified amount and value. if the offender should be convicted on any one count; that where the offences are of the same nature, their joinder cannot be taken advantage of in arrest of judgment, and that in the principal case the offences were of the same nature, and the prisoner equally entitled to 2dly. his challenges; and that upon That the joinder of a felony at a case which was tried at the common law with a felony un- Old Bailey, where the prisoner der the statute was improper. was indicted for uttering a The court was of opinion, number of forged receipts, the upon the first point, that as judges held that it was always the stat. particularly mention- a matter of discretion in the ed bills and notes, it was suffi- court, where different offences cient to state them as bank- of the same nature were notes for the payment of mo- charged in the same indictney, without averring the ment, to put the prosecutor to amount and the denomination his election, but not a ground of each; that, as to the alleged for arresting the judgment, see misjoinder, the answer was, P. 36. that both the offences were felonies, and both of them larcinies; and that, though it might have been more consistent, if the embezzling act had enacted, that the offence should be considered grand larciny, and had authorized the court to direct the offender to be transported, yet that the proper judgment might be given, (0) By stat. 3 & 4 W. & M. c. 9. s. 5. if any person or persons shall take away, with intent to steal, &c. any chattel, bedding, or furniture, which by contract or agreement they are to use, or shall be let to them in lodgings, such taking, &c. shall be adjudged larciny and felony. one (p) E. F. (the (9) same goods and chattels being in a certain lodging-room in the dwelling-house of the said E. F. there situate, let by contract by the said E. F. to the said A. B. and to be used by the said A. B. with the lodging aforesaid,) then and there being found, feloniously did steal, take, and carry away, against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace, &c. 91. Indictment for stealing a letter, containing bills of exchange, out of a bag sent by the post (r). (Commencement as in pr. 1.) Feloniously (s) did steal, p. (p) The name of the owner must be correctly stated, 177. R. v. Pope, Leach, 617. In Palmer's case, 2 Leach, 782. East. P. C. 586. it was holden that the statute did not apply to the case of a defendant who hired a whole house ready furnished; and some of the judges were of opinion that the statute did not apply to a case where the defendant contracted to make good what should be missing or injured. (q) In Burnell's case, Leach, 668. East. P. C. 587. it was objected to an indictment drawn in this form, that it did not state that the goods were let at the time they were stolen, but all the judges held that the indictment was sufficient. See Leach, 377. 668. 782. (r) By 7 Geo. 3. c. 50. s. 2. it is enacted, that if any person or persons whatsoever shall rob any mail or mails, in which letters are sent or conveyed by the post, of any letter or letters, packet or packets, bag or mail of letters; or shall steal or take from or out of any such mail or mails, or from or out of any bag or bags of letters, sent or conveyed by the post, or from or out of any post office,* or house or place for the receipt or delivery of letters or packets sent or to be sent by the post, any letter or letters, packet or packets; although such robbery, stealing, or taking, shall not appear, or be proved, to be a taking from the person, or upon the king's highway, or to be a robbery committed in any dwelling-house, or any coachhouse, stable, barn, or any out * It was holden in Pearce's case, East. P. C. 603. that the defendant who procured the bags of letters from the post office to be let down to him by a string, pretending that he was the mail guard, was within this statute. In Howatt's case, East. P. C. 604. it was holden that a letter carrier who fraudulently obtained possession of letters at the office, intending to deliver them to the owners, but to embezzle the postage, was not within the act. take, and carry away (t) one letter (u) from and out of a certain bag of letters, then and there sent by the post, house belonging to any dwelling-house; and although it should not appear that any person or persons were put in fear by such robbery, stealing, or taking, yet such offender or offenders, being thereof convicted as aforesaid, shall nevertheless respectively be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy. By the stat. 52 G. 3. c. 143. s. 3. if any person shall steal and take from any carriage, or from the possession of any person employed to convey letters sent by the post of Great Britain, or from or out of any postoffice, or house, or place, for the receipt or delivery of letters, or packets, or bags, or mails of letters, sent or to be sent by such post, any letter, or packet, or bag, or mail of letters, sent or to be sent by such post, or shall steal and take any letter or packet out of any such bag or mail, every person so offending, and being thereof convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy; and such offence shall and may be inquired of, tried, and determined, either in the county where the offence shall be committed, or where the party shall be apprehended. By sec. 2. If any person employed by the post office, shall steal from any letter, &c. which shall have come into his FF hands, any note, &c. he shall suffer death, without benefit, &c. By sec. 4. the like penalty is to be inflicted upon any person who shall counsel any person employed by the post-office, to commit such of fence, or who shall receive such property, knowing the same to have been stolen out of such letter, &c. and such persons may be tried and attainted, as well before as after the trial of the principal felon, and whether he be amenable to justice or not. (s) The indictment must be laid in the county where the mail was actually taken, and therefore, where upon the evidence it appeared that the taking of the letters from the mail was committed in one of the counties A. and B. through which the mail passed, and that he had them in possession in the county C. where he left the mail-coach; it was holden that the evidence did not support an indictment for the offence in the county C. Thomas's case, East. P. C. 607. (t) These words, which are added as descriptive of a larciny at common law, are not always inserted in indictments under this act, and are not used in the statute. See C. C. A. 286. East. P. C. 576. (u) It seems to be sufficient to describe it generally as a letter, but if the direction of the letter be known, it would be proper, in one count, to to wit, by the post from C. in the county of D. to E. against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace, &c. (In a second count describe the property as) one packet (the said packet being then and there a letter, containing sundry bills of exchange) from and out of a certain other bag of letters, then and there sent by the post, to wit, by the post from C. aforesaid, in the said county of D. to E. aforesaid.) (In a third count describe the property as) one packet from and out of a certain other bag of letters, then and there sent by the post, that is to say, by the post from C. aforesaid, in the said county of D. to E. aforesaid, and conclude as before. 92. For a mail robbery (m). The jurors, &c. that G. M. late of M. in the county palatine of Lancaster, labourer, otherwise called George Moors, late of the same place, labourer, heretofore, to wit, on, &c. with force and arms, at, &c. feloniously did rob (n) a certain mail in which letters were then and there sent and conveyed by the post, to wit, by the post from Altrincham, in the county palatine of Chester, for and towards Manchester, in the county palatine of Lancaster, of one bag of letters, against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace, &c. (2nd Count.) And the jurors, &c. that the said G. M. &c. afterwards, to wit, on the 21st day of January, in the 51st year of the reign aforesaid, with force and arms, at M. in the county palatine of Lancaster, feloniously did steal and take from and out of a certain other mail in describe the letter as directed, to, &c. In Dawson's case, the letter was described as "to be delivered to persons using in trade the name and firm of Messrs. B. Nott," and though they generally subscribed themselves as B. Nott, without Messrs. yet, as this word was frequently added to their address, in the direction of letters and other papers received on business, it was holden that there was no variance. East, P. C. 605. (m) The defendant was convicted and received sentence of death, but was reprieved on condition of transportation for life. (n) See last pr. note (m), and qu. whether it would not be proper to add words as descriptive of a robbery or larciny at common law. |