{
  "id": 8681993,
  "name": "STATE v. DECATUR BRYANT",
  "name_abbreviation": "State v. Bryant",
  "decision_date": "1876-01",
  "docket_number": "",
  "first_page": "124",
  "last_page": "130",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "74 N.C. 124"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C.",
    "id": 9292,
    "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "17 Ill. Rep. 339",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ill.",
      "case_ids": [
        2590929
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/ill/17/0339-01"
      ]
    }
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:08:39.099656+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "STATE v. DECATUR BRYANT."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Reads J.\nLarceny is so subtle that it is difficult to say ; it is this, and nothing else ; or this is it, and nothing else. It is liable to be confounded with fraud and trespass.\nIf A boiTOW a horse from B with the felonious intent to deprive B of it, and to appropriate it to his own use, and does .so, A is guilty of larceny. But if A borrow of B twenty \u2022dollars with the same intent, it is not larceny, but it is fraud\nThis distinction is settled by the authorities. It is satisfactorily treated in Welsh v. People, 17 Ill. Rep. 339, and the \u2022cases there cited.\nThe reason for the distinction is, that in lending the horse, the owner expected the return of the same horse and did not part with the title / the property remained iu him. And therefore, when the borrower, subsequently, feloniously converted the horse, it related back, and was a theft from the beginning. But when B loaned the money he parted with the title, and \u2022did not expect the return of the same money, (unless loaned with that express understanding) but made it a debt, which the borrower might pay with any other money. And therefore, this was fraud and not larceny. That distinction is the de-fence relied on in this case..\nIt is insisted that the prosecutor loaned the defendant the twenty dollar bill, and thereby voluntan y j art,ed with the posxe-'tsiwt expecting it to be returned in kind; bnt with the title, and that the defendant having by contract acquired .the title to the bill, as well as the possession, did not by what subsequently passed, steal, take and carry away the \u00bftr-jpei ty of the protii-eiUor.\nIt must be conceded that if the prosecutor loaned the defendant the bill, then the defendant is not guilty of lm ceny, of whatever else he may be guilty. But put the most, liberal construction upon the wliol\u00e9 transaction for the defendant, and there is not a single feature in it that looks like a contract, nor a particle of testimony that tends to show it, and but for the fact that juries are. very safe judges of such matters, it would seem to be trifling with the administration of justice to have left the question to the jury. His Honor might very well have told the jury that there was no evidence of any contract of lending.\nThe prosecutor was a feeble, nervous old man, going home from market in his wagon with a considerable amount of money. It is natural that that fact should have made him timid. The-defendant, a colored man, overtakes him, and is permitted to get into his wagon and ride, pulls out cards and proposes to gamble, which the old man refused to do. That was calculated to alarm him. They get to a thicket, when another colored man, Aiken, comes up and asks the old man for tobacco, which he refuses to give him. The defendant addresses Aiken as \u201c stranger,\u201d and proposes to gamble with him, and they do gamble. Defendant then says, \u201c stranger, I will bet you this old man in the wagon can draw the prize card.\u201d And he proposes for the old man to bet., which he refuses to do. The defendant then says to the old man, \u201c you must lend me twenty dollars and draw for me.\u201d The old man takes out bis pocket book, but does not show his money. The defendant put his arms around him and draws, him around to the other side of the wagon. At this time a third man, white, comes up and defendant says, \u201c Hallo, stranger, I want you to hold stakes.\u201d He then takes hold of the old man\u2019s pocket book, which the old man holds on to, unrolls the money, the old man feels some of it go out of his, hands ; he does not know how much; (it turns out to be five twenty dollar bills;) the defendant hands one twenty dollar bill to the third man to hold ; tells the old man to draw a card for him, which he does ; defendant pretends to have lost the bet; directs the stake holder to hand over the money to Aiken, and they all three make off together and leave the old man in the road. The old man was examined as a witness and swore that lie did not lend the money, but he did not resist the taking.\nThat was the' transaction-; those were the facts. Now-when the facts are ascertained, whether they amount to a contract is usually a question for the court. And yet in the greatest liberality to the defendant, it was left to the jury to-say whether the old man did not voluntarily tend his money to those three highwaymen, all of whom were strangers, who had stopped him on the highway in a thicket, and by unmistakable conduct showed that they meant to have his money. When he refused to bet or play, and the defendant said to him, \u201c Well, if you won\u2019t bet you must lend me the money,\u201d if he had handed him the money it could not be tortured into a \u25a0\u2022oluntary loan. But he did not do that. He took out hia pocket book, but held on to it, showing- Ms unwillingness to part with it as long as it was safe to keep it. But the defendant took him in his arms and carried him to the other side of the wagon, (showing how completely the old man was at his mercy,) took hold of the pocket book and took out the money the old man feeling it pass out of his hand. And because the old man did not resist him, putting his life in peril, it is left, to the jury to say whether it was not a voluntary loan. And that too, when the nncontradicted testimony of the old man is, that it was not a loan but a taking. It is not pretended. that there was any conflicting testimony to be reconciled; but it is insisted that from the undisputed facts a loan is implied by the law or might be found by the jury. But we are of the opinion that the undisputed facts make a plain case of larceny.\nThere is no error. This will be certified.\nPer CuRiam. Judgment affirmed.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Reads J."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Joins db Johnston, for the prisoner.",
      "Attorney General Hargcovt, for the State."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "STATE v. DECATUR BRYANT.\nIf A Borrow of B a liorse, with the felonious intent to deprive B of it, and to appropriate it to his own use, and does so, lie is guilty of larceny. If A borrow of B twenty dollars with the same intent, it is not larceny, but fraud. But where, upon an indictment for the larceny of money, the defence rilled upon was, that the prosecutor had voluntarily loaned the money to the defendant, and the transaction alleged to be a loan was left to the jury under the charge of the court: \u201cthat if the jury found that the borrowing was in good faith, and the money was voluntarily loaned, they should acquit the prisoner; but if the act of the defendant was but a trick or contrivance to get possession of the prosecutor's money, and the defendant borrowed the same with the intent at the time to steal it. it would be larceny, \u201d and the jury returned a verdict of guilty: Held, that there was no error.\nINDICTMENT for LARcent, tried before Ffiftenek, J.. and a jury at Fall Term, 1875, of Mecklenburg Superior Court.\nThe evidence in the case was substantially as follows :\nOne John M. Rankin, the prosecutor, came from the county \u25a0of Lincoln to the city of Charlotte, and sold his cotton, for which he received two hundred dollars in legal tender notes of the United States. One hundred and eighty dollars of this amount, consisting of nine twenty dollar bills lie rolled up in \u25a0a close package and put in his pocket book. He started home about twelve o\u2019clock, in his wagon, and the defendant, a colored man, overtook him about a half mile from town, and upon his representation that he was just from Monroe, was tired, and had to be at Yates\u2019 Factory that night, which was \u25a0about eighteen miles off, he was permitted to ride. The defendant soon presented some cards, and endeavored to get the prosecutor, -who was a feeble old man, and very nervous, to bet on the cards, and draw one, which he refused to do. The wagon then came to the edge of a thicket, when one Aiken, another colored man, and a co-defendant in this indictment came up and addressing tlie prosecutor, asked him for some tobacco, which the prosecutor refused to give him.\nBryant then said to Aiken, \u201c Stranger, won\u2019t you draw a card ?\u201d Aiken then drew twice, but did not draw the prize card. Bryant then said, \u201cStranger, I\u2019ll bet you this old man in the wagon, can draw the prize card,\u201d and desired the prosecutor to bet, which lie refused to do. Bryant then said he would bet, and the prosecutor must lend him twenty dollars and draw for him. The prosecutor then took out his pocket book and the defendant then put his arms around him and drew him around to the other side of the wagon, from where, the prosecutor\u2019s son and Aiken were. At this time, Segrave,. a white man, and also a defendant, came up on the other side of the wagon, and Bryant, addressing him said, \u201c Hello I stranger, I want you to hold stakes.\u201d Then turning to the prosecutor, he said, \u201c Old gentleman, you are very feeble, I will help you,\u201d and slipped one of his hands under the pocket book and unrolled the money, a part of which the prosecutor felt go out of his hand. When Bryant got the money lie gave one twenty dollar bill to Segrave, to hold, and asked the prosecutor to draw a card for him, which the prosecutor did. Bryant then said, that was not the right card, and Segrave gave Aiken the money. Segrave, Aiken and Bryant then made off. There-wore five twenty dollar bills taken, instead of one twenty dollar bill. The prosecutor did not discover this until the next day. The prosecutor swore that he never consented to lend the twenty dollar bill to Bryant, but that he did not resist his taking it. It was in evidence that Aiken and Bryant fled to Eock Hill, S. C., and were arrested and brought back to Charlotte. It was also in evidence that Bryant, Aiken and Segrave lived in Charlotte and knew each other. That Bryant and Segrave lived in one hundiod and fifty yards of each other, and that Aiken lived very near to Segrave, in that part of the city known as \u201c Five Points.\u201d That on the morning of the day on which the occurrence took place, all the defendants were seen lying down together, near a spring, about three hundred yards from where the alleged larceny was committed. That the defendants Bryant and Aiken were seen passing backwards and forwards on the road that morning, and that Aiken and Segrave had been seen together, often on the road.\nThe defendants\u2019s counsel asked the court to charge the jury;\n1. That if the jury believed that the prosecutor, Rankin, loaned the twenty dollars to Bryant, to put up as stakes in the bet with Aiken, this would not be larceny.\n2. If the prosecutor permitted Bryant to take the money without objection ; that this amounted to consent on the part of the prosecutor, that, he could take the money.\nThe court, after summing up the testimony and defining -what larceny was, and what constituted a felonious intent, to which there was no objection, stated that larceny might be committed by taking property directly from another\u2019s possession, or if one gets possession of another\u2019s goods by trick or \u25a0contrivance, and if the act be done in such a way as to show a felonious intent to evade the law, he would be guilty of lar\u2022ceny. That it was true, if one voluntarily lends money to another, or permits him, knowingly, to take it without objection, it would not be larceny. If the borrowing was in good faith, and if you believe this money was so borrowed, the defendant would not be guilty. But if the getting on the wagon, exhibition of the cards, meeting of the parties, and the other acts of the defend ants was a trick or contrivance between the parties, to get possession of the prosecutor\u2019s money, and Bryant borrowed the money in this way, with the intent at the time to steal it, it wouid be larceny; and if the other defendants were present aiding and abetting, they are guilty.\nThe court also used the following language : \u201c This is not an ordinary case of larceny, with which the defendants are \u25a0charged. The State alleges that it was committed by a trick -or contrivance.\u201d The court further instructed the jury, that it was the duty of the State fully to satisfy their minds of the allegations contained in the bill of indictment, before they \u2022could convict.\nThe jury rendered a verdict of guilty as to all of the defendants. 'Whereupon the defendant, Bryant, moved for a new trial, on the ground that the court erred in refusing the special iustruetion prayed for, and on the further ground that the \u25a0court, in its charge to the jury, intimated an opinion that a larceny liad been committed.\nThe motion was overruled. Judgment and appeal.\nJoins db Johnston, for the prisoner.\nAttorney General Hargcovt, for the State."
  },
  "file_name": "0124-01",
  "first_page_order": 134,
  "last_page_order": 140
}