The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-07-31
LAMBERT AND CASE.
Their Conviction Affirmed by the
Supreme Court.
POINTS OF THE DECISION.
s'OfiiceH of Insurance Institutions Must BE
Held 10 Fair Dealing"


i've presidents OF the Security ard American Popular
Lie Insurance companies, every possible quirk
,f the law that lawyers skilled In legal
i,rategy could think of was invoked to
iavo these the disgrace OF paying tho
penalty of their crimes in State Prison. Applications
ior stay OF proceedings and motions and counter mo-
lions rapidly succeeded each other Till finally their
cases reached the Supreme Court G General Term, held
BY Judges Donohue ingalls, and Lawrence. The lat
Ter tribunal rendered lis decision yesterday in both
,ascs Affirming the judgments in the oyer and Ter
miner.
THE CASE OF CASE
Mr. Case the president OF the Security Lille In
surance and Annuity Company, convicted on the
18th OF November last The Indictment charged him
with perjury. in having with Isaac H. Alien, the com
pany's secretary, prepared and sworn false state
msnt deposit with the insurance superintendent,
purporting to exhibit among other things tho assets
company the close OF the year 1875 and the
manner In which they invested. The statement
showed a surplus In favor OF the company OF nearly
SIS, QUO, 900. In November, 1876 upon examination
By tho Insurance Department. the company was
found to be insovent to the extent oil S2,O0O,000,
and the examination showed it 10 have
been hopslossly insovent when the statement
filed. In the affidavit appended to the statement
Case Allan testified that ''a the above described
assets the absolute property of the company,
above stated and that the foregoing statement with
The schedules explanations horeunio annexed and
by them subscribed full and correct exhibit OF
all the liabilities and Of the income and disburse-
mens and OF the general condition and Affairs OF the
said company on the said 31st day of December last
and for the year ending that day. according TO the
best OF their Information, knowledge anu oeiioi re-
Judge Ingalls,, who gives the opinion Of the Court
In this case examines at len 9Th all points made
the Indictment was insufficient to sustain inc
conviction because it did not charge items
upon which the perjury assigned to be
false within the knowledge, Information ana
That the who'll. an cav was qualified by the words ut
Its close. Judge ingalls, comes to the conclusion tha
the qualifying words do not apply 10 the , wno,e
qualification down 10 and including the words sex
cept as above stated" at which point is inserted a
MATTERS WITHIN Personal KNOWLEDGE.
An examination OF the affidavit Judge ingalls, says,
garded likely to be within the personal
knowledge OF the aflant precede the semicolon and
from an examination OF tho books and nc
accuracy upon The fidelity Of such employees In re-
gard such matters we might expect u qualined
placement from the president oftho company.
We therefore conclude fairly dedncble
from the entire affidavit and the subject 20 which u re-
ss S ns en-
Jury assigned To have been made without qualification
properly hled with the superintendent Of The lnsur
Rncs Department instead OF with the Comptroller
The next objection that the Indictment was detective
IN emitting time ana place and IN not char2-
ing that the oath was admin stered IN due form of
law, Is held TO be one aimed at the form OF me ndlc
ment rather than Its substance ana should therefore
have been taken py demurrer before c2ny ,.
,---~.. ,isnis IN the statement were the ioiow
Ing
Cost value real estate exclusive of all membranes
A. sce sHs' on@a sss iof
COMPANY. office. ss2sis II; cash deposited in bank
Tho Indictment charged these items be false, and
Mr. Case's upon the trial claimed that he only
wore to the account as WIN the books
Judge Ingalls, says
In our Judgment the only reasonable inerense which
assumed the responsibility OF presenting under oath the
said III regard to such aeets as he personally
sdssT OF III con M @ ny Snef
saosantis reqnrsnents OF tue statutes py 9sns sneh
possibly be manipulaea tor the OF exhibiting
parteu ar and desired result me purpose OF hns such
eal condition oil such and hence necessity THAI
be defeated
As to whether the oath was actually admin istercd
by tho notary ONO B Maciay, upon which there
was sharp conflict in tho evidence. the Court holds
that the determination Of tho jury must be regarded
as conclusive Upon the question whether new
evidence the Court holds tue Wow taken by tue
Oyer Tcrminer DO clearly correct, the ALL
aavit discloses no ne iact nut suggested additional
witnesses support OF the fact proved the ,rial
In conclusion Judge ingalls, gays
Alter careful animation OF the conclude that
S Plaintiff in error 1as s ss . sSs s
attend this conviction to person advanced IN
Annuity IN Ssieh
% Gentlemen 81 ana prGS .ssss
eannot overscs another consideration that The very
IN favor Of the accused had tho community with
The which he grevousy violated thereby
dhcing the rights Of those VINO in.ru,tsd their prop
grty to
Trial showed that he had been utterly iaS!ten,ive
to the business OF tine and his gnor
OF its affairs in Of his innoeense #
sponsipiIties of such potoss viii recognize tne duty
which they O. those whose property is ntr sied 70
and fidelity. We conclude that the conviction must be
CASE OF DR. LAMBERT
Judge Donohue gves the opinion In the case OF
Thomas s. Lambert the convicted president OF the
American Popular Lille Insurance. company. I he
offence, as IN the other case, consisted IN swearing
10 u false statement OF the assets OF the company
furnished to tho Insurance Department Judge
Donohue says the matu allegation OF errors Ia
considered the review In tho case OF Mr.. Case. IL
was only necessary TO say That full examination OF
Inc evidence satisfied tho court that the statements
alleged TO be false clearly and that defendant
must have known II when the affidavit was made. IL
was very diflcuit TO prove negative but IN this
was abundant to Justify the jury the
conclusion which they had arrived. the
sworn account stated as due for premiumsswas an
effort 70 put In assets premiums on policies not
really IN existence The alleged cash on hand
tsO,4t3 Is, was, with Tue cAccptloH VI phft,
wholly absent, and the secured indebtedness,
So6,576 So, was SIMPLY the making OF an item not
really existing to swell the supposed assets The
main additional point raised that the notary be-
foro whom the taken non resident Of
this state and The oath wac, therefore. Invalid.
A STARTLING PROPOSITION.
s.The proposition" says Juago Donohuc "s
startling one, aud II correct would leave all persons
VINO are compelled to rely services OF officials ia
position that do think the law intended 10 put
iheu II the view Of tho deendant 90 correc, pre-
gage other paper, or any DINER 81 the
numerous on such 70 aries, would no
valid II the parties who performed the
act was a non. resident Judge DOnohuc holds that
tho question residence only ono Tor tho Gov
ernor's consideration In the appointment aud re-
moval Of and That the acts OF such de tdco
officers are3raid. Various other testimonial points
arc posed upon. and Judge Donohue holds that the
evidence was abundant to sustain the vcrdic. 'rne