The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-04-30
THE RICH CASE.
Hearing in the Municipal Court on a
Charge of EmbezzIement.
Judge Could Discharges the Defend
ant.

Mr.. Charles Rich was brought before the
Municipal Court saturday afternoon, at %
o'clock, for hearing upon the warrant is
sued upon the complaint of Henry W. Race,
charging Rich with embezzlement. Assist
ant County Attorney Chase appeared for the
complainant, and Mr.. Ardon w. Coombs ap-
peared as counsel for Mr.. Rich.
Capt. Race testified that on Jan. 9TH of the
present year, he applied to Mr.. Rich, with
whom he had been acquainted for many
years, and whose business for long time
had been that of note broker, and asked
Rich to aid him in raising some money. AS
a result of the conference Mr.. Race said he
made and signed two promissory notes for
$3.50 each, payable to the order of Charles
Rich, the respondent, and the latter agreed
to endorse the notes and negotiate them for
Mr. Races benefit. Mr.. Race testified that
he called upon Mr.. Rich daily after the 14th
day of January, for the proceeds of the
notes, but was put off from time to time by
statements that the money had not yet been
procured, but that he would secure it later.
Capt. Race further testified that on the
10th day of March he took to Rich the note
of a Mr.. Montgomery, payable to the order
of, and endorsed by Race, which he left
with Rich to be negotiated. He also stated
that he repeatedly called upon Rich for the
proceeds of that note, but was put off with
similar statements and promises to those
above referred to.
Capt. Race further testified that ON the
oath day of March he again applied to Rich,
and requested him to negotiate note OF Il.
B. Knapp, payable to the order Of and en-
dorsed by Race, which Rich agreed to do on
or before the 9th day of March, and the lat
ter gave to Race receipt for that note to be
accounted for upon the date named.
Capt. Race said that he had never received
from Rich any money on account of either
of these notes, with the exception Of 500,
which he said Rich paid him on account Of
the Montgomery note, which Race applied
to some other matter which he held against
Rich, and that Rich has since admitted to
him that he had negotiated all of these
notes and mingled the proceeds with his
own funds, and used them so that he could
not now pay Race the proceeds.
Mr.. Ira p. Harrington and Mr.. John W.
Deering were called as witnesses and pro-
duced the original notes and testified that
they discounted them for Rich at or about
the time that they were respectively entered.
This closed the testimony for the State, and
thereupon Mr.. Coombs, as counsel for Rich,
moved that.the latter be discharged upon the
ground that it did not appear that the Of
Tense of embezzlement had been committed.
He argued that Mr.. Rich was not within the
class of persons who by statute are liable to
this form of prosecution, but that he merely
acted inIthis matter as broker and cited de-
cisions of the supreme court of Massachu-
setts to say that similar statute in the lat
ter State had been repeatedly construed by
that court and held not to include auc-
tioneers, commission merchants, brokers
and attorneys, neither of whom are consid-
cred clerk agent or servant within the mean
ing of the statute, aud that the transaction
was merely breach of trust for which no
criminal penalty had been provided by the
Statutes Of Maine.
Assistant County Attorney Chase claimed
that under the recent decisions of the State
of Massachusetts. Rich was clearly within
the statute, but these decisions, the court
found, were based upon statute of recent
enactment in Massachusetts, which renders
any person who fraudulently converts to his
own use the property of another which has
been delivered to him, liable to prosecution
for larceny.
Upon the facts Judge Gould found that
Race employed Rich in these transactions in
his capacity as broker, and that Rich was
in no sense clerk. agent or servant of Race
within the meaning of the statute relating to
embeZzlement, and ordered the respondent
discharged.