Case Name: In re STOUT
Court: Michigan Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1963-11-04
Citations: 371 Mich. 438
Docket Number: Calendar No. 99, Docket No. 50,201
Parties: In re STOUT.
Judges: Carr, C. J., and Dethmers, Kelly, and O’Hara, JJ., concurred with Smith, J.
Reporter: Michigan Reports
Volume: 371
Pages: 438–446

Head Matter:
In re STOUT.
1. Forgery — Definition—Fraud.
Forgery includes any act which fraudulently makes an instrument purport to be that which it is not.
2. Insane Persons — Felony—Forgery.
Habeas corpus petitioner for release from the State hospital for the criminally insane to which he had been sent after recorder’s court judge had found him insane held, to have been charged with a felony, where the information charged him with falsely and fraudulently indorsing upon the back of a draft the indorsement of the payee without authority and with intent to injure and defraud, hence, under statute providing for commitment of persons who appear to be insane or who are acquitted on ground of insanity when accused of any felony, the sanity proceedings were not invalid (CL 1929, § 17241, as amended by PA 1931, No 317; § 17048; CL 1948, § 761.1).
Souris, J., dissenting.
References for Points in Headnotes
23 Am Jur, Forgery §§ 2-4.
14 Am Jur, Criminal Law § 55 et seq.
25 Am Jur, Habeas Corpus § § 84, 85, 153, 159.
Habeas corpus by Clyde C. Stout to tbe Medical Superintendent of Ionia State Hospital, with ancillary writ of certiorari to the Presiding Judge of the Recorder’s Court of Detroit, to test legality of his commitment as an insane person unable to undertake his defense on charge of forgery.
Submitted March 9,1963.
(Calendar No. 99, Docket No. 50,201.)
Writ dismissed November 4, 1963.
Clyde C. Stout, in propria persona.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoshi, Solicitor General, and James R. Ramsey, Assistant Attorney General, for defendant Medical Superintendent of Ionia State Hospital.
Samuel H. Olsen, Prosecuting Attorney, Wayne County, and Samuel J. Torina, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for defendant Judges of Recorder’s Court.

Opinion:
Smith, J.
Petitioner, an inmate of Ionia State Hospital, apjieared in propria persona alleging Ms •detention to be illegal. Tbe record discloses tbat petitioner was committed to said hospital by order of tbe recorder's court on September 25, 1931. This •order of commitment was issued pursuant to tbe statute then in force providing such disposition "when a party accused of any felony shall appear to be insane." CL 1929, § 17241, as amended by PA 1931, No 317. Petitioner alleges that his detention is illegal in that at the time of commitment he was not a person accused of a felony. Based on the averment of said petition a writ of habeas corpus was issued, directed to the medical superintendent of the hospital, with ancillary writ of certiorari to recorder's court. Returns to the writs have been duly filed.
Petitioner was informed against in recorder's court for the city of Detroit on September 2, 1931, on a charge of forgery under the statute, pursuant to CL 1929, § 17048. The information charged that petitioner oil July 23, 1931, had iu his hands a certain draft for the payment of money in the amount of $43.25, made out to the Properties Holding Company, and further charged as follows: "and the said Clyde C. Stout did then and there, with intent to injure and defraud, falsely, feloniously, fraudulently indorse, write and forge upon the back of said draft or order for the payment of money the indorsement and signature of the payee thereof, viz: Properties Holding Company, by C. C. Stout, without right and authority so to do, and with intent then and there to injure and defraud."
The record reveals that subsequent to the arraignment, the trial court on September 15, 1931, appointed a sanity commission pursuant to the provisions of the aforementioned statute, CL 1929,. § 17241. The sanity commission found petitioner to be an insane person not possessing mental capacity "to undertake his defense." Thereafter, one of the judges of recorder's court found defendant (petitioner herein) to be "insane and irresponsible [sic] not a proper person to be tried at this time" on the charge pending against him, and ordered that he be removed to the State hospital at Ionia until cured or otherwise discharged.
Petitioner sets forth several grounds as a basis for his contention. However, the .only allegation meriting review is whether in fact petitioner was, at the time of the commitment, "a person accused of a felony."
Petitioner claims that because he signed his own name to the check, it was not a felony within the meaning of the statute. A reading of the statute provides adequate answer. As applied to this case, it reads substantially as follows: every person who shall falsely make a bill of exchange or indorsement with intent to injure or defraud any person shall be guilty of a felony. CL 1929, § 17048.. Forgery in- eludes "any act which fraudulently makes an instrument 'purport to be that which it is not.' " People v. Marion, 29 Mich 31, 35. Petitioner was charged in the information with falsely and fraudulently indorsing upon the back of the draft (a bill of exchange) the indorsement of the payee, without authority and with intent to injure and defraud. Upon the face of it, the act charged is a felony; therefore the sanity proceedings were not invalid.
The writ is dismissed.
Carr, C. J., and Dethmers, Kelly, and O'Hara, JJ., concurred with Smith, J.
Kavanagh, J., concurred in result.
"See. 27. When a person accused of any felony shall appear to be insane or shall have been acquitted upon trial upon the ground of insanity, the court, shall earefully inquire and ascertain the issue of insanity. If such person is found insane, the judge of said eourt shall order that he be discharged from imprisonment and that he be turned over to the sheriff for safe custody and removal to the Ionia State Hospital, to which hospital such person shall be committed to remain until restored to sanity." See, currently, CL 1948, § 767.27, as amended by PA 1961, Ho 166 (Stat Ann 1961 Cum Supp § 28.967).
"Every person who shall falsely make, alter, forge, or counterfeit any bill of exchange or indorsement _ with intent to injure or defraud any person, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison."
. A felony then was construed to mean an offense punishable by death or imprisonment in State prison. CL 1948, § 761.1 (Stat Ann 1954 Eev § 28.843).