Court Opinion

ID: 9716165
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:29:27.664384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:42.503078
License: Public Domain

Webber, J.
On exceptions. A demurrer to an indictment was overruled by the justice below. The indictment, intended to charge the crime of cheating by false pretenses (omitting the formal portions thereof), employs the following language:
“(The respondent) did falsely pretend to one, Lucien M. Bourque, that he, the said Raoul J. Binette, the duly elected and qualified City Clerk of the City of Biddeford, Maine, for the year 1960, had, through the color of his office, been one of the persons who had worked very hard to get the new Biddeford High School project started, and that he would like to have something to compensate him for the work that he and others had done for *232him with reference to the school project, in his said capacity, as aforesaid, and that he should have and receive moneys as a donation for the Democratic Party; whereas, in truth and in fact, the said Raoul J. Binette, in his said capacity as City Clerk of the City of Biddeford, Maine, by virtue of his office or otherwise, did not, in any respect, do anything to aid or assist the said Lucien M. Bourque with reference to the school project, nor did he perform any services with reference to any of the Committees in charge of building the new High School to entitle him to be compensated for the work that he and others had done for him, the said Lucien M. Bourque, to obtain any work for site preparation in preparing the ground for the new Biddeford High School, all of which the said Raoul J. Binette, then and there, well knew; * * * (Emphasis ours.)
There follow the requisite allegations of belief and reliance by the complainant and his subsequent payment of money. Only the sufficiency of the above-quoted portion of the indictment is in issue here.
We are satisfied that the indictment fails to charge the crime of cheating by false pretenses. Since the ordinary affairs of business involve so many instances of difference of opinion, or the understandable over-appraisal of the value of one’s own efforts or the desirability of one’s own product, our court has wisely imposed rather strict requirements as to both pleading and proof whenever false pretenses are charged. To do otherwise might open a veritable Pandora’s box of both civil and criminal cases which, though devoid of merit, would clutter the dockets of our several courts. One who prosecutes a meritorious claim of cheating by false pretenses experiences no great difficulty in setting forth understandably and with reasonable precision the false pretenses of fact relied upon and the negation thereof.
*233The indictment here fails to meet the test. In the first place we are dealing with the solicitation of political contributions, an activity not infrequently accompanied by some form of political puffing. We are not convinced that the vague and indefinite inducements to make such a contribution in the instant case were capable of deceiving or defrauding anyone. It is apparent that the first portion of the recital of alleged false pretenses charging that the respondent “had, through the color of his office, been one of the persons who had worked very hard to get the new Biddeford High School project started” is nowhere negated. This leaves only that portion which relates to “the work that he and others had done for him with reference to the school project.” (Emphasis supplied.) This language partakes more of innuendo than direct allegation, but in any event too many questions remain unanswered. What was meant by “work” as used in this context? Is the “work” referred to the same “work” previously described as being involved in getting the project started? If so, there is no denial that some such “work” was done. In the opinion of the speaker, efforts to get the project started initially might ultimately have accrued to the benefit of the complainant since he did obtain a contract. The word “work” itself in this context, otherwise undefined, is more an expression of opinion than of fact. Conceivably one situated as was the respondent might consider even the most trifling effort to speak a good word for the complainant as political “work” as that word is frequently used in political circles. It is important to note that the pretense alleged is that the “work” had been done by the respondent “and others.” For aught that appears it may have been what these “others” did that induced the complainant to make a political contribution. It is nowhere denied that “others” did “work” for the complainant with reference to the school project. We cannot over-emphasize the necessity of requiring a precise and unambiguous recital of facts *234falsely pretended to be true and an equally precise negation of the truth of those facts. The law may reasonably require that persons making party contributions in lively anticipation of future favors recognize and disregard all forms of political puffing.
The entry will be

Exceptions sustained.