Court Opinion

ID: 9735610
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:25:41.207014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:00.437681
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Mr. Justice Jones:
It is asserted that the fact that Moyer’s books were in balance when he vacated his office as county treasurer destroys the plaintiff’s right to recover in this action. The fallacy of that assertion will, I believe, become apparent upon further reflection.
It is agreed all around that the county’s right to the proceeds of the Brubaker checks would be unassailable if it became a holder thereof in due course. One of the requisites of a holder in due course is that he took the instrument “for value” (Section 52 of the Negotiable Instruments Law, 56 PS §132) and, because of Moyer’s defective title to the checks (Section 55, 56 PS §135), the county had the burden of proving that it acquired the instruments as holder in due course (Section 59, 56 PS §139). Yet, the county failed to prove with specificity that it had given “value” for the checks and, consequently, failed to sustain its burden.
No one questions the fact of Moyer’s embezzlement or breach of trust. But, it is essential to the question of “value” from the county to determine just when Moyer’s extraction of county funds occurred with relation to the date of his deposit of the checks to Ms *166credit as county treasurer. Thus, if Moyer’s default as treasurer existed at the time he deposited the Brubaker checks or if he merely cashed them by exchanging them for current cash in the drawer of the treasurer’s office, the county would have given “value” for the checks, as “value” is defined by the Negotiable Instruments Law (Section 25, 56 PS §62).
If, however, Moyer was not in default when he deposited the checks, then the county did not give “value” at the time of his negotiation of them and, therefore, could not be deemed holder thereof in due course. That such could have been the actual circumstance attending Moyer’s deposit of the checks is by no means mere conjecture. And, while it would have been ridiculous for Moyer to breach his duty to Brubaker in order to make a present of the proceeds to the county, it is neither fanciful nor unrealistic to suppose that Moyer may have built up his county treasurer’s account Avith the deposit therein of the checks in order that he might thereafter extract the equivalent thereof from current county receipts.
In short, the county did not prove sufficient facts from which the jury could have inferred with reasonable certainty that “value” was given for the Brubaker checks. Since the county failed to meet its burden, the jury logically returned a verdict for the plaintiff.
I concur in the opinion for the court.
Mr. Justice Allen M. Steaene and Mr. Justice Chidsey join in this concurring opinion.