JOHN S. DUNHAM
v.
STATE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
John Dunham was charged with embezzlement under Florida's bailee embezzlement statute for allegedly converting money entrusted to him by J.A. Guyton for stock market investment. The Florida Supreme Court reversed his conviction, holding that the statute applies only to persons engaged in bailee-type relationships, and that Dunham's arrangement with Guyton constituted a joint business venture, not a bailment.
The court held that the statute's reference to "any other person" must be construed under the doctrine of ejusdem generis to apply only to persons engaged in bailee-type relationships, and that the agreement between Dunham and Guyton was a joint business adventure, not a bailment, and therefore did not fall within the statute's scope.
“the broader term "any other person" was meant to refer to one following a like pursuit”
The court's holding on the proper interpretation of the statute's catchall clause using the ejusdem generis doctrine.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDunham was entrusted with money by J.A. Guyton to be invested in the stock market, with net profits to be divided equally. The State charged that Dunh…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Joint Adventure cases and more on FLexlaw
The trial court consolidated two cases pending against the plaintiff in error in the Criminal Court of Record for Dade County and he was tried on the first counts of both informations pursuant to the State’s election to proceed in that manner.
They appear identical, except for dates and amounts, and, in effect, charge that the accused was entrusted with money by one J. A. Guyton which was to be used for the sole pur*756pose of investing and trading in the stock market, the net profits to be divided equally between them. It was alleged that, despite this trust agreement, the defendant fraudulently and without knowledge or consent on the part of Guyton, converted the money to his own use.
Chapter 7244 C. G. L. 1927 was relied upon by the State as authority for the prosecution. It is titled: “Embezzlement by.bailee, common carrier and hirer,” and the portions of it material to the information in this case are:
“If any factor, commission merchant, warehouse keeper, wharfinger, wagoner, stage driver, or other common carrier * * * or any other person with whom any property which may be the subject of larceny is entrusted or deposited by another, shall * * * fraudulently convert the same, * * * to his own use, * * * without the consent of the owner or bailor and to his injury, and without paying to him on demand the full value or market price thereof * * * he shall be punished as if he had been convicted of larceny.”
In this appeal the sufficiency of (1) the informations, and (2) the evidence which convinced the jury of the guilt of the defendant, is challenged.
It is evident that it was not intended to charge that the defendant was, in the transaction described in the information, engaged as a factor, commission merchant or in any other of the particular businesses designated in the Act, but that the State depended on the clause “or any other person with whom any property which may be the subject of larceny is entrusted or deposited by another” as including embezzlement by any person regardless of the similarity of his occupation to the ones enumerated under the caption “bailee, common carrier and hirer.”
The plaintiff in error insists that the doctrine “noscitur á sociis or ejusdem generis” has been invoked with reference *757to this statute, and that the plain expressions in the formal charge show that his position in the transaction detailed did not resemble that of any kind of bailee.
There can be no doubt that the occupations specified are those which are governed by the law of bailments and, we believe, that the broader term “any other person” was meant to refer to one following a like pursuit.
We have examined our former opinions, appearing in Fitch v. State, 135 Fla. 361, 15 South. Rep. 435; and Brock v. State, 105 Fla. 579, 141 South. Rep. 883, and do not find in them any statement which conflicts with this view. In the former the Court, speaking through Mr. Justice Brown, merely observed that the title and content of Section 7244, supra, was intended to “extend the embezzlement statute to cover bailees” and in the latter Mr. Justice Buford was dealing with the last clause of the Act as distinguished from the ones preceding it.
In Townsend v. State, 63 Fla. 46, 57 South. Rep. 611, we find this expression:
“This third count seems to be based partly on Section 3308 of the General Statutes in that it charges the gold certificate to have been entrusted to the defendant by Martin Mayo, and partly on Section 3309, Id., in that it charges that she secreted the property entrusted to her. These two sections, it seems to us, are intended to embrace different kinds of bailees. The first embraces (sic.) factors, commission merchants, warehouse keepers, wharfingers, wagoners, stage drivers, or other common carrier on land or water, or any other person with whom any property which may be the subject of larceny is entrusted or deposited by another. The doctrine of noscitur a sociis or ejusdem generis applies to the last clause and must be understood as referring to bailees for hire, not embraced in the enumeration of such-bailees first set forth.” 63 Fla., text 48.
*758The doctrine was defined in Ex Parte Amos, 93 Fla. 5, 112 South. Rep. 289:
“ ‘ * * * where an author makes use first of terms each evidently confined and limited to a particular class of a known species of things and then after such specific enumeration subjoins a term of very extensive signification, this term, however general and comprehensive in its possible import, yet when thus used, embraces only things ejusdem generis, that is of the same kind of species with those comprehended by the preceding limited and confined terms,’ ” • — and the opinion continued:
“The maxim is a mere specific application of the broader maxim ‘noscitur (sic.) a sociis/ which means that general and specific words which are capable of an analogous meaning being associated together take color from each other so that the general words are restricted to a sense analogous to the less general.” 93 Fla., text 15.
Concluding that the words “or any other person” relate to another person engaged in a similar enterprise, we pass to a more thorough examination of the first counts of the informations to decide whether their allegations establish the relationship of bailor and bailee between Guyton and the accused.
The “entrustment of property” was a delivery of money by one to the other with the understanding that it would be invested by him in the stock market and that the net profits would be partitioned equally. Such an arrangement bears few of the earmarks of a bailment. It was a joint adventure in a business with its attendant risk. One party to the agreement furnished the money, the other the services, and each was to participate in the profits. We have examined the definitions of bailment appearing in many of the authorities cited and fail to find them appropriate.
*759In Corpus Juris Secundum, bailment is defined: “ * * * as a delivery of personalty for some particular purpose, or on mere deposit, upon a contract, express or implied, that after the purpose has been fulfilled it shall be redelivered to the person who delivered it, or otherwise dealt with according to his directions, or kept until he reclaims it, as the case may be.” 8 C. J. S., Sec. 1, p. 222.
It is true that some of the characteristics of such a venture may be found in the relationship of bailor and bailee, but considering the agreement in its entirety there were not present all of the elements which were essential to bring the defendant within the scope of the statute denouncing conversion or embezzlement by a bailee.
The testimony in at least two particulars showed a situation inconsistent even with that charged in the information. It was developed that, although funds were advanced in the manner alleged, the defendant gave interest-bearing notes for them and made Guyton beneficiary of a life insurance policy to secure his investment.
No real purpose would be served in elaborating on the law of bailments. We believe it is obvious that no such association was charged or proved and in the absence of such a relationship defendant could not be convicted of crime under the statute to which the State resorted.
The judgment is reversed.
Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur.
Brown, J., concurs in opinion and judgment.
Justices Wi-iitfield and Chapman not participating as authorized by Section 4687, Compiled General Laws of 1927, and Rule 21-A of the Rules of this Court.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (16 total)
-
Perkins v. State, 576 So. 2d 1310 (Fla. 1991)…e kind, class, or nature.” Black’s Law Dictionary 517 (6th ed.1990). The phrase refers to the doctrine that a general term preceded by a list of specific terms will be construed to be limited to the same class described in the list. Dunham v. State, 140 Fla. 754, 192 So. 324 (1939). . Illuminating this logic at oral argument, the state contended that a crime “involves” violence if violence is a "foreseeable” result.…
-
Carmelos Soverino v. State, 356 So. 2d 269 (Fla. 1978)…al words will be construed as applicable only to persons of the same general nature or class as those enumerated, unless an intention to the contrary is clearly shown. See Arnold v. Shumpert, 217 So. 2d 116 (Fla.1968); Dunham v. State, 140 Fla. 754, 192 So. 324 (1939); Children’s Bootery v. Sutker, 91 Fla. 60, 107 So. 345 (1926). This rule of statutory construction is based on the principle that if the legislature had intended the general words to be used in their unrestricted sense, they would not have ma…
-
Mann v. Thompson, 100 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 1st DCA 1958)…Co. v. Lincoln, 94 Fla. 1097, 115 So. 498. . Ocala Cooperage Co. v. Florida Cooperage Co., 59 Fla. 390, 52 So. 13. . See: Carolina Lumber Co. v. Daniel, Fla.App.1957, 97 So. 2d 156. . See: Black, Law Dictionary (4th ed. 1951). . Dunham v. State, 140 Fla. 754, 192 So. 324, 325; Noble v. Kisker, 134 Fla. 233, 183 So. 836. . See: Clark v. Clark, Fla.1955, 79 So. 2d 426; Canal Lumber Co. v. Florida Naval Stores & Mfg. Co., 83 Fla. 501, 92 So. 279.…
Previewing 3 of 16 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Ex Parte: Ernest Amos, 93 Fla. 5 (Fla. 1927)
- Ira Fitch v. State, 135 Fla. 361 (Fla. 1938)
- Townsend v. State, 63 Fla. 46 (Fla. 1912)
- Brock v. State, 105 Fla. 579 (Fla. 1932)