Opinion
December 19, 1950.
Appeal from the Criminal Court of Record for Duval County, Edwin L. Jones, J.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., Phillip Goldman, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Wayne E. Ripley, County Solicitor, Jacksonville, for appellant.
John W. Muskoff and Frank T. Cannon, Jacksonville, for appellees.
The State of Florida, as authorized by Section 924.07, F.S.A., challenges on this appeal the order of the Criminal Court of Record of Duval County, Florida, which quashed counts one and two of an information drafted under the provisions of Section 832.01, F.S.A. H.J. Pound is charged in count one with the offense of issuing a worthless check and Phillip Adeeb is charged with the same offense in count two of the information.
Pertinent allegations of count one against Pound are, viz.:
"In the Name and by Authority of the State of Florida, Wayne E. Ripley, County Solicitor for the County of Duval, prosecuting for the State of Florida in the said County under oath, information makes that H.J. Pound of the County of Duval and State of Florida, on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine in the County and State aforesaid, with intent to defraud, one Phillip Adeeb, did then and there make and deliver a check of tenor and effect as follows:
"H.J. POUND Real Estate — Contracting No. 11630 63-544/630 570 Nixon St. Phones: Office 7-8554 Residence 9-0895 Field Office 8-1733 Jacksonville, Florida 11/15/1949 PAY TO THE ORDER OF Phillip Adeeb $400.00/100 Countersigned: Four Hundred No/100 .......................... DOLLARS M.L. Pound /s/ AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK H.J. POUND of Jacksonville JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA H.J. Pound /s/ and endorsed on the back: Phillip Adeeb I. Gartner and with intent then and there to secure money and other things of value therefor and who knowingly did not have an arrangement, understanding or funds with such bank to pay the same, contrary to the provisions of Chapter 832.01, Florida Statutes of 1941 [F.S.A.]."Pertinent allegations of count two against Phillip Adeeb are, viz.:
"And for a second count of this information, your informant aforesaid under oath, further information makes that Phillip Adeeb of the County of Duval and the State of Florida on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine in the County and State aforesaid with intent to defraud, one I. Gartner, did then and there utter a check of H.J. Pound of tenor and effect as follows:
"H.J. POUND Real Estate — Contracting 570 Nixon Street No. 11630 63-544/630 Phones: Office 7-8554 — Residence 9-0895 Field Office 8-1733 Jacksonville, Florida 11/15 1949 Pay to the Order of Phillip Adeeb $400.00/100 Countersigned: Four Hundred No/100 .......................... DOLLARS M.L. Pound /s/ AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK H.J. POUND Of Jacksonville Jacksonville, Florida H.J. POUND /s/ and endorsed on the back: Phillip Adeeb I Gartnerand who then and there secured money and other thing of value therefor and who knowingly did not have an arrangement, understanding or funds with such bank to pay the same, contrary to the provisions of Chapter 832.01, Florida Statutes of 1941 [F.S.A.]."
Section 832.01, F.S.A., is, viz.:
"832.01 Making, issuing, uttering, etc., worthless checks, drafts, etc.
"Any person who, with intent to defraud, shall make, utter, draw, deliver or give any check, draft or written order upon any bank, person or corporation, and who secures money, property, or other thing of value therefor, and who knowingly shall not have an arrangement, understanding or funds with such bank, person or corporation, sufficient to meet or pay the same, shall be guilty of a felony, if such check, draft or written order shall be for the sum of fifty dollars or more, and shall on conviction thereof be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not greater than one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars; and if such check, draft or written order be for less than fifty dollars, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months."
The grounds of Adeeb's motion to quash are: (1) the allegations of each count are inconsistent; (2) one count charges that Adeeb defrauded Pound and then alleged that Adeeb defrauded a third person; (3) the count is ambiguous and inconsistent; (4) the endorsement of a worthless check is not a crime under the provisions of Section 832.01, F.S.A.; (5) the endorser of a worthless check is not required to have funds in the bank or an arrangement with the bank for its payment; (6) the count fails to charge a criminal offense under the statutes of Florida.
The grounds of Pound's motion to quash are: (1) the count is vague, indistinct, and indefinite; (2) it exposes Pound after conviction to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense; (3) it should allege that Pound attempted to utter a worthless check or that he actually uttered a worthless check.
The giving or uttering of a worthless check is made a crime under Section 832.01, F.S.A. We have held that if an information substantially follows the language of the statute charging the offense, then it is legally sufficient. Pinkney v. State, 160 Fla. 884, 37 So.2d 157. It should be clear and sufficient to advise the accused of the nature and cause of the accusation. The time, place and copy of the alleged worthless check are set out in counts one and two, supra. It is difficult to understand how either of the defendants will be misled or embarrassed in defending themselves against the accusations so clearly and accurately set out in counts one and two. It is our conclusion that the trial court erred in holding that counts one and two of the information challenged here were fatally defective.
Reversed.
ADAMS, C.J., and SEBRING and HOBSON, JJ., concur.