Paesch v. State

Orth, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. ⁷⁴⁷ The only question raised on this appeal from the conviction of the appellant at a court trial in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County of grand larceny and a sentence of 5 years is whether the evidence showed the owner of the goods stolen was a body corporate as alleged in the indictment. The question was properly raised as the basis for a motion for judgment of acquittal timely made. The motion was denied by the trial court apparently for the reason that nut tiel corporation is a plea which must be specially entered. 1 The appellant, however, was not arguing that the alleged corporation did not exist but that the burden was on the State to show that “Hochschild Kohn & Co.” was a body corporate as set forth in the indictment and that this burden had not been met. We agree. “It is fundamental * * * that in a prosecution for larceny one of the essential elements to be proved is the ownership of the stolen property; and, when ownership is claimed to be in a corporation, the claim must be supported by evidence.” Richardson v. State, 221 Md. 85, 88 .

The rationale of the rule is that an “* * * accused is entitled to be informed of the exact accusation against him and to have the proof substantiate that accusation beyond reasonable doubt.” Sippio v. State, 227 Md. 449, 551, citing State v. King, 95 Md. 125 . The Court of Appeals said in Richardson , at page 89: “Of course, the most satisfactory proof of corporate entity is the production of the articles of incorporation of a company, duly and properly authenticated, coupled with additional proof that the company is engaged in conducting business under its corporate name. But in a criminal prosecution, it is generally held that such formal proof is not required. * * * It has frequently been held that in certain types of cases, corporate existence may be proved orally and by general reputation.” ⁷⁴⁸ So in Richardson testimony of a witness that he was the terminal manager for “Horn’s Motor Express, Inc.” coupled with testimony referring to the organization as “Horn’s Motor Express Company” and the absence of the slightest intimation during the entire trial that the company was not a corporation permitted and justified the inference that it was incorporated. In Byrd v. State, 229 Md. 148 , a witness was asked by the State if he was employed by “City Chevrolet Corporation” and replied that he was.

Although no other testimony identified the Chevrolet agency as a corporation, the proof was deemed sufficient. This Court applied the rule in Stackhouse v. State, 1 Md. App. 399 , holding that testimony of a witness that he was employed by “Bethlehem Steel Corporation” and that checks in evidence showed the maker to be “Bethlehem