Nelson v. United States

227 F.2d 21 (1955)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Nelson (D) purchases merchandise from Potomac Distributors for resale. D's account had become delinquent, but D needed two more television sets and a washing machine. Potomac refused to deliver the units unless his account was made current. D then represented himself as the owner of a Packard car worth $4000 but failed to disclose that he had a prior debt on the car of $3,028.08 secured by a chattel mortgage in favor of City Bank. D told Potomac that he only owed $55 more dollars on that note. Potomac relied upon D's statement and delivered him two television sets worth $136 each in return for a demand note for the entire indebtedness ($2,047.37) secured by a chattel mortgage on the car. D promised to make a cash payment on the note within a few days. D defaulted, and the car was in a wreck and repossessed by the bank. D was discovered to have left town. D was found and brought to trial and convicted of obtaining goods by false pretenses. D did not deny any of the facts but contends that there had been no misrepresentation of a material fact and no evidence that Potomac Distributors was defrauded. D appealed.