People v. Scott

The defendant, Earl John Scott, Jr., was convicted by a jury of larceny by conversion (MCLA 750.362; MSA 28.594) and now appeals.

At the time of trial, the defendant and the complaining witness, Erwin Petzel, Jr., had been friends for about ten years and had lived, worked and socialized together on numerous occasions. Sally Petzel, Erwin Petzel’s wife, had known the defendant since childhood. The subject matter of the alleged conversion was a 1971 Honda motorcycle owned by Mr. Petzel.

Before the Petzels moved to Florida, the defendant entered into a verbal option agreement with Mr. Petzel in…