The People v. Menagas

The question in this case concerns the validity of an indictment filed in the criminal court of Cook county against the defendant in error, Gust Menagas, charging him with the larceny of 70,601 kilowatt hours of electric current and energy, each kilowatt hour of the value of three cents, the same being the personal property of Commonwealth Edison Company. The indictment was quashed on motion of the defendant and the People sued out this writ of error. The motion to quash was based on two primary grounds: (1) That electric current and energy is not a subject of larceny, and (2) section 117 of…