People v. Marsh
California Supreme Court
58 Cal. 2d 732 (1962)
Relevant factsFree
The defendants sold access to electric devices, actually cheap radio-repair equipment, claiming they could cure serious ailments and charging far above the devices' true value, and though undercover agents documented the false representations, the defendants sought to introduce the contents of scientific and medical reports they claimed to have relied on, along with fifteen witnesses testifying they were cured, but the trial court allowed only testimony that such reliance occurred without admitting the reports' actual contents.
IssueFree
Whether it is a defense to the crime of theft by false pretenses that the defendant actually and reasonably believed their representations to be true.