Facts
The High Court of Appenzell A.Rh. convicted Julius Arpagaus on September 28, 1953 of misappropriation to three months' imprisonment, as he had resold on June 13, 1951 a passenger car of the "Ford" brand that had been purchased on June 7, 1951 from the company E. Wagner, Centralgarage AG, St. Gallen, under a reservation of title.
On December 13, 1955, Arpagaus requested the reopening of the proceedings. He claimed that he had not purchased the passenger car from the company E. Wagner, Centralgarage AG, but from Arnold Graf. Therefore, a reservation of title in favor of the aforementioned company could not have been established, and one in favor of Graf had not been registered, so the applicant had been entitled to resell the car without thereby committing misappropriation.
The High Court dismissed the request on February 27, 1956, as the reservation of title registered with the Debt Collection Office Herisau had been legally valid at the time of the resale of the car to Tschofen, regardless of whether Arpagaus had purchased the vehicle from the company E. Wagner, Centralgarage AG, or from Graf.
Considerations
The Court of Cassation states that for the validity of the purchase contract of June 7, 1951 between the company E. Wagner, Centralgarage AG, and Julius Arpagaus, it is irrelevant whether the passenger car was in the assets of that company at the time of the conclusion of the purchase or belonged to a third party, as the sale of a third party's property is generally valid.
Furthermore, the Court of Cassation finds that the effectiveness of the reservation of title does not depend…