Opinion of the Court-Ducker, J. sale given by appellant was in effect a chattel mortgage. Consequently it is urged that at the time he obtained the money from the complaining witness he still had the right to redeem the car from Mrs. Cowan by paying her the amount due her; and that this right gave him an equity in the car which he could lawfully mortgage as security for the loan from Reese. 1. Counsel for the state insist that the transaction was a conditional sale, and that Mrs. Cowan's title to the car became absolute when appellant failed to make payment as agreed. The testimony clearly shows the nature of the transaction. Surely the mere agreement that the car was to "pass" into the possession of Mrs. Cowan in case of nonpayment did not stamp the transaction as a conditional sale, in the face of her undisputed testimony that she loaned the money at interest and took the bill of sale and note as security for the loan. The only inference to be drawn from the agreement that the car was to pass into her possession in case of the nonpayment of the indebtedness when it fell due was that she might foreclose the mortgage loan. The evidence of Mrs. Cowan stamps the transaction as a mortgage, and nothing could convert it into a conditional sale. The maxim "once a mortgage, always a mortgage," applies to this case, and the mortgagor cannot cut off his right to redeem by an agreement entered into simultaneously with the execution of the mortgage to relinquish all claim to the mortgaged property upon his failure to pay the debt secured at maturity. Jones on Chattel Mort., sec. 682. 2. We do not think that it was the intention of the parties that the transaction should ever be deemed other than a mortgage; but, if it was, considerations of public policy should move us to refuse to sanction such a transaction. If such an agreement is upheld, then virtually the ancient common-law mortgage would be still in vogue, its rigors unrelieved by an equity of redemption. It may be said to be axiomatic that no force will be Opinion of the Court-Ducker, J. given to a provision in a mortgage or simultaneously entered into by which the mortgagor agrees that, in case of his failure to promptly pay the indebtedness secured, the mortgagee shall become the absolute owner of the property. 27 Cyc. 1098. The rule is laid down in 19 R. C. L. 502, as follows: "The right and equity of a mortgagor to redeem, as has been heretofore seen, was regarded as an inseparable incident to a mortgage. Courts of equity, applying the doctrine 'once a mortgage, always a mortgage,' refused to permit the parties to a transaction intended as a mortgage to give the transaction any other character. And so deeds, absolute in form, if intended as mortgages, were construed as such, giving the grantor a right to redeem. Furthermore, the mortgagor cannot by any agreement, contemporaneous with the transfer of his property, however explicit or forceful, bind himself not to assert his right and equity to redeem." See, also, Holden & L. S. Co. v. Interstate T. Co., 87 Kan. 221, 123 Pac. 733, L. R. A. 1915D, 492. 3. But, notwithstanding that the bill of sale was intended as a chattel mortgage, the pretense made to the complaining witness was nevertheless false. He made no pretense of offering an equity in the car to the complaining witness as security for the loan. The representation was he would give him a mortgage on his car which he had at the garage. It was the plain import of such a representation that he was the owner of the car which he had in his possession, and not merely entitled to an equity in it. We do not mean the representation necessarily conveyed the idea that he had a perfect title, but it was certainly calculated to assure the complaining witness that he had the right of possession, and that he owned something more than a mere right of redemption in the car which could be extinguished by the mortgagee at any time. The appellant was in default on his mortgage. obligation when he made the representation and had no right to the possession of the car. The mortgagee Opinion of the Court-Ducker, J. was entitled to the possession of the car and could have extinguished his right of redemption at any time by a foreclosure of the mortgage, or by selling the car without foreclosure, after giving him due notice. Shoecraft v. Beard, 20 Nev. 182, 19 Pac. 246. Appellant virtually represented himself, in procuring the loan of $200, to be the owner of the automobile. By this representation the mortgagee had the right to assume that the appellant enjoyed the right of exclusive possession of the car and the privilege of doing with it as he wished. 5. The representation was a sufficient false pretense to constitute an element of the offense. There is ample evidence to sustain the verdict as to the elements of knowledge and intent on the part of the appellant. And as to these elements, the jury had a right to consider in connection with other evidence bearing upon them, that appellant told the complaining witness nothing whatever of his transaction with Julia Cowan. 6. It is contended that the false pretense alleged was not the sole actuating cause which induced the complaining witness to loan the money as alleged in the information. Counsel for appellant grounds this contention upon the testimony of the complaining witness to the effect that, before appellant represented to him that he would give him a mortgage on his car which he had over at the garage, he knew that appellant owned such a car, and relied also upon this knowledge in making the loan. But in this connection it must be noted that the complaining witness also stated that he relied upon appellant's statement, and therefore did not telephone over to the garage. We consider the contention to be extremely technical. Moreover, it is not true, as a matter of law, that the false pretense must be the sole inducement for a victim of a fraudulent representation to part with his money or thing of value. It is sufficient if the defrauded party was materially influenced by the false pretense to part with his property, although other Opinion of the Court-Ducker, J. motives may have operated to produce the result. 19 Cyc. 407, and other cases cited to support the text; 2 Bishop's New Criminal Procedure. The law is well established that the false pretense need not have been the only inducement. 7,8. The statement of the complaining witness that he relied upon his own knowledge of the appellant's ownership of the car, and also upon the representation made, is, at the most, merely the expression of an opinion. The real fact of the matter must in most cases be deducible from the circumstances of the particular case; for, where there is a combination of causes, operating to cheat a person of his property, he cannot always know with certainty how it was. In this case, while the complaining witness had reason to believe from the conduct of appellant and his wife with reference to the car that the car belonged to him, it is obvious without the representation from which he could reasonably conclude that appellant was still the owner and in possession of it, he would not have parted with his money. This is the only logical inference the jury could draw from the circumstances, and they were properly instructed in this regard. We have next to consider the contention which appellant makes that, before his conviction can be sustained, it must appear that the pretense alleged must have been sufficient to have deceived a man of ordinary intelligence and business prudence, and that, if the complaining witness, by the exercise of ordinary care and prudence, could have protected himself from the deception, his failure to do so is a defense to the action. The first branch of the contention requires only a brief comment. The false pretense in this case is not of the character held by some authorities, including the cases of State v. Crane, 54 Kan. 251, 38 Pac. 270, and State v. Cameron, 117 Mo. 641, 23 S. W. 767, cited by counsel for appellant, insufficient to support a conviction. In this case it was fully calculated to deceive. As to the Opinion of the Court-Ducker, J. latter branch of the contention, it is urged that prior to the transaction the complaining witness knew appellant owned the automobile and kept it at the same garage where the witness kept his machine, which was only a short distance from the place where the transaction occurred; that there was a telephone connection between the two places, and, therefore, his failure to make any inquiry or effort to ascertain the facts concerning the ownership of the car relieves the appellant of criminal responsibility. The doctrine that negligence and lack of precaution on the part of the complaining witness constitute a defense to the charge of obtaining money by false pretenses is supported by the case of Commonwealth v. Grady, 13 Bush (Ky.) 285, 26 Am. Rep. 192, cited by appellant, and by other cases. But this rule is opposed to the great weight of modern authority, and with reason. In 11 R. C. L. 835, the matter is thus stated: "Although this rule [minority rule] has been applied in some cases, chiefly to early ones, the courts are now generally agreed that the defendant's guilt does not depend upon whether the victim could, with reasonable diligence, have ascertained that the representations were false. When all the circumstances evince that the representation was made designedly, with an intent to cheat, and was calculated to deceive and capable of defrauding, the prisoner cannot excuse himself by saying that if the victim had been sharp, vigilant, and astute, he could have detected the fraud by using the means of detection available to him." As pointed out in the same text, the courts adhering to the minority rule seem to have disregarded the purpose of the statutes denouncing the offense of obtaining money or property by false pretenses, and to have carried into the realm of criminal law the rule of civil actions of deceit that, when a person had at hand the means of investigating the false representations, and might have determined their falsity by the exercise of |