665 S.W.2d 255 (Ark. 1984), 84-8, O'Riordan v. State
Citation | 665 S.W.2d 255,281 Ark. 424 |
Docket Number | CR 84-8. |
Date | 21 February 1984 |
Parties | Louis O'RIORDAN, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Page 255
Rehearing Denied March 26, 1984.
Page 256
Sherry J. Alexander, Mena, for appellant.
Steve Clark, Atty. Gen. by Alice Ann Burns, Deputy Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
GEORGE ROSE SMITH, Justice.
The appellant was charged with theft, a class C felony, in that by deception he obtained from Bill W. Willis a trailer worth over $100, with the purpose of depriving Willis of his property. The jury found the defendant guilty of the lesser included misdemeanor of theft of property and imposed a sentence of one year in jail. Ark.Stat.Ann. §§ 41-2203 and 41-901 (1977). The Court of Appeals, citing Rule 29(1)(c), transferred the case to this court.
[281 Ark. 425] Chief among O'Riordan's four arguments for reversal is his contention that the State failed to prove that O'Riordan had a present intent to deprive Willis of his trailer when O'Riordan obtained possession of the trailer. That question of subjective intent is often not susceptible of direct proof, but in this case there is substantial circumstantial evidence to support the jury's verdict.
When the evidence is viewed most favorably to the verdict, as our rule requires, we conclude that the jury could have found the events to have occurred in this manner:
O'Riordan had a flashing-sign business in Turon, Kansas. In January, 1980, he had an order to pick up 28 signs in Houston, Texas, and deliver them in Missouri. When he received that order he was returning from Illinois with a truck and a 6-foot trailer, too small to carry the 28 signs. On January 11 O'Riordan stopped in Springfield, Missouri, at Guy Peck's combined service station and trailer rental business. O'Riordan signed a rental contract by which he obtained a 14-foot flatbed trailer from Peck, the rent to be $50 and the trailer to be returned on January 18. Peck testified that the rent was never paid and he did not even hear from O'Riordan until Mrs. O'Riordan telephoned Peck four or five months later. Peck did not get his trailer back and still did not know where it was when the case was tried more than three years later.
On January 14, three days after O'Riordan had rented Peck's trailer for a week, O'Riordan stopped at Willis's welding shop in Wickes, Arkansas. O'Riordan falsely told Willis that O'Riordan (or his brother-in-law) owned the 14-foot trailer. O'Riordan promised to pay Willis $900 for the 16-foot trailer that he is charged with having stolen and to return with the money in three days. He left the 14-foot trailer as security with Willis, from whom it was later recovered by a police officer. Willis testified that two or three days later O'Riordan called to say that he was having trouble with his truck and would be a couple of days late. After that Willis did not hear from O'Riordan again, though Willis tried for several months to reach him by phone. At the time of the trial, three years later, Willis had never seen his trailer [281 Ark. 426] again and did not know where it was.
O'Riordan testified at length, detailing the alleged mechanical problems, adverse weather conditions, and financial difficulties that had prevented him from returning Willis's trailer or paying for it. He said that he had the trailer in Joplin before Christmas, 1980, but it was stolen while he was at home in Turon. Thus according to O'Riordan's own testimony, he had the trailer for almost a year without making any payment on it or returning it to Willis. The issue was simply...
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