Boyd v. State

• Citation: 43 So. 204,150 Ala. 101
• Parties: BOYD v. STATE.
• Decision Date: 02 March 1907
• Court: Supreme Court of Alabama

43 So. 204

150 Ala. 101

BOYD v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Alabama

March 2, 1907

Appeal from City Court of Anniston; Thomas W. Coleman, Jr., Judge.

Pink Boyd was convicted of knowingly receiving, buying, or concealing stolen property, and appeals. Reversed and remanded.

The defendant was indicted for knowingly receiving, buying, or concealing stolen property. The evidence tended to show that Hamp Miller was a brakeman on the Southern Railway, and that some time in July or August he was brought to Anniston by Mr New for the purpose of catching some thieves who had been operating upon the Southern Railway freight cars at Anniston. New and the yardmaster placed a car at a certain point in the Southern Railway yards, with tobacco and other stuff in it marked with a red pencil for the purpose of its identification. Miller and one Will Pritchett went to where the car was, and Pritchett went up to the car while Miller waited and watched. Miller could not say whether Pritchett broke the seal or not, but testified that he saw his hands up working where the seal should be; that Pritchett finally got into the car, and threw out five caddies of tobacco, and carried it to the back yard of defendant, and put it into defendant's coalhouse, when he and Pritchett went away. Miller saw the defendant that night, and asked him if he wanted to buy some tobacco, and defendant told him "No." He did not want to buy any from him, as he did not know him. It was shown that defendant did not tell him to put the tobacco in the house, and that he did not speak to defendant before the tobacco was put in. It appears from the testimony that Pritchett, who was convicted of stealing the tobacco, stated to witness Miller that they might get some money by selling some merchandise, such as tobacco, snuff, and shoes. Miller then told Pritchett that he knew where they could get such merchandise, that they might get it from the cars of the Southern Railway in South Anniston, and he and Pritchett then made arrangements to make a raid on the cars. He mentioned this matter to Mr O'Rourke, the yardmaster of the Southern, and Mr. New the special agent of the Southern, who stated to him that they would have a car placed at a certain point on the yards of the Southern with this kind of merchandise in it. It was further shown that about four days after this O'Rourke New, Miller, and Meharg, a policeman in the city of Anniston, went to a corn field near Pink Boyd's store, and stood there until daylight; that Will Pritchett came out of Boyd's store when he was arrested, and Meharg, the policeman, tapped on the front door of Boyd's store, whereupon Boyd came to the door and was told that he was under arrest, and that they had a search warrant for some tobacco; that Boyd replied that they "needn't look for any tobacco; there's none in my store"; that they searched the store, and found under the counter, covered up in tow sacks, four caddies of tobacco, the same tobacco that was taken from the Southern Railway car. When New was being examined as a witness, he was asked if he had given Hamp Miller any authority to break open cars, and "did you have any authority to open cars? and did you have any authority to authorize any one else to break open cars? and did you authorize Hamp Miller to break open the car on the night of August 5, 1905? and did you authorize Will Pritchett?" all of which were objected to by the defendant.

The defendant requested a number of charges, which were refused which are not necessary to be here set out. Charge A, refused to the defendant, was as follows: "If, upon a consideration of all the evidence, the minds of the jury or any member of the jury is left in a state of reasonable doubt and uncertainty, by the evidence or any part of the evidence, of defendant's guilt, then you cannot convict the defendant." Charge Q: "For...