Grentzinger v. State

Decision Date03 March 1891
PartiesGRENTZINGER v. STATE.
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court.

1. The possession of stolen property soon after the theft may be sufficient to warrant a conviction if no facts appear in evidence to repel the presumption of guilt. Where, in a prosecution for the larceny of a horse, a witness called for the state testified that he had seen the prisoner riding the horse alleged to have been stolen, and inquired of him if he had been trading, whereupon he answered, “Yes,” held, that this testimony must be submitted to the jury, and that an instruction which virtually withdrew it from the jury was erroneous.

2. Where there is testimony tending to show that the accused came honestly by the property, and such testimony creates a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury that he stole the property, he will be entitled to an acquittal. Thompson v. People, 4 Neb. 529, 530.

Error to district court, Richardson county; APPELGET, Judge.Edwin Falloon, for plaintiff in error.

Wm. Leese, Atty. Gen., for the State.

MAXWELL, J.

The plaintiff in error was convicted of the larceny of a horse, and sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the period of four years. He now prosecutes error to this court. A witness named Scott testified on behalf of the state that on the day succeeding that on which the horse was supposed to have been taken he saw the plaintiff in error riding the horse, and asked him if he had been trading horses, and the plaintiff in error answered, “Yes.” The court instructed the jury “that the possession of stolen property recently after the theft, or after the same was stolen, is sufficient to make out a prima facie case against the defendant; and if you find from the evidence that the mare alleged in the indictment was stolen from the owner on the night of the 6th day of September, and that on the next day the mare was seen in the possession of the defendant, who claimed to own the mare, this is sufficient to make out a prima facie case against the defendant sufficient to be left to your consideration, who are the sole judges of the facts. That the evidence of one credible witness swearing directly to any material fact in this case, if uncontradicted by other evidence, or by facts and circumstances proven, is sufficient proof of the fact for the purpose of this trial.” The instruction, as applied to the testimony, is erroneous. The rule is that the possession of stolen goods...

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9 cases
  • Mantell v. Jones
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • February 25, 1949
    ...are the sole judges of the effect that should be given to it.’ See, also, McLain v. State, 18 Neb. 154, 24 N.W. 720;Grentzinger v. State, 31 Neb. 460, 48 N.W. 148;Robb v. State, 35 Neb. 285, 53 N.W. 134;Palmer v. State, 70 Neb. 136, 97 N.W. 235;Kurpgeweit v. State, 97 Neb. 713, 151 N.W. 172......
  • Mantell v. Jones
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • February 25, 1949
    ... ... In the absence of a bill of exceptions and a motion for a new ... trial a judgment will be affirmed where the pleadings state a ... cause of action or defense and support the judgment ... rendered ...         2. A ... prima facie case is one which is established ... should be given to it.' See, also, McLain v. State, 18 ... Neb. 154, 24 N.W. 720; Grentzinger v. State, 31 Neb. 460, 48 ... N.W. 148; Robb v. State, 35 Neb. 285, 53 N.W. 134; Palmer v ... State, 70 Neb. 136, 97 N.W. 235; Kurpgeweit v ... ...
  • State, ex rel. Scoville v. Wilson
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • March 3, 1891
  • Robb v. State
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • September 28, 1892
    ...with all the other facts and circumstances proven on the trial. (Thompson v. People, 4 Neb. 524; Thompson v. State, 6 Neb. 102; Grentzinger v. State, 31 Neb. 460; 2 on Trials, 1894.) The first part of the instruction, although in the exact language used by this court in the opinion in Smith......
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