Jeffries v. State

Decision Date08 April 1913
Citation7 Ala.App. 144,62 So. 270
PartiesJEFFRIES v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Appeal from Law and Equity Court, Hale County; Charles E. Waller, Judge.

Charley Jeffries was convicted of larceny, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Evins & Jack, of Greensboro, for appellant.

R.C. Brickell, Atty. Gen., and W.L. Martin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

WALKER, P.J.

The only support for the charge of larceny made against the defendant was evidence tending to prove his possession and sale of a cow which had disappeared from a pasture from which cattle sometimes escaped through broken places in the fence which inclosed it or at a point where a branch ran under the fence. There was an entire absence of evidence having any tendency to prove how the cow got out of the possession of its owner or came into the possession of the defendant. It would be pure surmise to say that he feloniously took and carried it away, rather than that he innocently took charge of it when it strayed on premises of which he had possession or control. To say that the defendant's acquisition of possession amounted to a trespass or was accompanied by a felonious intent would be a guess, not a finding on evidence capable of shedding any light on the inquiry. Following previous rulings in this state on similar conditions of evidence, it must be held that the general affirmative charge requested by the defendant should have been given because of the lack of any evidence having a tendency to prove the corpus delicti. Sanders v. State, 167 Ala. 85, 52 So. 417, 28 L.R.A. (N.S.) 536; Thomas v. State, 109 Ala. 25, 19 So. 403; Orr v. State, 107 Ala. 35, 18 So. 142; Griggs v. State, 58 Ala. 425, 29 Am.Rep. 762.

Reversed and remanded.

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21 cases
  • Bills v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • April 3, 1973
    ...they were stolen, and not having the intent to restore same to the owner. James v. State, 15 Ala.App. 569, 74 So. 395; Jeffries v. State, 7 Ala.App. 144, 62 So. 270; Thomas v. State, 109 Ala. 25, 19 So. 403; Sanders v. State, 167 Ala. 85, 52 So. 417, 28 L.R.A. (N.S.) 536; Aline Clisby v. St......
  • Braxton v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • June 30, 1919
    ...insufficient to warrant the submission of the question to the jury. Johnson v. State, 13 Ala.App. 193, 68 So. 687; Jeffries v. State, 7 Ala.App. 144, 62 So. 270; Sanders v. State, 167 Ala. 85, 52 So. 417, 28 (N.S.) 536; Thomas v. State, 109 Ala. 25, 19 So. 403; Orr v. State, 107 Ala. 35, 18......
  • Hunt v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • May 4, 1976
    ...they were stolen, and not having the intent to restore same to the owner. James v. State, 15 Ala.App. 569, 74 So. 395; Jeffries v. State, 7 Ala.App. 144, 62 So. 270; Thomas v. State, 109 Ala. 25, 19 So. 403; Sanders v. State, 167 Ala. 85, 52 So. 417, 28 L.R.A.,N.S., 536; Aline Clisby v. Sta......
  • Sauls v. State, 4 Div. 654.
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • December 17, 1940
    ... ... 207 Ala. 444, 93 So. 460; Scott v. State, 22 ... Ala.App. 380, 115 So. 853; Sanders v. State, 167 ... Ala. 85, 52 So. 417; Thomas v. State, 109 Ala. 25, ... 19 So. 403; ... [199 So. 255.] Orr v. State, 107 Ala. 35, 18 So. 142; Griggs ... v. State, 58 Ala. 425, 29 Am.Rep. 762; Jeffries v ... State, 7 Ala.App. 144, 62 So. 270; Weaver v ... State, 24 Ala.App. 208, 132 So. 706; Young v ... State, 22 Ala.App. 436, 116 So. 507; Brown v ... State, 20 Ala.App. 178, 101 So. 224; Carr v ... State, 21 Ala.App. 299, 107 So. 730; Clisby v ... State, 17 Ala.App. 475, 86 So. 140; ... ...
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