Kidd v. State
| Decision Date | 17 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 65S00-8703-CR-288,65S00-8703-CR-288 |
| Citation | 530 N.E.2d 287 |
| Parties | Clarence KIDD, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
William H. Bender, Allyn, Givens & Bender, Poseyville, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
A Posey County jury found defendant-appellant Clarence Kidd guilty of burglary, a class B felony, Ind.Code Sec. 35-43-2-1. The trial court entered conviction thereon and sentenced defendant to twenty years, increasing the presumptive ten year sentence by an additional ten years for aggravating circumstances. The sole issue raised in this direct appeal is defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction.
In addressing the issue of sufficiency of evidence, we will affirm the conviction if, considering only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict, without weighing evidence or assessing witness credibility, a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Case v. State (1984), Ind., 458 N.E.2d 223. Circumstantial evidence alone is sufficient to sustain a burglary conviction. Taylor v. State (1987), Ind., 514 N.E.2d 290. In appellate review of circumstantial evidence of guilt, this Court need not determine whether the circumstantial evidence is adequate to overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence, but only whether inferences may reasonably be drawn to support the verdict. Lovell v. State (1985), Ind., 474 N.E.2d 505; Kizer v. State (1982), Ind., 437 N.E.2d 466.
The evidence most favorable to the trial court's judgment reveals that between June 5, 1985, and June 7, 1985, Dennis Dale's mobile home was burglarized. The burglar stole four rifles and five pieces of Pioneer stereo equipment. Jim Browning testified that in early June, "somewhere around the 3rd, 4th, or 5th, I don't remember the date," defendant sold Browning some Pioneer stereo equipment with the explanation that the equipment belonged to his girlfriend's brother and the brother wanted to sell it. Browning also understood that defendant desired to sell the stereo equipment so that defendant and his girlfriend could leave town. After the two men agreed to the terms of the sale, defendant gave Browning a signed receipt, dated June 8, 1985, evidencing the transaction. The stereo equipment sold by defendant to Browning proved to be the same stereo equipment stolen from Dale's mobile home. On June 9, 1985, defendant approached Emmitt Caudill and offered to sell Caudill some rifles, explaining the rifles belonged to his girlfriend's mother and were being sold because the woman needed money. The four rifles purchased by Caudill from defendant were the four rifles stolen from Dale's mobile home.
Defendant argues that "[s]imply because the defendant was identified as the one who sold stereo equipment and guns owned by the victim, does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was the individual who broke and entered the mobile home." We have previously held that the unexplained possession of recently stolen items provides support for an inference of guilt of burglary and theft of that property. Steele v. State (1985), Ind., 475 N.E.2d 1149 (); Ward v. State (1982), Ind., 439 N.E.2d 156, reh. denied (although facts not clear, it appears police discovered defendant in possession of stolen property on same day...
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