Peoples v. State, A-11959
| Decision Date | 28 April 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. A-11959,A-11959 |
| Citation | 270 P.2d 380 |
| Parties | PEOPLES v. STATE. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. Before physical object allegedly taken in commission of burglary is admitted in evidence, it must be sufficiently connected with the crime itself by proper identification. However, it is not necessary that such identification should positively and indisputably describe such article. If it is sufficiently described to justify its admission in evidence, the lack of positive identification goes to the weight of such evidence rather than to its admissibility.
2. The presumption arising from the possession of recently stolen property is one of fact and not of law. It is a circumstance for the jury to consider and weigh along with all the other evidence in the case. If the possession is unexplained, or if it is unsatisfactorily explained, or the explanation even though plausible, is not believed, the jury will accord it such weight as they deem right and proper. They are the sole judge as to its weight, and when such fact with the other facts and circumstances in evidence, when given due weight, satisfy the jury beyond a reasonable doubt of defendant's guilt, it is sufficient to sustain the verdict.
3. Proof of defendant's escape from jail and attempted flight was competent evidence against the accused tending to show consciousness of guilt.
Oerke & Crane, Lawton, for plaintiff in error.
Mac Q. Williamson, Atty. Gen., Owen J. Watts, Ass't. Gen., for defendant in error.
The defendant Bennie Peoples was charged by an information filed in the District Court of Comanche County with the crime of burglary in the second degree after a former conviction of a felony; was tried, convicted, and sentenced to serve 15 years in the penitentiary and has appealed.
The evidence of the State showed that a general store owned and operated by one E. D. Himes in Sterling was broken into on the night of November 21, 1952, and approximately $800 worth of merchandise consisting of shoes, dresses, overalls, shirts, pants, and other articles was taken.
Mr. Himes testified that he made an investigation of his store building the night of the burglary and found that the bolts to a hasp on the door had been removed and the door to the store was opened. A heavy safe had been carried outside to the rear of the store near the door. The dial had been knocked from the safe and it showed evidence of being struck a great many times with a heavy instrument. The store was completely disarranged and a large number of articles hereinabove noted were missing. The officers were notified and they commenced an immediate investigation. Later, a considerable quantity of clothing was recovered by the officers in a house trailer in the city of Lawton and also from a Mr. and Mrs. Flowers, who occupied an apartment adjoining that of the defendant and his wife, and from other parties.
Mrs. Nell Flowers testified that on the night of the burglary she and her husband were living in an apartment located at 1101 South 11th Street in Lawton; that defendant and his wife occupied an adjoining apartment, and that both families used a bathroom between the two apartments. That she and her husband sat up late playing cards on November 21, 1952; that she saw two men come into the Peoples' apartment around twelve o'clock. After she had retired, she was awakened about three or four o'clock in the morning by loud voices in the Peoples' apartment. The next morning she saw a box containing 'overalls, khaki, and things like that' in the bathroom. That the defendant told her they could have the work clothes which were in the box and defendant also gave her a jacket and a pair of shoes. That later, her husband took the box of clothes to Deafy's Van on Second Street. On cross-examination she said that the clothes came from the cellar in the back of the apartment building but that when she woke up on Saturday the box was in the bathroom, which was jointly used by the occupants of the two apartments.
All of this clothing, a shotgun taken in the burglary, some shoes taken off of the defendant after he was arrested and placed in jail, some dresses worn by Donna Pinkston, and other articles were identified by Mr. Himes as having been taken from his store. Also recovered from the cellar at the Peoples' apartment were several partially burned tags which had been removed from the clothing and on which, in the handwriting of Mr. Himes, were marked the cost and sales prices of the various articles of merchandise.
The State's proof further showed that the defendant sawed through the bars of his cell and escaped from jail, but in making his break he suffered a broken leg which enabled the officers to arrest him within a few minutes after the escape had been made. Also as a part of the State's case there was introduced proof of three prior convictions for felonies; one for larceny of domestic animals, and two for robbery with firearms, which had been sustained by the accused.
The single proposition presented in the brief of defendant is that the trial court erred in admitting in evidence State's Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. These exhibits were all various articles of merchandise identified by Mr. Himes as having been taken from his store at the time of the burglary. Exhibit No. 1 was the box of clothes described by Mrs. Flowers as having been in the bathroom the morning following the burglary and out of which the defendant gave her and her husband some clothes. This box of clothing was recovered by the officers from a trailer house occupied by a man known as Deafy Smith. The testimony of Mrs. Flowers was sufficient to show that defendant was exercising control over the box of clothing the morning after the burglary. Its identification by Mr. Himes was sufficient to authorize the court to admit it in evidence.
Exhibit No. 2 was a 16-guage...
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