Smith v. State, A-12221

• Decision Date: 07 December 1955
• Docket Number: No. A-12221,A-12221
• Parties: Vernon C. SMITH, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 378

291 P.2d 378

Vernon C. SMITH, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.

No. A-12221.

Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma.

Dec. 7, 1955.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. The State, as a part of its case, may prove the flight of the defendant as a circumstance tending to prove his guilt.

2. Where there is competent evidence from which the jury could reasonably and logically find the defendant guilty of the crime charged, and there are no unusual circumstances involved requiring it, this Court will not set aside the jury's verdict on account of insufficiency of the evidence.

3. Where no objection is taken to the instructions of the trial court, such instructions will not be examined by this Court for the purpose of discovering other than fundamental error.

4. Transactions which are so related to, and connected with, the forgery charged as to be otherwise admissible are not inadmissible because they tend to prove a wholly dissimilar crime, particularly where they constitute part of a connected or continuous transaction.

Appeal from the Superior Court of Comanche County; Robert S. Landers, Judge.

The plaintiff in error, Vernon C. Smith, defendant below, was convicted for uttering a forged check; sentenced to 5 years in the State Penitentiary, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Bledsoe, Nicklas & Chrisman, by Fred R. Harris, Lawton, for plaintiff in error.

Mac Q. Williamson, Atty. Gen., Sam H. Lattimore, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

BRETT, Judge.

Plaintiff in error, Vernon C. Smith, defendant below, was charged by information in the Superior Court of Comanche County, Oklahoma, with having committed the crime of uttering a forged check, in the sum of $53.67, purportedly written on July 24, 1954, drawn on the City National Bank, to the order of C. D. Eatman, and bearing the forged signature of Harry Poston. The check was allegedly uttered on July 24, 1954, to Ed Cagle, of Lawton, Oklahoma, in said County and State, with the intent to defraud said Ed Cagle and Harry Poston, in violation of 21 O.S.1951 § 1577. He was tried by a jury, convicted, his punishment set at 5 years in the State Penitentiary; judgment and sentence was entered accordingly, from which this appeal has been perfected.

The plaintiff in error concedes herein that this appeal is, in effect, an attack upon the sufficiency of the evidence. A brief resume of the evidence discloses that Harry Poston was engaged in the construction business in the City of Lawton, and on the night of July 24, 1954, his place of business was burglarized by an unknown person, and a check-writing machine and a book of blank checks were stolen. The burglary was discovered about 11:30 P.M. Mr. Poston last observed the check book about 4:00 o'clock that afternoon, and recalled that the number of the last check written, as evidenced by the stub, was the one immediately preceding the forged check herein involved. It further appears that about 11:00 P.M. the defendant appeared at Edward F. Cagle's grocery store and presented for cashing a check purportedly drawn by Mr. Poston in favor of C. D. Eatman, on Poston's account in the City National Bank of Lawton, Oklahoma. The check was made out on a check-writing machine, and appeared to be a payroll check, in the sum of $53.67. When the same was presented to Mr. Cagle, he attempted to contact Mr. Poston by telephone. The defendant observed Mr. Cagle and became quite nervous and fidgety, stating that he would have to step out to his car for a second. Cagle was informed that he, Poston, had not written any such check. Mr. Cagle went outside of the store to locate the defendant but did not find him. Police were notified, and shortly thereafter the defendant was returned to the store where Mr. Cagle identified him. The defendant stated to the Police Officers that he had not attempted to pass any checks. Upon being identified, however he changed his statement and informed the Officers that he had found the check on the street. He testified on the preliminary trial that he found the check on the street, but on the trial of the case in chief, he changed his story and said he had been given the check by an unknown stranger at the Idle Hour Beer Tavern. The Cagle grocery store was located about two miles northeast of the Beer Tavern. The defendant testified he walked from the Beer Tavern to the Cagle store. Moreover, he admitted that he had just come to town shortly prior thereto, as a hitchhiker, and had in his possession less than $1 in money.

The evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury. The facts disclosed that the check was a forgery; that the same was uttered, with the intent that it be cashed. It was contended that the evidence was insufficient to establish guilty knowledge, but the question of intent to defraud, and...