State v. Daniels, 15509
| Decision Date | 13 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 15509,15509 |
| Citation | 584 P.2d 880 |
| Parties | The STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gary William DANIELS, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
F. John Hill of Salt Lake Legal Defender Ass'n, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.
Robert B. Hansen, Atty. Gen., Michael L. Deamer, Deputy Atty. Gen., Craig L. Barlow, Asst. Atty. Gen., R. Paul Van Dam, Salt Lake County Atty., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and respondent.
Defendant appeals from his conviction on the charge of theft. He was tried before a jury, convicted and sentenced by the court to an indeterminate term in the Utah State Prison not to exceed fifteen years.
The facts in this case are not disputed. Defendant took the stand and testified in his own behalf that sometime during the evening of June 14, 1977, he and a companion took a 1968 Corvette belonging to Midvalley Auto. Defendant started the vehicle and together with his friend, headed for California. The next morning a California highway patrolman observed the defendant in the Corvette travelling in excess of the speed limit and started pursuit. The officer estimated that during the chase, the defendant travelled between 100 and 125 miles per hour. The officer finally caught up to the defendant when the Corvette's engine blew out and the vehicle slowed to a stop. The driver of the Corvette, identified as the defendant, could not produce a driver's license, registration, or any personal identification. Later the same day, the defendant told this officer that he owned the vehicle. The Corvette was eventually returned to its owner, with approximately $1,750 worth of damage done to it.
Defendant's sole defense at trial was that although he took the automobile, he did not intend to permanently deprive the owner of the automobile's use, or value. He testified that he lived in Alameda, California, and that at time of this incident was only visiting relatives in the Salt Lake City vicinity. During his stay the car he had used to drive from California to Utah was impounded and he was unsuccessful in getting it back. He testified he attempted to borrow money from relatives and that, unable to get a way, he took the car to return to California.
During cross examination of the defendant, the prosecutor questioned him as to how much money he had for the trip to California. In follow-up to defendant's reply that he had only $15.00, the prosecution elicited the admission from him that he had siphoned gas to get enough gas to travel the distance to California. 1 Defense counsel objected to his line of questioning and was overruled. Defendant now claims on appeal that the evidence was inadmissible under Utah Rules of Evidence, Rule 55 which requires exclusion of evidence of other bad acts to prove one's disposition to commit the act in issue unless the evidence is used to prove some other specified material fact.
Rule 55 reads:
Subject to Rule 47 evidence that a person committed a crime or civil wrong on a specified occasion, is inadmissible to prove his disposition to commit crime or civil wrong as the basis for an inference that he committed another crime or civil wrong on another specified occasion, but, subject to Rules 45 and 48, such evidence is admissible when relevant to prove some other material fact including absence of mistake or accident, motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge or identity.
This Court has stated on numerous occasions that evidence of other crimes allegedly committed by the defendant is not admissible if the purpose is to disgrace the defendant as a person of evil character with a propensity to commit crime and thus likely to have committed the crime charged. 2 However, if the evidence has relevancy to explain the circumstances surrounding the instant crime, it is admissible for that purpose; and the fact that it may tend to connect the defendant with another crime will not render it incompetent. State v. Lopez, 451 P.2d at 775; State v. Gibson, 565 P.2d at 786; McCormick on Evidence, Sec. 157 (1st Ed.).
The evidence at defendant's trial, summarized herein, shows clearly that defendant's admission that he siphoned gas to get to California was relevant to explain the circumstances surrounding the instant crime. The siphoning of gas was relevant to his story that he did not have very much money on him and that without money he could think of no other way to get to California other than by stealing a car.
Defendant's second claim of error is that the evidence was insufficient for the jury to find him guilty of theft. "Theft" is defined in Utah Code Annotated, Sec. 76-6-404 (1953), as amended:
Theft Elements. A person commits theft if he obtains of exercises unauthorized control over the property of another with a purpose to deprive him thereof.
Since the defendant admitted he took the automobile, the only issue at trial was whether he did so with the purpose to deprive the owner thereof. Utah Code Annotated, Sec. 76-6-401(3) defines the specific mens rea requirement of theft:
(3) "Purpose to deprive" means to have the conscious object:
(a) To withhold property permanently or for so extended a period or to use under such circumstances that a substantial portion of its economic value, or of the use and benefit thereof, would be lost; or
(b) To restore the property only upon payment of a reward or other compensation; or
(c) To...
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Hopkinson v. State
...to those enumerated; those listed in the rule are merely provided as examples. State v. Bain, Mont. 1978, 575 P.2d 919; State v. Daniels, Utah 1978, 584 P.2d 880; McMichael v. State, 1978, 94 Nev. 184, 577 P.2d 398. In particular there has been a recognition of a most fitting exception wher......
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