State v. Gorlick, 16420

• Decision Date: 31 December 1979
• Docket Number: No. 16420,16420
• Citation: 605 P.2d 761
• Parties: The STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Joan GORLICK, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 761

605 P.2d 761

The STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Joan GORLICK, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 16420.

Supreme Court of Utah.

Dec. 31, 1979.

Stanley S. Adams, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.

Robert B. Hansen, Atty. Gen., William W. Barrett, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and respondent.

STEWART, Justice:

Defendant, Joan Gorlick, appeals her conviction by a jury for theft in violation of § 76-6-404 U.C.A. (1953), as amended. Her sole contention is that there is insufficient evidence to support her conviction. We affirm the conviction.

Defendant was charged with the theft of a ring valued at more than $1,000 which belonged to David Delgado. The defendant, two male companions, and Delgado had, on July 31, 1978, had some drinks together at a hotel and then at about 10:30 in the evening had gone to a tavern. During the course of the evening there had been some discussion about various items of jewelry owned by members of the group. The details of negotiations about possible purchases are disputed by the parties. At the conclusion of the evening the defendant left the tavern with Delgado's ring in her possession and Delgado called in the police. Delgado initially reported the theft of two rings, including one owned by another member of the group. He later admitted that the report regarding the second ring was false.

According to Delgado, he had his ring when they went to the tavern. There was discussion about the value of the ring, and at one point, as Delgado was handing the ring across the table for the defendant to examine it, it fell into a glass. The defendant drank the contents of the glass and then claimed to have swallowed the ring. A waitress at the tavern testified that Delgado told her about the ring being swallowed by the defendant, and when she asked the defendant if the story were true, the defendant nodded her head "yes." Delgado then left the table and called the police. He also wrote down the make, model, and license plate number of defendant's car and gave that information to the police. Defendant and her companions left the tavern, and a short time later a police officer located her in her car with one of her friends. Upon being questioned, the defendant at first denied that she had been at the tavern or that she knew Delgado. After having been arrested, the defendant admitted she had Delgado's ring. She claimed that she had purchased it.

She was tried before a jury and found guilty of second-degree theft. She was given a suspended prison sentence, placed on probation for two years and fined $1,000.

The defendant raises on appeal only the sufficiency of the evidence. She contends that the victim, Delgado, was discredited as a witness and that his testimony could not support a conviction. She also argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish the requisite intent or the classification of the theft as a second-degree felony.

The evidence is to be viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, State v. Jones, Utah, 554 P.2d 1321 (1976). The standard for determining whether there is insufficient evidence is that the evidence must "be so inconclusive or so inherently improbable that reasonable minds could not reasonably believe defendant had committed a crime," State v. Romero, Utah, 554 P.2d 216, 219 (1976), and cases cited therein. A jury verdict will be upheld unless the evidence compels the conclusion as a...