State v. Hefton
| Decision Date | 03 June 1919 |
| Docket Number | No. 21325.,21325. |
| Parties | STATE v. HEFTON. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Laclede County; L. B. Whiteside, Judge.
Melia Refton was convicted of grand larceny, and he appeals. Affirmed.
Frank W. McAllister, Atty. Gen., and George V. Berry, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
The defendant was found guilty in the circuit court of Laclede county, upon an information Under section 4537, R. S. 1909, charging him with the crime of grand larceny, in that he stole two turkeys from one M. M. Coonce in the nighttime, from the premises on which the dwelling house was situated. The value of the turkeys was alleged to be $3.25. The defendant appealed from that judgment.
M. M. Coonce lived a short distance from Phillipsburg, and about 10 miles from Lebanon, in Laclede county. He was the happy owner of two small brown turkey hens and seven young turkeys. These turkeys roosted about 250 yards from the Coonce house, and about 14 feet from the public road. They went to roost as usual in the evening of the 1st of July, 1917. Coonce saw them about dark on that day, when he went to feed his hogs. The next morning the two turkey hens were missing, and the little ones were in consequent distress. Two brown turkey hens later were discovered at the poultry house of W. L. Bads in Lebanon, and were returned to Coonce.
The evidence tending to connect the defendant with the crime was entirely circumstantial. A buggy had been driven up within a short distance of the turkey roost and had been turned around in the road. The thief accommodatingly left a trail of turkey feathers from the roost to where this buggy stood and further along the road. Whether the thief intentionally left his traces in melodramatic bravado, or whether it was moulting season, does not appear. This buggy made a peculiar track. The tire was worn off at the edge, and the felloe projected over, making a track within a track; also the horse hitched to the buggy which had been turned around in the road made a peculiar track, which was square across the toe, indicating that the hoof had been worn off. These peculiar tracks were traced from the place where they were discovered to the home of the defendant, and two brown turkey feathers were found in defendant's buggy. His buggy wheels made the double track described. He was caused to lead his horse in the dust along the road, and it made the square-toed track. The turkey hens which were found at the poultry house, upon being returned to the Coonce place, showed some familiarity with the premises. The little turkeys immediately took to them and went to roost with them. Mr. Eads had purchased them from a man who carried them in a single buggy. The man had on a soldier's hat, a blue shirt, and khaki pants. Witnesses swore to having seen the defendant about that time driving his buggy along the road and wearing a soldier hat, a blue shirt, and khaki pants. Eads did not positively identify the defendant, and did not give particular attention to the man from whom he bought the turkeys, but said he was a man about the size of defendant, but not dressed as defendant was at the trial. The defendant put his reputation in issue, and the state produced two witnesses who swore that his reputation was bad.
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