State v. Lewis
| Citation | 482 S.W.2d 436 |
| Decision Date | 17 July 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,No. 57042,57042,2 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. James Farmer LEWIS, Appellant |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Missouri |
John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Charles B. Blackmar, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Louis, for respondent.
Shaw & Howlett, Charles M. Shaw, Clayton, for appellant.
STOCKARD, Commissioner.
James Farmer Lewis has appealed from the judgment entered pursuant to jury verdict by which he was found guilty of burglary in the second degree and stealing in conjunction therewith, and sentenced to imprisonment for five years for burglary and two years for stealing, the sentences to be served concurrently. We affirm. This case is in some respects factually related to State v. Lewis, No. 57,041, Mo., 482 S.W.2d 432.
Robert Huffstutter left his house on July 14, 1970. When he returned about 5:30 o'clock of the evening of July 16, he found that the door had been damaged, and that several items in the house were missing, including a roll-about fan, a Craftsman combination sander and buffer, a television set, a Craftsman chain saw, and two fishing rods with reels.
On the evening of July 15 appellant was apprehended by Marion Strube and his two brothers, as set forth in State v. Lewis, Case No. 57,041, and were turned over to the sheriff of Montgomery County. In the trunk of appellant's automobile were found the two fishing rods and reels which had been stolen from the home of Robert Huffstutter.
Appellant first asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict in that it was 'never showed that defendant had burglarized or stolen anything from the dwelling house of Robert Huffstutter.' As in Case No. 57,041, appellant argues that the fishing rods and reels were not in his personal and exclusive possession, but if they were the rule that possession of recently stolen property creates a presumption of guilt is unconstitutional because it shifts the burden of proof to the accused.
The fishing rods and reels were found in appellant's automobile at a time not remote from the time of the burglary. The jury was not required to believe appellant's testimony that he did not know they were there. As ruled in Case No. 57,041, the possession of recently stolen property which will support an inference of guilt may be a joint possession, State v. Cobb, Mo., 444 S.W.2d 408, and manual possession is not required. State v. Prunty, 276 Mo. 359, 208 S.W. 91.
In this case as in Case No. 57,041, appellant has misconstrued the rule pertaining to the possession of recently stolen property. No presumption of guilt is created; such possession is a circumstance from which guilt may be inferred as a matter of fact. State v. Cobb, Mo., supra.
The sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict does not rest alone on the possession of recently stolen property. That is but one of the circumstances which the jury was entitled to consider. Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence except for the unmeritorious reason above stated.
When appellant was apprehended by the Strube brothers he had entered a wooded area to pick up a television set. The arrest which then followed was for the alleged burglary of the mobile home of Marion Strube. It was during the processing of that arrest that the fishing rods and reels were found in the trunk of appellant's automobile. In his opening statement the prosecuting attorney said: 'Mr. Ickenroth will testify that they (he and appellant) came out in a certain vehicle, that the defendant was driving the vehicle, and that they went out into the woods to pick up this television.' Appellant objected 'to this' and a discussion between the court and counsel followed concerning the relevancy of the proposed testimony. The court ruled that 'it is so much a part of this chain of circumstances * * * I don't see how it can be left out.' However, until rebuttal as subsequently noted, Gary did not mention the purpose for which he and appellant went into the woods. Appellant also asserts that error resulted in permitting Gary to testify on rebuttal as to the intent of appellant in entering the woods.
No mention was made in the opening statement or in the testimony of Gary on rebuttal that the television set had been stolen. The court ruled properly in each case. As stated in State v. Adamson, Mo., 346 S.W.2d 85, the State is not to be penalized if a party so entangles his illegal affairs that one offense cannot be proved without proving another. In any event, no possible prejudice could have resulted. Appellant testified on direct examination that he went into the wooded area to pick up a television set, and that a person had offered to pay him $50 to obtain the set. The...
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State v. Chunn
...499 (Mo.1973). As to how "recent" the burglary and theft must have been in order to permit the inference, we note that in State v. Lewis, 482 S.W.2d 436 (Mo.1972), the victim left his home on July 14, 1970, and the accused had possession of items stolen from the victim's home when the accus......
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State v. Feeler
...State v. Chase, 444 S.W.2d 398, 402-403 (Mo.banc 1969). See also State v. Arnold, 566 S.W.2d 185, 188 (Mo.banc 1978); State v. Lewis, 482 S.W.2d 436, 437 (Mo.1972); State v. Myers, 551 S.W.2d 312, 313 (Mo.App.1977). Unexplained possession of stolen property ten days after its theft is not t......
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State v. Aziz, WD
...property may create an inference of guilt, but that inference does not overcome an accused's presumption of innocence. State v. Lewis, 482 S.W.2d 436, 437 (Mo.1972). When the state's case rests exclusively on circumstantial evidence, there must be some evidence of active participation in th......
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State v. Lewis
...years for stealing, the sentences to be served concurrently. We affirm. This case is in some respects factually related to State v. Lewis, Mo., 482 S.W.2d 436. On July 15, 1970, Mr. Marion Strube discovered that his mobile home had been broken into, and that certain personal property was mi......