State v. Maciel, 9600
| Decision Date | 05 January 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 9600,9600 |
| Citation | 305 P.2d 335,130 Mont. 569 |
| Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Mike MACIEL, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
R. C. Letcher and Ralph L. Herriott, Billings, for appellant.
Ralph L. Herriott, Billings, argued orally for appellant.
Arnold H. Olsen, Atty. Gen., Emmet T. Walsh, Asst. Atty. Gen., Arnold A. Berger, John J. Cavan, Jr., County Attys., Peder J. Moe, Jr., Deputy County Atty., Billings, for respondent.
Peder J. Moe, Jr., Deputy County Atty., and Emmet T. Walsh, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued orally for respondent.
This is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment of conviction of the crime of grand larceny and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.
The crime was alleged to have been committed on or about the 6th day of February, 1955. The property alleged to have been stolen was cash in the sum of $4,700, the property of Dorothy Fava. The evidence on most issues was conflicting.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the state, it shows the following facts: On the evening of Saturday, February 5, 1955, Mrs. Dorothy Fava had the sum of $4,700 in United States currency pinned to her underpants. There were three one-thousand dollar bills and the rest in bills of smaller denominations. She went to a tavern called the Mexican Star in Billings, operated by a woman named Maria Solis. Before entering this tavern she had been in other taverns in Billings and drank some beer. She claims that while at the Mexican Star tavern she was given some coffee which was drugged and as a consequence she became sick and was rendered 'semiconscious'. While in that condition Maria Solis went with her to the ladies' rest room and there learned of the money on her person. Upon returning to the barroom from the rest room Maria Solis talked with defendant and one Antonio Gascar, informing them of the fact that she had this money on his person. There is conflict in the evidence as to just what was then said but it is undisputed that defendant took Dorothy Fava out of the tavern and placed her in a car then being driven by Baudelio Nava. Others then in the car or entering it before it left the tavern were Antonio Gascar, defendant, Baudelio Nava, David Nava, Felix Romera and Raymond Chavez. The car was then driven in a southerly direction and finally stopped behind the sugar factory in the City of Billings. The underpants of Dorothy Fava were removed either by Gascar or defendant or by both of them and thrown from the car. The car stopped for only a few minutes and some of the occupants got out and the rest remained in the car. They than all resumed their respective positions in the car and started back toward the business section of Billings. When the car reached Minnesota Avenue all of the occupants of the car got out save Baudelio Nava, Dorothy Eava and defendant. Defendant then drove the car south on Twenty-sixth Street and got it stalled in a snowdrift near the Taft school. While in the act of getting the car out of the snowdrift with the help of others, they were seen by police officers of Billings and the next day the police learned of the loss of the money by Mrs. Fava and defendant was placed under arrest, along with some others of the group.
The principal evidence connecting defendant with the theft consists of his own admissions or confessions to the police officers. His statement to the police officers was that while in the Mexican Star Maria Solis, after taking Mrs. Fava to the toilet, came to defendant and said, And Maria Solis immediately thereafter told Tony Gascar that Mrs. Fava had a lot of money on her and it would be easy to get and that defendant was in on the deal and was to get some of the money.
Defendant further told the police officers that prosecutrix was taken in Baudelio Nava's car to a spot behind the sugar factory where 'Tony took the panties off of Mrs. Fava and throwed them out the window'; that thereafter the defendant stated to the police that after the car stopped Tony Gascar ran back to the panties and he saw Gascar 'fooling around with a cloth or clothing, and figured he was getting his money.' There was evidence that defendant was the one who took the prosecutrix's pants off and in fact defendant himself so testified but said it was done on the way home from the sugar factory and not at the sugar factory.
The first contention made by the defendant is that the evidence is insufficient to show or to prove that defendant took stole or carried away from the person of Dorothy Fava the currency as alleged in the information. While the statute defines larceny as the taking of property from the...
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State v. Radi, 12893
...71 Mont. 265, 229 P. 735; State v. Sawyer, 71 Mont. 269, 229 P. 734; State v. Donges, 126 Mont. 341, 251 P.2d 254; State v. Maciel, 130 Mont. 569, 305 P.2d 335. The next issue raised by appellant concerns a request to exclude prospective witnesses from the courtroom. The court granted this ......
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...71 Mont. 265, 229 P. 735; State v. Sawyer, 71 Mont. 269, 229 P. 734; State v. Donges, 126 Mont. 341, 251 P.2d 254; State v. Maciel, 130 Mont. 569, 305 P.2d 335." The third assignment of error is that Harvey was denied the right to adequate The record does not support the contention that Har......
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...71 Mont. 265, 229 P. 735; State v. Sawyer, 71 Mont. 269, 229 P. 734; State v. Donges, 126 Mont. 341, 251 P.2d 254; State v. Maciel, 130 Mont. 569, 305 P.2d 335. Failure to instruct in certain particulars cannot be assigned as error, where the court has properly covered issues, since, in the......
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