State v. Moore

• Citation: 39 S.E. 626,129 N.C. 494
• Parties: STATE v. MOORE et al.
• Decision Date: 18 September 1901
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina

39 S.E. 626

129 N.C. 494

STATE v. MOORE et al.

Supreme Court of North Carolina

September 18, 1901

Appeal from superior court, Pitt county; Coble, Judge.

Amos Moore and others were convicted of larceny, and they appeal. Reversed.

An indictment charging the larceny of 50 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of sugar, 4 boxes tobacco, 6 pair drawers, 6 undershirts, of the value of $50, is not defective in that it contains the article meat, which is not the subject of larceny, and does not state the value of each article, since the other articles are of substantial value and proof of larceny of any one of them would be sufficient.

The defendants Amos Moore, Ashley Dixon, Jesse Edwards, and Joseph Edwards were tried and convicted upon the following bill of indictment, viz.: "The jurors for the state upon their oath present: That Albert Rountree, Amos Moore, Ashley Dixon, Jesse Edwards, Joseph Edwards, John Smith, late of Pitt county, on the 9th day of February, 1901, with force and arms, in said county, 50 lbs. of meat, 20 lbs. flour, 10 lbs sugar, 4 boxes tobacco, 6 pair drawers, 6 undershirts, of the value of fifty dollars, the goods and chattels of J. C Gaskins, then and there being found, then and there feloniously did steal, take, and carry away, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state. And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid, do further present that on the day and year aforesaid, in said county, the said Albert Rountree, Amos Moore, Ashley Dixon, Jesse Edwards, Joseph Edwards, John Smith, the said meat, flour, sugar, tobacco, drawers, undershirts, of the value of fifty dollars, the goods and chattels of J. C. Gaskins, then and there being found, feloniously did have and receive, well knowing the same to have been feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away, contrary to the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state." In apt time defendants' counsel moved to quash. Motion overruled, and defendants excepted. After verdict they moved in arrest of judgment upon the following grounds: (1) That it appeared upon the face of the bill of indictment that there was a fatal defect in the first count, in that it charged the larceny of 50 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of sugar, 4 boxes of tobacco, 6 pairs of drawers, 6 undershirts, and also that it failed to state the value of each article which it alleges to have been stolen; (2) that the second count charges that the defendants received the said meat, flour, sugar, tobacco, drawers, and undershirts without specifying the quantity and value of each article,--which motion was overruled, and defendants excepted. The state then introduced Albert Rountree, an accomplice, who testified that defendants and himself committed the crime; that on the night of the store-breaking and larceny the defendant Jesse Edwards broke the first window of the store with a piece of scantling, and then ran across the bridge; that witness was at the time of the breaking standing near the store; that defendants Ashley Dixon, Amos Moore, and Joseph Edwards were outside of the store; that Jesse Edwards came back, and went into the store through the window; that no one went into the store except Jesse Edwards; that Jesse Edwards came out with a sack on his shoulder, divided up what he had in his sack, and gave witness a sack of flour, and divided out the things among the others, and then he left, and did not know what became of the others. It was also in evidence that the next morning several persons, including Moore and Dixon, went to the store, and walked around and inside, viewing the premises from which the articles were stolen. In order to corroborate the witness Rountree (whose evidence was impeached by reason of confession of guilt, and in whose possession alone stolen goods were found, and which was further impeached by reason of his admission upon cross-examination that after his arrest on the Wednesday following, and before he confessed, the magistrate, Sam Laughinghouse, before whom he was taken for trial, gave him whisky, and told him they would turn him loose if he would tell on the other boys, and that Gaskins, the prosecuting witness, had told him afterwards, while in jail, to stick to what he had said, and gave him 10 cents in money and some tobacco, and promised him more money if he would stick to what he had sworn to in the magistrate's court) the state introduced, after exception by defendants, the conduct of a dog called a blood-hound, as testified to by Brinson and Gaskins. That some time during the next day Brinson arrived from Kinston with his dog, and carried him to the window, where he smelt in a basket, and was then carried inside, where he smelt at the window, and around the counters, and when he reached the meat block he barked, and then went to the back door, and smelt the steps, and went to the creek, 18 or 20 feet away, and barked and came back, and then trailed about the door and steps and up the street, going into divers places, and finally went up to Dixon, one of the defendants, and bayed him, and then trailed about, and afterwards went up to defendant Moore, and bayed him. It was also in evidence that said Moore and Dixon were present all the while in the crowd while the dog was trailing, and frequently near the dog, and that the other two defendants Jesse and Joseph Edwards were also there in the crowd near the dog at the time. After verdict of guilty defendants moved for new trial, assigning, among others, as error, the admission as evidence the conduct of the dog, either to establish a circumstance or to corroborate Rountree. Motion overruled, and defendants appealed.

Swift Galloway and A. M. Moore, for appellants.

The Attorney General, for the State.

COOK J.

While the bill of indictment is inartificially and carelessly drawn, yet no such defect...