State v. Ramsey, 506
Decision Date | 24 November 1954 |
Docket Number | No. 506,506 |
Citation | 84 S.E.2d 807,241 N.C. 181 |
Parties | STATE, v. Ciyde RAMSEY. |
Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Harry McMullan, Atty. Gen., Claude L. Love, Asst. Atty. Gen., and William P. Mayo, Washington, and Harvey W. Marcus, Chapel Hill, Members of Staff, for the State.
Amon M. Butler and Thomas G. Lane, Jr., Charlotte for defendant, appellant.
The defendant's chief assignment of error relates to the charge of the court on recent possession of stolen property. The challenged portion of the charge is as follows:
'Now, another rule of law that the Court calls your attention to is this: When goods are stolen, one found in possession thereof so soon thereafter that the defendant could not have reasonably got possession unless he stole them himself, the law presumes that he was the thief, and if the theft occurred in a house or building that had been broken into or unlawfully entered, then the law likewise presumes that the defendant was the one who broke and entered said house or building with the intent to commit a felony or other infamous crime therein.
This instruction, like the one held erroneous in State v. Holbrook, 223 N.C. 622, 625, 27 S.E.2d 725, 727, is 'open to interpretation that the burden was on the defendant to rebut the presumption of his guilt, whereas the presumption arising from the recent possession of stolen property
The doctrine of recent possession and the guiding principles for its application are explained with care and preciseness by Chief Justice Stacy in State v. Holbrook, supra, and in State v. McFalls, 221 N.C. 22, 18 S.E.2d 700. See also State v. Baker, supra.
We conclude that the challenged instruction weighed too heavily against the defendant.
New trial.
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State v. Eppley
...by the jury along with other evidence in determining the defendant's guilt. State v. Foster, 268 N.C. 480, 151 S.E.2d 62; State v. Ramsey, 241 N.C. 181, 84 S.E.2d 807; State v. Weinstein, 224 N.C. 645, 31 S.E.2d 920; State v. Holbrook, 223 N.C. 622, 27 S.E.2d 725; State v. Baker, 213 N.C. 5......
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State v. Patterson, 60
...case. State v. Hayes, 273 N.C. 712, 161 S.E.2d 185 (1968); State v. Holloway, 262 N.C. 753, 138 S.E.2d 629 (1964); State v. Ramsey, 241 N.C. 181, 84 S.E.2d 807 (1954); State v. Holbrook, 223 N.C. 622, 27 S.E.2d 725 (1943); State v. Baker, 213 N.C. 524, 196 S.E. 829 (1938); State v. Harringt......
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State v. Hayes, 661
...presumption arising of RECENT POSSESSION WHICH PLACES THE BURDEN ON DEFENDANT to rebut the presumption is erroneous. State v. Ramsey, 241 N.C. 181, 84 S.E.2d 807 (1954). See also State v. Holloway, 262 N.C. 753, 138 S.E.2d 629 This instruction which is challenged by defendant, like the one ......
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State v. Holloway, 436
...doubt of his guilt or either of them.' Those portions of the charge to which defendant excepts are clearly erroneous. State v. Ramsey, 241 N.C. 181, 84 S.E.2d 807. After telling the jurors that the burden was on the State to satisfy them beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty, ......