State v. Veach
| Decision Date | 01 June 1970 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
| Parties | , 224 Tenn. 412 STATE of Tennessee v. Clayton Arnold VEACH. |
David M. Pack, Atty. Gen. and Reporter, Lance D. Evans, Asst. Atty. Gen., Alfred Wehby, and Richard Speight, Asst. Dist. Attys. Gen., Nashville, for State.
Dave A. Alexander, Franklin, for defendant.
The defendant, Clayton Arnold Veach, was convicted in the Davidson County Criminal Court of receiving and concealing stolen property. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial court on the charge of receiving stolen property; and reversed and remanded the case for a new trial on the concealing charge. We granted the State's petition for Writ of Certiorari.
The proof discloses that sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on April 1, 1967, numerous articles of clothing valued at approximately $800.00 were stolen from the automobile of Captain George L. Barnes while the car was parked in front of the Woodmont Terrace Apartments.
On April 19, 1967, a warrant was obtained to search a house located at 3132 Ironwood Drive in Donelson, which house had been rented for the defendant by a Miss Jackie Murphy because 'he was afraid people would recognize him.' In the defendant's bedroom closet the officers found sundry articles of clothing which Captain Barnes identified as his.
One of the officers executing the search warrant testified that when the other officers appeared at the defendant's front door, the defendant attempted to escape through a back window.
Miss Murphy, a friend of the defendant, in testifying for the State, related that she had seen the recovered clothing in a house on Colonial Drive, where the defendant had lived prior to moving to the Ironwood residence; and that the clothing was moved from the house on Colonial Drive to Ironwood Drive at the defendant's direction. Juanita Cowell testified the moving was at night.
On the trial of the case the jury found the defendant guilty 'of receiving and concealing stolen property over the value of One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars,' and his punishment was fixed at three years in the state penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals in reversing the conviction of receiving stolen property found that there was no evidence that the defendant received the property from a third person and that such evidence is essential to sustain a conviction for receiving stolen property. Deerfield v. State (1967), 220 Tenn. 546, 420 S.W.2d 649.
The Court of Criminal Appeals was correct in reversing the defendant's conviction of receiving stolen property. For a defendant to be found guilty of receiving stolen property it is necessary to show that he received it from a third person, T.C.A. Section 39--4217(A); Deerfield v. State, supra; Franklin v. State (1957), 202 Tenn. 666, 308 S.W.2d 417; but this record is devoid of any evidence which would establish such a fact. We feel that the State failed to carry its burden in this respect; and, therefore, any judgment of conviction of receiving stolen property was properly reversed.
Next, we must consider whether the Court of Criminal Appeals was correct in reversing and remanding the case for a new trial on the charge of concealing stolen property.
In order to sustain a conviction for concealing stolen property, besides proof of the theft and defendant's actual or constructive possession soon thereafter, it is necessary to show that the...
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...our current theft of property statute, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-14-103 (2006), which was enacted in 1989. See, e.g., State v. Veach, 224 Tenn. 412, 456 S.W.2d 650, 651-52 (1970); Tackett v. State, 223 Tenn. 176, 443 S.W.2d 450, 451 (1969); Peek v. State, 213 Tenn. 323, 375 S.W.2d 863, 865 (1964)......
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Russell v. State, 4735
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