Stevens v. Commonwealth
| Citation | 79 S.W.2d 227,257 Ky. 844 |
| Parties | STEVENS v. COMMONWEALTH. |
| Decision Date | 29 January 1935 |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Kentucky |
Rehearing Denied March 19, 1935.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Henderson County.
Gus Stevens was convicted of Knowingly receiving stolen property and he appeals.
Affirmed.
N. B Hunt, of Henderson, for appellant.
Bailey P. Wootton, Atty. Gen., and David C. Walls, Asst. Atty. Gen for the Commonwealth.
An indictment in two counts was returned against the appellant Gus Stevens, by the grand jury of Henderson county. The first count charged him with the crime of knowingly receiving stolen property, and in the second count it was charged that he had theretofore been convicted of a felony, to wit, grand larceny. On his trial he was convicted and sentenced to a term of four years in the penitentiary.
The home of George E. Stigger in Henderson was broken into on the night of December 12, 1933, and numerous articles of wearing apparel, bed clothing, and jewelry were stolen. A few days later the home of Julia Bailey, a colored woman, was searched, and a number of the stolen articles were found in her possession. She stated then, and testified at the trial, that Gus Stevens brought the articles to her home and requested her to keep them for him. On the same day the home of Gus Stevens was searched during his absence, but when his wife was present, and a considerable portion of the stolen property was found in the house. The appellant's sixteen year old son, Darrel Stevens, who had escaped from the reform school at Greendale a few days before the commission of the crime, admitted that he and James Lewis, who also had escaped from the reform school, broke into the Stigger home, stole the property, and carried it to his father's home.
When the Stevens home was searched, Mr. and Mrs. George E. Stigger, their son, George E. Stigger, Jr., R. C. Soaper, sheriff of Henderson county, J. T. Reed, deputy sheriff, and probably others were present.
George E. Stigger was the first witness introduced by the commonwealth. He described the articles stolen from his home, and testified as to what occurred when the Stevens home was searched, and identified the articles found when the search was made. His son was the next witness, and he corroborated his father. No objection was made to the testimony of either. The commonwealth then introduced as a witness J. T. Reed, the deputy sheriff who assisted the sheriff in making the search. He was asked by the attorney for the appellant if he had a search warrant, and he answered in the affirmative, and stated that the sheriff in his presence read it to Mrs. Stevens. Over the appellant's objection, he then read the search warrant with the sheriff's return thereon to the jury. The warrant had been issued by B. S. Morris, county judge of Henderson county, and the return had been made by R. C. Soaper, sheriff. It is insisted that the trial court erred in permitting the search warrant to be introduced in evidence without authentication thereof by the judicial officer who issued it and who was the legal custodian thereof, and this is the sole ground urged for a reversal of the judgment.
Counsel for appellant concedes that he has been unable to find a case, domestic or foreign, directly in point in support of his contention that the county judge who issued the search warrant and to whose office it was returned was the only person who could produce it in evidence and prove its authenticity. The case of Hickman v. Griffin, 6 Mo 37, 34 Am. Dec. 124, is cited. That was a suit for malicious prosecution. The plaintiff, Griffin, charged in his petition that Hickman appeared before one...
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