Webb v. State

• Decision Date: 12 September 1921
• Docket Number: A-3441.
• Parties: WEBB v. STATE.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

200 P. 719

19 Okla.Crim. 450

WEBB v. STATE.

No. A-3441.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

September 12, 1921

Syllabus by the Court.

In a prosecution for receiving stolen property, knowing same to be stolen, it is not necessary that defendant have actual knowledge that the property was stolen, but it is sufficient if the circumstances accompanying the transaction were such as to make him believe it was stolen.

"To believe" is practically synonymous with "to believe in all probability"; and an instruction which charges the jury that if they find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant actually knew the property was stolen, "or that he knew such facts as made him believe that in all probability it was stolen," such would be sufficient to establish guilty knowledge, held to correctly state the law applicable to such cases.

Appeal from District Court, Bryan County; Jesse M. Hatchett, Judge.

George W. (Doc) Webb was convicted of receiving stolen property and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the state penitentiary, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Hayes & McIntosh, of Durant, for plaintiff in error.

S. P Freeling, Atty. Gen., and W. C. Hall, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

MATSON J.

Plaintiff in error, George W. (Doc) Webb, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was convicted of the crime of receiving stolen property and his punishment fixed as above stated.

Rev. F A. Wharton, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Sherman, Tex., was the owner of a Ford touring car, equipped with seat covers, self-starter, and a gasoline-saving device. On July 15, 1917, this car was stolen, and on July 19th following was found in the possession of one Anthony at Achille, Okl., who had purchased same from this defendant. The seat covers, the gasoline-saving device, part of the self-starter, and the license tag had been removed, and the car was identified by the owner by means of the engine number and a dent on the car caused by a collision.

Anthony Wharton, and an officer from Sherman, Tex., proceeded to Durant, Okl., the home of defendant, and the articles which had been removed from the car, with the exception of the license tag, were found in defendant's barn. Defendant denied that he knew the value of these articles, and stated at first that they had been removed before the car was put in his barn, but subsequently stated that they were removed after the car was put in the barn.

The state's evidence shows that defendant made at least three contradictory statements as to the price he claimed to have paid for the car; that he stated to Anthony before the sale was consummated that he (defendant) had secured the car from some real estate men, when as a matter of fact he secured the car from two young men who lived in Denison, Tex., one of whom defendant said he had known for four or five years and yet did not know his name.

Defendant as a witness in his own behalf, denied any knowledge on his part that the car was stolen when he received same.

Several witnesses testified that the general reputation of defendant for truth and veracity was bad. Defendant put his reputation as an honest, upright, and law-abiding citizen in issue, and the state introduced one witness who testified that such reputation of defendant was bad.

The only contention here is that the trial court erred in giving the following instruction, which was excepted to at the time:

"As to the defendant knowing that the automobile was stolen, it is not necessary that somebody should have told him that it was stolen, but it is necessary that he must have actually known that it was stolen, or that he knew such facts as made him believe that in all probability it was stolen. And in ascertaining whether or not he had such guilty knowledge, you will take into consideration all of the facts and circumstances which have been introduced in evidence, and you will consider the time and manner of receiving the automobile, the persons from whom he received it, his conduct with it afterwards, and his disposal of it, the price which he received, and all other facts and circumstances; and if after such consideration you find beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew that the automobile was stolen at the time he received the same, or that he knew such facts as made him believe that in all probability it was stolen, and he received it under those circumstances, that is sufficient as to his knowledge of its being stolen. And if

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