Jones v. State
Jones v. State
Opinion
Second degree burglary, grand larceny and buying, receiving and concealing stolen property; sentence: ten years imprisonment.
Around 7:30 a.m. on November 3, 1976, Mrs. Doris Hardy locked her mobile home and departed for work. She returned around 5:00 p.m. and found that her residence had been burglarized. A collection of valuables were missing which included: silver ingots valued at $30 each, old coins and currency valued at $1,800, jewelry and watches valued at $5,000, and a handmade pillowcase valued at $10.
Between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. that same day, the appellant accompanied by one Kenneth Hallman and an unidentified companion came to the mobile home of Jimmy Wilson who dealt in stolen merchandise. *Page 1223 They asked Amy Atchison, Wilson's co-habiting girl friend, if they could speak with Wilson. Appellant was carrying the pillowcase which he emptied onto a bed revealing the items stolen from the Hardy residence. Wilson informed the appellant and Hallman that he did not want the jewelry and advised them to get rid of it. They departed, leaving the coins with Wilson. Wilson then gave Amy Atchison the pillowcase and told her to get rid of it. She hid it and, after moving out of Wilson's residence about a week later, she returned the pillowcase to Mrs. Hardy and informed on the others.
Shortly after the appellant and his companions had left Wilson's mobile home, Wilson had Atchison call one A.L. Kropp, who later came by around 7:00 p.m. and appraised the stolen goods for Wilson. The appellant and Hallman returned a short time later without their previous companion, and Kropp began negotiating with them for the purchase of the valuables. After haggling over a price for a while, Kropp paid them $300 for the stolen goods, and the two departed. Wilson immediately reimbursed Kropp the $300 for the purchase, and Kropp then departed and Wilson kept the goods. At Wilson's direction, Amy Atchison put the stolen goods in a paper bag and delivered them to Wilson's mother. Amy testified that she followed Wilson's orders only because she was afraid of him.
Specifically, the appellant contends that the trial judge erred in charging the jury that as a matter of law Amy Atchison was not an accomplice. He further contends that his written requested charge concerning the necessity for corroborating the testimony of an accomplice was erroneously refused by the trial judge.
The Supreme Court of Alabama in Ex parte State (re: SamuelYarber v. State), Ala., ___ So.2d ___ [Ms. July 14, 1978, SC 2622], held that in cases where the issue of whether or not a witness is an accomplice is a disputed fact, the issue must be presented to the jury. However, we find that Yarber does not apply in the instant situation. It is clear from the evidence that neither Atchison nor Kropp was implicated in the burglary or the larceny. The only claim as to their complicity would relate only to the charge of buying, receiving or concealing stolen property (referred to by the trial judge and in the judgment entry only as "receiving and concealing stolen property").
The trial court was correct in ruling as a matter of law that Amy Atchison was not an accomplice. The same is true of Kropp. It is the appellant's initial reception or concealment of stolen goods which is the subject of the instant charge, not his subsequent transfer or sale of the goods to Kropp or Wilson. Thus, neither Kropp nor Amy Atchison was an accomplice in the original acquisition of the stolen property by the appellant. The purchase of the stolen property by Kropp (for Wilson) and Amy Atchison's concealment thereof were separate and distinct from the appellant's initial reception of the goods which was "chronologically anterior" to Kropp's purchase. This case is controlled by Kyles v. State, Ala.Cr.App.,
"Having nothing further to say, it is the judgment of the Court that you are guilty of grand larceny as charged in the indictment and the Court fixes your punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary of Alabama for a period of ten years. . . ." (Emphasis supplied.)
On the other hand, the judgment entry recites:
". . . It is, therefore, considered by the Court and it is the order and judgment of the Court that the defendant, JOHNNY JONES, is guilty of BURGLARY IN SECOND DEGREE, GRAND LARCENY AND RECEIVING AND CONCEALING STOLEN PROPERTY as charged in the indictment."
It is well settled that recitals in the judgment entry import absolute verity unless contradicted by other portions of therecord. Twyman v. State,
The unexplained possession of recently stolen goods will support an inference of burglary and of larceny if there is also proof of breaking and entering and theft of the goods so connected in time as to permit the further inference that the larceny was the product of the breaking and entering. Goode v.State, Ala.Cr.App.,
The verdict of the jury was proper; however, the case must be remanded to the circuit court for proper sentencing. The sentence pronounced in the presence of the appellant is different from that recited in the judgment entry. In addition, an accused may not be found guilty of both larceny and buying, receiving or concealing the same stolen property. Nicholson v.State, Ala.Cr.App.,
The trial court is directed to resentence the appellant in conformity with the authorities herein cited and to correct the judgment entry to reflect the sentence pronounced.
CONVICTION AFFIRMED; REMANDED FOR PROPER SENTENCING.
All the Judges concur.
The general verdict of guilty is supported by the evidence as to each count of the indictment. As stated in the original opinion, the evidence would directly support a conviction for buying, receiving, etc., and by inference support a conviction on the burglary and larceny counts. The Davidson-Nicholson proposition set out in our original opinion is correct in that "an accused may not be found guilty of both larceny and buying, receiving or concealing the same stolen property." However, we should have gone further to add "provided the issue is properly and timely raised in the trial court."
Requests for the affirmative charge on each specific count of the indictment is one method of raising the issue. Nicholson, supra. However, in the instant case, the appellant requested a general affirmative charge to the indictment as a whole. If the evidence tended to support any count in the indictment, then the trial court could not have properly granted an affirmative charge to the entire indictment.
The trial court charged the jury that the appellant could be found guilty on all three offenses by returning a general verdict of "guilty as charged in the indictment." The appellant made no exception to that portion of the trial court's oral charge.
No reversible error resulted from the general verdict in this case. Where one or more counts of a multi-count indictment are sustained by the evidence, a general verdict of guilty will be referred to the good counts. Watson v. State,
The appellant failed to state the Davidson-Nicholson issue in any manner in the trial court. Not only did he fail to request the affirmative charge as to each specific count of the indictment, he also failed to except to the trial court's charge to the jury concerning the form of their verdict. But, most importantly, neither did the appellant move the trial court to require the State to elect as to which of the two counts in question it would seek conviction. Deason v. State, Ala.,
Lest the reference to Nicholson and Davidson in our original opinion lead to confusion, we extend our opinion on rehearing to state that unless that issue is properly and timely brought to the attention of the trial court, it may not be raised for the first time on appeal. The trial court is therefore not required in this case to elect between counts in pronouncing sentence on the general verdict of the jury. The trial court is directed, as set out in our original opinion, to resentence appellant and to correct the judgment entry. The sentence and judgment entry should conform with each other and with the verdict of the jury.
OPINION EXTENDED; APPLICATION OVERRULED.
All the Judges concur.
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