Billinglea v. State
Billinglea v. State
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was indicted and found guilty of burglary at night. He moved for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence. The court overruled the motion, and the single question is, shall this court control the discretion of the presiding judge in not granting the new trial ?
The facts are that a smoke-house, in the yard and within the curtilage of the dwelling house, built of logs, was broken into by prizing out two of the logs so as to make a hole large enough to enter and steal the meat. Five hams and five' middlings, worth $2 50 a piece, and three shoulders, worth $1 75 a piece, were stolen. There were three poles by which the logs seemed to have been prized up, and three sets of tracks near the smoke-house; one was a large track, eleven to twelve inches long, and the others were smaller, seven or eight inches long; there was also a track at the garden gate, about which some one, from the tracks made, seemed to have been standing. One of the tracks at the smoke-house had a peculiar mark, and was traced to within three hundred yards of defendant’s house and was then lost in straw-sedge. This was the large track, and the size and peculiar mark corresponded with defendant’s boots. The smoke-house was discovered in the morning. On going to defendant’s house to search, two hams were found, identified to be part of those taken from the smoke-house. Defendant said they were his;
This court has held that the possession of stolen goods unaccounted for, while sufficient to convict a defendant of larceny from the house, is not sufficient of itself to convict of burglary. But in this case some of the meat was found at defendant’s, some at his son-in-law’s; the large track at the smoke-house with its peculiar mark, called a crean, at the heel, corresponded with defendant’s foot, while the two smaller tracks might well fit the feet of his two boys; and" the larger track, notwithstanding the rain and softness of the ground, was traced to within three hundred yards of defendant’s house, and could not be traced further, though going directly towards his house, on account of the field of straw. These facts taken in connection with his lies, in our judgment, authorize the verdict.
The effort to put the burglary upon Cochran is from defendant’s own lips, and unsupported by tracks, or size of Cochran’s foot, or anything else, except that he, Cochran, had been seen in the neighborhood. Besides, Cochran might have been present on the watch at the garden gate, or otherwise aiding and abetting the burglary; but this does not show that
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gus Billinglea, in error v. The State of Georgia, in error
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published