State v. Gulizo
State v. Gulizo
Opinion of the Court
Appellant was convicted of the offense of having stolen property in his possession, knowing that it had been stolen. The only question presented is whether the indictment is invalid because it does not contain the word “feloniously.”
The indictment charges that the accused did, on • the day stated, -wilfully and unlawfully receive and have in his possession a certain Ford automobile, the property of one-Henry Maitre, valued at $576, well knowing, at the time of receiving and taking possession of said automobile, that the same had been stolen from said Henry Maitre, contrary to the form of the statute, etc.
It is not, in terms, alleged in the indictment that the accused “feloniously” received the stolen automobile, nor is it alleged that he knew that it had been “feloniously” stolen from Henry Maitre.
The statute which defendant was accused of having violated is Act 72 of 1898, p. 95, amending and re-enacting section 832 of the Revised Statutes of 1870, viz.:
“Whoever shall receive, have or buy any goods, chattels, money or thing of value, that shall have been feloniously taken, stolen, embezzled, or by false pretenses obtained, * * * shall suffer imprisonment, with, or without hard labor, not exceeding two years. Whoever shall receive, harbor or conceal any thief, knowing him or her to be a thief, shall suffer imprisonment not exceeding one year.”
-The statute does not, in terms, require, to constitute guilt, that the party accused shall have feloniously received the stolen goods, chattels, money, or thing of value. It does require, however, to constitute the offense, that the goods, chattels, money, or thing of value shall have been feloniously taken, stolen, embezzled, or by false pretenses obtained, and that the party accused shall have known that the goods, chattels, money, or thing of value shall have been so (meaning feloniously) taken, stolen, embezzled, or by false pretenses obtained. This precise language, with its accurate punctuation, does not necessarily mean that the goods, chattels, money, or .thing of value shall have been either feloniously taken, or feloniously stolen, or feloniously embezzled, or feloniously obtained by false pretenses. It means, most reasonably, that the goods, chattels, money, or thing of value Shall have been feloniously taken, or shall have been
The verdict and sentence appealed from are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE v. GULIZO
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) I. Indictment and information It is not essential to an indictment’s validity that it charge accused committed the crime feloniously, unless the statute denounces the offense only when feloniously done. 2. Indictment and information It is not essential- that an indictment for receiving and possessing stolen goods charge that the goods were feloniously stolen, or that accused received them feloniously, because Rev. St, § 832, as amended by Act No. 72 of 1898 provides for punishment for receiving goods “feloniously taken, stolen,” etc., where the adverb “feloniously” modifies the verb “taken,” and not necessarily the verb “stolen.” 3. Criminal law Where defendant, convicted of receiving stolen goods, moved for new trial, averring that the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence, and particularly that the state failed to prove defendant’s knowledge that the automobile was stolen, reserving a bill of exceptions to the overruling of the motion would have been of no avail, because presenting only a fact within the jury’s province. Dawkins, J., dissenting.