Alexander v. State
Alexander v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
By the second instruction the jury were informed that if
. If the only incriminating fact against the defendant believed by the jury was that his wagon had been used with his knowledge in hauling to his smoke-house the beef of the cow which was killed, this would not have authorized a verdict of guilty. The defendant may have known that his wagon was used in hauling the beef without having also known that a larceny of the cow had been committed, in which event he would not be guilty of any offence whatever, or he may have known that his wagon was so used to haul the beef of which the larceny was at that time completed, in which event he would be guilty of receiving stolen goods knowing them to have been stolen and not of larceny.
By the first instruction it is declared that it is larceny to kill a cow with intent to appropriate it to the use of the trespasser without the consent of the owner. This instruction, as was declared in the recent ease of Barnes v. The State, ante, p. 355, is erroneous in this that it excludes the necessity for an asportation of the property to constitute larceny. As there
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Alex. Alexander v. State
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Labceny. Nature of offence. Instruction. Casein judgment. A. was indicted for the larceny of a cow. On the trial the jury were instructed ' • for the State that if they believed the cow alleged to have been stolen was killed and any part of the beef of said cow was found shortly afterwards in the possession of the defendant, or that the hide of the cow was traced to his , possession, or that defendant’s wagon was used with his knowledge in hauling said beef to his smoke-house, and defendant’s possession of said beef or hide or the use of his wagon and team was not explained by the whole evidence to their satisfaction, tbeu they were warranted in finding defendant guilty. Held, that this instruction was erroneous (1) because the defendant may have known that his wagon was used in hauling to his house the beef of the cow which was killed without also having known that a larceny had been committed, in which event he would have been guilty of no crime; and (2) because even though he may have known that the wagon was so used to haul the beef of which the larceny was at that time cbmpleted, he would not be guilty of larceny, but of receiving stolen goods, knowing the same to have been stolen. 2. Same. Definition. Asportation necessary. An instruction which tells the jury that it is larceny for a trespasser to kill a cow with intent to appropriate it to his own use without the consent of the owner is erroneous in excluding the necessity for an asportation of the property as an element of the crime.