Manion v. State
Manion v. State
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was convicted of grand larceny in the district court for Nuckolls county, for stealing 12 automobile tires, and was sentenced to serve from one to seven years in the penitentiary.' From this conviction, he brings error.
On the night of May 1,1918, the garage of Lockwood, Jackson & Company, at Nelson, was entered, and 12 automobile tires were taken from the store-room. These tires were found on the following day in the possession of one Stephenson, a garage man at Superior. Stephenson, as a witness for the state, testified that he received them from defendant. Defendant denied that he ever negotiated with Stephenson for the sale of the tires, and disclaimed any knowledge of, or part in, the larceny.
Error is predicated upon the admission of the testimony of Lockwood as to the value of the stolen tires. It is claimed that the proper foundation had not been laid, and that the witness was permitted to testify as to the wholesale and retail price of the tires without any knowledge shown of their true value or condition. This objection is not well taken. Lockwood was the manager of the garage from which the tires were stolen. He had purchased tires of this brand from time to time during a period of two years, had ordered these identical tires, and his testimony shows a familiarity with both wholesale and retail prices.
By another assignment, complaint is made of the admission of the evidence of two witnesses calculated to show the time required to drive such an automobile as that described by the witness Stephenson from Superior to Nelson and return. It is claimed that no foundation was laid for this testimony. In view of the record, taken as a whole, this assignment is not well founded.
It is also argued that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. It will serve no useful purpose to set out the details of the evidence; a general summary is sufficient. According to the testimony of Stephenson, defendant had offered to sell him tires such as those described in the information. Stephenson loaned him an automobile for use in bringing the tires to Superior. Late in the night Stephenson found this automobile loaded with the tires, at the back door of his garage. He drove the automobile into the garage, and soon thereafter defendant entered. There was a discussion between them relative
There are circumstances in connection with Stephenson’s story that are calculated to arouse suspicions of his honesty in the transaction. He was tried on the charge of having received the tires, knowing them to have been stolen, but was acquitted. Whether he received the tires in good faith or with a dishonest motive is not material here. The jury were not bound to accept as true the entire story told by Stephenson. They may have doubted his entire innocence, but believed so much of his testimony as was material in the cause before them. Nor were the jury bound to believe the story told by defendant. There is sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the verdict, and it will not be disturbed.
The final point raised by defendant is that the verdict was received in vacation, and hence is void as a privy verdict. The cause was submitted to the jury May 29, 1919. While the jury were deliberating upon the verdict, the court entered an order adjourning the regular May, 1919, term until June 10. May 30 the following entry was made: “The jury send word to the judge of the court that they have arrived at a verdict. This being a legal holiday, and the court not being in session, court is opened by the judge thereof solely for the purpose of receiving the verdict of the jury.’’ In the case of Back v. State, 75 Neb. 603, we held: “Where the record shows an order adjourning a term of the district court to a
The record is free from error, and the judgement is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wallace H. Manion v. State of Nebraska
- Status
- Published