Trent v. Commonwealth
Trent v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The accused has been convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for eighteen months in accordance with the verdict.
“The court instructs the jury that if they believe from the evidence that the defendant, Trent, came into the possession of the ring in question fairly and legally, and that at the time of coming into such possession he entertained no criminal intent to commit larceny thereof, and that, thereafter, he became so much under the influence of ardent spirits as to have been incapable of forming and entertaining criminal intent, and that while under such influence, and without the knowledge of what he was doing, he lost the ring, or misplaced it, or allowed it to get out of his possession, then he would not be guilty of the larceny thereof.”
The addition thereto reads:
“You are further instructed, however, that if, after regaining consciousness, he discovered the said ring or its whereabouts and concealed the same, or aided and abetted another 'in its concealment, with the intent to deprive the owner of the possession thereof permanently, then he would be guilty of the larceny thereof.”
This assignment is based upon the statute, Code 1919, section 4451, relating to the embezzlement or appropriation of property to one’s own use which came lawfully into his possession. The pertinent language of the statute relied on reads thus: “If any person wrongfully and fraudulently use, dispose of, conceal, or embezzle * * * personal property, tangible or intangible, which he shall have received for another, or for his employer, principal or bailor * * *
There were four other instructions which fully and repeatedly cautioned the jury that there was a presumption of innocence, which followed the accused throughout the case, that he could not be convicted until the Commonwealth overcame that presumption beyond reasonable doubt by clear, distinct and reliable evidence, and that he could not be convicted of larceny unless it was shown beyond all doubt by clear, distinct and reliable evidence that after the ring was given to him he disposed of it for his own use, or fraudulently and unlawfully concealed the ring for the purpose of converting it to his own use. Wadley v. Commonwealth, 98 Va. 803, 35 S. E. 452, cited in support of this assignment has no application to the facts of this case. There it was held error to refuse an instruction which was supported by evidence, to the effect that unless the act was done with criminal intent, and that if the conversion was made under an honest belief of the accused that he has a bona fide claim of right to do so, the jury could not convict. There is no evidence here that the accused ever made any claim to the ring. On the contrary he admitted that he received it from Nolan and only claimed that because of his insensibility from drunkenness he did not know what had become of it. The criticism of the instruction is without justification, for it simply repeated in substance a part of similar instructions which had been given to the jury upon the motion of the accused.
We find no reversible error.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.