3 Ga. App. 600 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1908
John Cuthbert was convicted of the crime of burglary. On the trial of the case thS evidence clearly established the commission of the offense of burglary, and the further fact that from the house burglarized there were stolen a suit of clothes, a pair of suspenders, and razors. The evidence relied upon by the 'State was that on the day after the commission of the burglary, the defendant was in possession of the suit of clothes which had been stolen from the house when burglarized the night before. This possession of the defendant, it is claimed, being unexplained by him, was sufficient to authorize a conviction. On this controlling
Of course it is well-settled that the exclusive and unexplained possession of stolen property recently after a theft, or after burglary in the commission of which a theft was perpetrated, may raise a presumption of fact that the party in possession is the thief or burglar; and would be sufficient as a basis of conviction, where the larceny or burglary had been established beyond a reasonable doubt. But this portion of the charge went further than merely allowing the jury the right to draw ap inference of guilt from the fact of unexplained -and recent possession of the stolen property, and instructed them that the law from this circumstance assumed the existence of guilt. We do not think that a party can be adjudged guilty of larceny or burglary, as a matter of law, "upon proof that property has been stolen, and recently thereafter found in his possession, of which possession he fails to make a reasonable explanation. Such proof shows a strong-probability of guilt, but it is for the jury to determine its force, after due consideration -of all the facts and circumstances which affect its probative value, such as the length of time that has elapsed between the taking and the possession, the nature and character of the property; and to determine, from all these facts and circumstances, the question of guilt; but the court can never, however conclusive the presumption of fact may be, direct the jury, as matter of
Pollock, C. B., in the case of Reg. v. Langmead, reported in B Cox’s Criminal Cases, 464, on this subject lays down the rule as follows: “It is a presumption of fact, and not an implication of law, from evidence of recent possession of stolen property unaccounted for, whether the offense of stealing' has been committed.” Greenleaf, in his invaluable treatise, says, “The presumption, being not conclusive, but disputable, is to be dealt with by the jury alone, as a mere inference of fact.” 3 Gr. Ev. (15th ed.) §31; Wharton, in his Criminal Evidence (8th ed.), §758, states, that this presumption, while it has frequently been declared to be a presumption of law, is really an inference of fact, and that the court may properly tell the jury that the possession hv the party of stolen goods is a fact from which his complicity in the larceny may be inferred. “It is purely an inference of fact, to be dealt with by the jury, and not one of law to be applied by the court.” Graves v. State, 12 Wis. 593. The Supreme Court of Washington, in State v. Bliss, 27 Wash. 463 (68 Pac. 87), held that the following instruction on the presumption arising from the possession of recently stolen property was erroneous: “If the jury believe the defendant was', found in the possession of the property stolen, soon after it was stolen, such possession is a strong criminating circumstance tending to show the guilt of the defendant';” this decision being based on the ground that possession of recently stolen property was simply a fact to be considered by the jury as any other fact, and that its weight was for the jury alone. In a very able and elaborate opinion on this question, the Supreme' Court of New Hampshire, in. State v. Hodge, 50 N. H. 510, declares, “It is useless to call such a presumption a presumption of law. Call it what we may, it is a presumption of fact. , . It is a presumption established by no legal rule, ascertained by no legal test, defined by no legal terms, measured by no legal standard, bounded by no legal limits. It has none of the characteristics of law. . . Being a presumption of
From all these decisions, we think that the proper rule on this question is that any presumption that may be drawn from the unexplained possession of the fruits of a crime which has been recently committed is a presumption of fact merely. In other words, it is only the inference that one fact may exist from the proof of .another, and does not amount to a rule of law. The facts which must be proved before this presumption arises clearly make it ■evidentiary in character. Before the presumption can arise, such possession must be recently after the commission of the crime. What would be a recent possession is in all cases a question for the jury, to be determined very largely from the character and nature of the property stolen. In other words, what is recent possession can not be absolutely determined by any rule of law. The ■determination does not depend merely upon the lapse of time, but depends also upon the nature of the article stolen, and whether they are of a kind likely to pass rapidly from hand to hand, or are such as the partj' might, from his habits of life or the nature of his vocation, become innocently possessed of. The weight of this presumption, whether recent or otherwise, depends very largely upon the character of the property stolen and the character of the possessor. If the property was such that it passed readily from hand to hand, or such as the accused might reasonably have had in his possession, the presumption might- justly be regarded as weak. But if the property was such as did not readily pass from hand to hand, and was such as the accused could not be ordinarily expected to have in his possession, the presumption would be strong. All these facts and circumstances are to be determined by the jury, and are to be considered by them in coming to their conclusion. The vice' in the charge sub judice is that the court treated the circumstances indicating guilt, and from which the jury might infer guilt, as circumstances which the law considered sufficient to justify the assumption of guilt. Such instruction was tantamount to telling the jury that a deduction which they were authorized to draw from proof of certain facts was more than a mere inference from facts, and that the proof of such facts constituted a legal .■assumption of guilt. The facts in this case from which the jury
We do not deem it necessary to decide the other questions made-in the motion for a new trial. Judgment reversed.