16 Ga. App. 221 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1915
Lead Opinion
Edmund Graham was convicted of the larceny of a cow described in the indictment as “one blue and white speckled female cow about two and a half years old, with horns, unmarked, of the personal property of T. M. Paulk,” etc. His motion for a new trial was based on the general grounds and on one special
T. M. Pollock, sworn for the State, testified, that on the day of the commitment trial he asked the defendant “who killed that cow down there where they found that hide buried,” and he said “I killed it,” and added that it was Mr. Tim Paulk’s cow, and he (the defendant) knew it was Mr. Paulk’s cow when he killed it. W. A. Tucker, sheriff of Irwin county, testified that the defendant
It appears from this testimony, which we have given almost in full, that there were ample circumstances from which the jury could infer the defendant’s guilt to the exclusion of reasonable doubt. Obviously the beef in his buggy when he was detected by Spicer was stolen beef. His conduct in firing his gun at Spicer because Spicer hailed him can not be explained on any other theory. He must -have been in a highly wrought-up state of mind, nervous and excited, and fearful of discovery; for not only did he shoot at Spicer without any sufficient cause, but when Spicer fired back and wounded him, the defendant, instead of announcing who he was or making any effort to prevent the firing of further shots towards him, or doing anything more to protect his mule and buggy and the beef in the buggy, turned and fled, and it does not appear that he made any effort to have the buggy and the considerable supply of fresh meat that he left in it cared for until the evening of the following day, when he saw Spicer and requested him to remove the beef and hide, and instructed him how to dispose thereof — possibly
The defendant’s confession appears to have sufficiently shown that he killed a cow belonging to Tim Paulk, a speckled heifer about two and a half years old. The indictment charged him with stealing a blue and white speckled female cow, about two and a half years old, which had horns, was unmarked, and belonged to T. M. Paulk. So it appears that his confession of itself did not absolutely identify the cow, which he admitted stealing as being the particular cow belonging to Paulk which was described in the indictment; but, according to the testimony, Paulk had only lost one cow, the cow described in the indictment, and the. defendant several times admitted that he knew that the cow he had stolen belonged to Paulk; so from this it would appear that the cow he admitted stealing and the cow described in the indictment must have been the same. Again, the hide dug up in Spicer’s garden two or three weeks after the loss of the cow, though somewhat decayed, was described by the prosecutor as a “white speckled hide,” with “indications” that its color was the same as that of the lost cow; and Spicer asserted that while he could not tell the sort of cow the hide came from, he was able to determine that the cow “had black and white on her.” While the indictment described the cow as “one blue and white speckled” cow, this description would include equally well a cow which was black and white speckled, since it is a matter of common knowledge that, literally speaking, no cow on this mundane sphere is actually “blue,” though cows of that color may possibly browse through the valleys of the moon, graze along the banks of the canals that seam the face of the planet Mars, or disport themselves in the realms of fairyland. According to the vernacular of the woods and fields, of “Craekerdom” at least,
It is insisted by the plaintiff in error that there was not sufficient proof of the venue. It is well settled that “venue may be proved by circumstantial evidence as well as by direct proof, if the circumstances proved equally satisfy the mind.” Dyer v. State, 6 Ga. App. 390 (65 S. E. 42). In Cook v. State, 9 Ga. App. 208 (70 S. E. 1019), it was said that proof that certain stolen hogs were on a range in Miller county shortly prior to their asportation was sufficient evidence, when taken in connection with the fact that the hogs were found in the possession of the defendant, to authorize the inference that the taking was in Miller county. In this case it appears that the cow ranged in Irwin county, and was seen for the last time in that county and only a short distance from where the accused was later discovered in the possession of a hide which practically corresponded with the description of the hide of the stolen
Under the ruling in the Qooh case, supra, and taking not only the circumstances mentioned immediately above, but the entire evidence, with the confession of the accused, it is clear that the evidence was sufficient to exclude any hypothesis other than that the cow was stolen and butchered in the county of Irwin.
Judgment affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring specially. Under the authorities cited and others that could be mentioned, I think the evidence was sufficient to establish the venue. I think, too, the fact adverted to by my brother Wade, that Paulk had lost only one cow, coupled with the confession of the defendant that the cow he killed was Paulk’s, established larceny’ as alleged. In the conclusion reached by the court, therefore, I concur, though I am unable to express any opinion as to the extramundane localities referred to, and furthermore I am. unwilling to state that it rests within my judicial knowledge that there are not cows that can be properly denominated as “blue” cows. I do not commit myself to the proposition that a blue cow can be called a black cow, or vice versa, or that the only fundamental basis upon which the designation of blueness depends is- the commingling of black and white hairs. With this cautionary proviso, I fully agree with the decision of the court.