56 S.E.2d 633 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1949
1. The evidence authorized the verdict, finding the defendant guilty of larceny.
2. The evidence authorized the court's charge on the subject of flight.
3. The evidence authorized the charge on the possession of recently stolen property, unexplained.
4. The evidence excepted to in ground 1 was admissible as a link in the chain of circumstances, showing the entire transaction.
It seems to us that, while no one of the circumstances here would have been sufficient to prove the guilt of the defendant, yet all of them taken together authorized the jury to infer that the defendant was guilty as charged. The cotton found in the defendant's car was of the same variety as that lost by the prosecutor, and on the day before the cotton was stolen the defendant and Granville Smith had been in the vicinity of the field from which the cotton was stolen when they had driven to Tatum's house. There were, judging from the two sets of tracks *588 in the cotton field, two persons who participated in the theft of the cotton; the cotton found at Granville Smith's was of the variety lost by the prosecutor, and bore red-clay stains as did the prosecutor's cotton. The defendant had fled following the examination of the tires on his car, although nothing was said to him concerning the theft of the cotton and his impending arrest, and he could not be located for a period of about a month or until he surrendered in company with his attorney; several witnesses testified that the loose cotton was in the back of the defendant's car; some testified simply that it was loose cotton; others testified that it was of the D. P. L. variety grown by the prosecutor. The defendant in his statement to the jury made no reference to any cotton in the back of his car; and while it is true that his statement could have been construed as a general denial of guilt, and he might have considered this denial sufficient without denying or explaining the presence of this or any other cotton in his car, if any, the jury might also have taken into consideration in arriving at its verdict this failure by the defendant to explain or expressly deny that any cotton was in his car. From these circumstances, we think that the jury was authorized to find the defendant guilty of the theft of the cotton.
2. The court charged the jury on the subject of flight. The correctness of the charge as a rule of evidence is not challenged, but its applicability in the case is denied. The defendant contended that no evidence adduced upon the trial authorized the charge on this subject. The sheriff testified: that he found that one of the tires on the car in the defendant's yard had made the peculiarly characteristic track found at the scene of the theft; that the defendant was at his home during the investigators' examination of the tires on the defendant's car; that, since he had no warrant for the defendant's arrest, he returned to town to obtain the warrant, but upon his return the defendant could not be found at his home and, though he sought to locate him on many occasions, he never did; and that the defendant was never found until some thirty days later, when he surrendered in company with his attorney. This was sufficient evidence of flight to authorize the charge on that subject. The weight to be given this circumstance was for the determination of the jury. There is no merit in ground 3. *589
3. Ground 2 complains of the following charge to the jury: "I charge you, gentlemen, that where one is found in possession of property recently stolen and that possession is not explained to the satisfaction of the jury, this circumstance is to be considered by the jury and may authorize a conviction." This charge is objected to on the ground that it is not warranted by the evidence in the case. "It not infrequently happens that the testimony proves more than any one witness knows, or than is known to all the witnesses taken together. This is so perhaps in every instance where the evidence, though sufficient, is only circumstantial. Where the evidence is all direct, the jury can be no wiser than the witnesses, but they have to be wiser in order to find the truth of any fact upon circumstantial evidence alone. Nor to justify a charge is it requisite that the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, should be free from obscurity. To warrant the court in charging the jury on a given topic, such as whether certain land was included in a purchase by certain persons of other land, it is not necessary that the evidence should shine upon it with a clear light. It is enough if glimpses of it be afforded by the evidence. Truth is often dim, but is truth nevertheless. Frequently amongst the facts best proved is one which no witness has mentioned in his testimony, such fact being an inference from other facts." Brown v. Matthews,
4. Ground 1 excepts to the introduction of the following evidence: "Yes, I examined some cotton over at Granville Smith's; it was on a wagon right back of his house. It was D. P. L. cotton. I examined it to see whether there were any stains on it. Yes, there were stains, it was red dirt. As to what kind of land that is over there where Granville Smith and L. C. Rogers live; well, that is the first time I was ever over there, and it was after night, and it looked to me kind of a slatey land." The defendant objected to the introduction of this evidence with regard to the cotton found on the wagon back of Granville Smith's house, on the ground that this evidence in no way connected the defendant with the theft of the prosecutor's cotton. The court allowed this evidence on the ground that the defendant *590
and Granville Smith had been riding around together in the defendant's car, in the vicinity in which the cotton was stolen, the afternoon before the theft; and the jury was authorized to find that this car was the one in which the cotton was transported, and that the car belonged to the defendant. This evidence was admitted as a link in the chain of circumstances which the State contended connected the defendant with the theft of the cotton and showed his guilt. "Each fact is proved separately, and the case can not be made out all at once. If enough is not shown, the defendant can not be convicted; but no relevant fact can be excluded because by itself it does not prove the whole case. See People v. Saunders,
5. The cases cited in the brief of the defendant are distinguished by their facts from the instant case. Particularly is this true under the circumstances here. As discussed in the other divisions of the opinion, the defendant Rogers was present at his home when the investigators came to the house and examined the tires on the defendant's car, one of which bore the telltale *591
mark. The defendant was never informed why the investigators were examining the car, nor was he accused of any crime. The sheriff left the defendant's house for the purpose of obtaining a warrant for his arrest, but the defendant was not so informed. However, upon the return of the sheriff, the defendant was not to be found at his home nor could he be located until some thirty days later. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Prov. 28:1. It might also be observed that the defendant in his statement to the jury made no explanation of his flight. Sewell v. State,
For the foregoing reasons, the court did not err in overruling the motion for a new trial.
Judgment affirmed. Gardner and Townsend, JJ., Concur.