196 Iowa 480 | Iowa | 1923
It was proper for the State to show the character of the premises from which the stolen property was taken, and of those found in the possession thereof. The house was evidently a rendezvous of desperate criminals. All of the clothing seized by the officers was identified by the merchants from whose stores it had been stolen in the nighttime by someone who had broken and entered the storeroom in which it was kept. The court might well have excluded the offer of the clothing taken from the body of Murray, and of the guns; but the admission thereof, if erroneous, in view of the admissible testimony as to what occurred at the house, was clearly without prejudice. The presence of the stolen property in the house and haystack was in no manner explained. The court properly permitted the State to show everything that occurred at the house, as bearing upon its character as a place where stolen property was received and concealed. State v. Robinson, 170 Iowa 267; State v. Minella, 177 Iowa 283; State v. Bigelow, 101 Iowa 430.
The other ridings of the court complained of relate to the instructions given and to the refusal to give others requested by the defendant.
V. Complaint is made of the refusal of the court to give requested Instructions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Instruction No. 1 was a mere cautionary instruction, the giving or refusal of which was largely discretionary with the court. Requested Instruction No. 4 related to circumstantial evidence. The evidence of the State was by no means wholly circumstantial, and the instruction in the form in which it was presented was properly refused. The court might properly have given some parts of
Requested Instruction No. 3 was similar in its nature, but referred to the evidence of the burglary of the store at Elkhorn and Pisgah. Evidence of these crimes was admissible for the purpose of showing that thé property found upon the premises at the time of the search was stolen, and could not properly be considered upon the question of the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The court, however, by the twelfth paragraph of its charge, fully covered this matter.
Requested Instruction No. 8 related to the knowledge of the defendant that the clothing had been stolen. The matters covered by this instruction were necessarily covered by the charge of the court, and the refusal to give the requested instruction was not error.
Complaint is also made of several paragraphs of the court’s charge to the jury. We shall not set out or review these instructions. We have examined them with care, and find no error therein. The charge, as a whole, could properly have
We have not reviewed in detail all of the evidence, nor referred specifically to each of tbe alleged errors assigned. We have, however, considered tbe record carefully, and reach tbe conclusion that the defendant bad a fair trial; and the judgment of tbe court below is — Affirmed.