Undеr our statute G. S. 1935, 21-524, the defendant was charged in one count with burglary and larceny. He was convicted of burglary in the second degreе and of larceny, and appeals.
On April 11, 1939, the home of C. N. Puckett in Kansas City was burglarized. Entrance was made by raising a window. Various articles of personal property, including a suit of clothes, were stolen. An employee of a pawnshop in Kansas City, Mo., testified' that he had been employed in the pawnshop for fifteen years; that he knew the defendant, that on April 12, 1939, the defendant pawned the suit of clothes in question at the pawnshop; that defendant was not required to sign the pawnshop ticket “becаuse he had previously signed a pawn slip for another suit that he pawned on April 6, 1939, by affixing thereto the name of Harry Todd.”
Puckett tеstified that the suit of clothes pawned on April 12,1939, was the suit stolen from his home.
On August 12, 1939, the defendant was arrested, fingerprinted and required to sign his nаme on the fingerprint card. The fingerprints were compared with prior fingerprints of defendant taken in 1927 on the occasion of the arrest of defendant on similar offenses and there was testimony that the fingerprints were made by the same person. There was also testimony that the signatures made on the fingerprint cards in 1927 and 1939 and the signature “Harry Todd” made on the pawn slip above mentiоned were made by one and the same person.
A detective in the police department in Kansas City testified that he was аcquainted with the defendant; that he was present in the courtroom when the defendant pleaded guilty to burglary and larceny of а dwelling house by breaking and entering on October 31, 1927, and on the same day the witness heard the defendant plead guilty to a similar offense committed on November 1, 1927. The witness testified that in each of these burglaries entrance was made through a window.
The testimony relаting to the offenses committed in 1927 was objected to by defendant on the ground that such prior offenses were distinct and unrelated to the crime charged; that such evidence was highly prejudicial to the rights of the defendant and was an attempt on the part оf the state to prove the defendant guilty of the crime
Defendant asserts error was committed in the admission of the evidence of the separate offenses committed in 1.927 and in the giving of certain instructions.
Under the law of this state, unexplained possession of recently stolen property is prima facie evidence of guilt sufficient to warrant conviction. (State v. Bell,
In State v. Rice,
"Proof that a burglary was committed and that the stolen goods were shortly thereafter found in the possession of the accused, when considered in connection with аll the other facts and circumstances of the case, including his failure satisfactoria to explain such possession, will sustain a conviction of burglary.”
See, also, State v. Imm, 112 Kan. 56, 209 Pac. 982; State v. Lentz,
Instruction No. 13 given by the court below is assigned as error. This instruction stated the law as to the inferences which might bе drawn from the possession of stolen goods as outlined above. The •instruction sufficiently stated the law and did not constitute reversible error.
The evidence disclosed that the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary and larceny committed on Oсtober 31, 1927, and to a charge of burglary and larceny committed on November 1,1927. In each case it appeared that еntrance was made through a window, and in each instance the defendant pawned the articles taken from the dwelling houses thаt were burglarized.
The purpose for which this evidence could be considered by the jury was stated in the following instruction to the jury:
“11. In this case evidence has been offered of facts and circumstances tending to show other offenses similar to that charged in thе information in this case, and you are instructed that evidence concerning the commission of other similar offenses by the defеndant is competent and proper in this case, and may be considered by the jury for the purpose of determining the scienter or intent оf the defendant, to show his motive, lack of mistake, or his plan or system of operation at the time of the taking and carrying away of the property alleged in the information, if any property was taken and carried away by him, and this evidence must not be considered by the jury of any other purpose whatsoever.”
In State v. Reuter,
“Such evidence may, in the discretion of the court, be received for the purpose оf proving identity of the accused, 'to show his motive, intent, scienter, lack of mistake, or his plan or system of operation.” (p. 567.)
In the Reuter сase the defendant was charged with the larceny of domestic fowls in the nighttime. Evidence of crimes committed several months рreviously was admitted as bearing on the similarity of system and plan of operation.
See, also, State v. Bartholomew,
Mere remoteness of similar offenses affect the weight rather than the admissibility of the evidence. (State v. Ridgway, supra; State v. King, supra; State v. France,
Under the instruction given by the court, the jury was allowed to consider the plan оr system of operation between the other crimes and the crime for which defendant was being tried, and was cautioned as tо the purpose for which the evidence was not to be considered. We do not think the instruction is open to the objections urged by defendant.
The defendant also contends in his brief that the evidence taken as a whole is insufficient to support the verdict finding him guilty of the crime charged. There is some difference betwéen the abstract and the counter abstract as to whether this questiоn was raised before the trial court on the motion for a new trial. Be that as it may, the court is of the opinion that there is substantial, competent evidence in the record from which the jury might find the defendant guilty. Such being the case, this last assignment of error cannot be sustained. (State v. Klein,
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.