92 P.2d 45 | Kan. | 1939
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Defendant was convicted of the crime of grand larceny. He appeals, contending there was no competent evidence that the value of the articles taken was over twenty dollars, and that there was error in the instructions to the jury.
The property taken consisted of farming implements. The owner was a witness and testified, naming the articles taken, stating their condition for use, and that they were usable as farming tools and equipment. He testified as to the value of each article, in some cases basing his opinion on what similar articles had sold for at public sales. Appellant contends that market value was not proved, and that the owner’s testimony as to value was incompetent. He cites no authority in support of his contention. In Lawson v. Southern Fire Ins. Co., 137 Kan. 591, 599, 21 P. 2d 387, this court recognized the rule that an owner is presumed to know the value of
Appellant complains also that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury. The record discloses that when the jury was instructed no objection was made to the instructions as given nor were any other instructions requested. Appellant is hardly in position to complain. (See State v. Brown, 145 Kan. 247, 65 P. 2d 333.) We have, however, examined the two complaints under this specification of error.
The first is that the trial court told the jury that in order to find the defendant guilty they must find from the evidence he took some one or more of the articles charged to have been stolen, without instructing them that the article so taken must be found to be of the value of twenty dollars or more. The argument is that this referred to one article, that the jury may have believed defendant took only one article, and the jury may have been misled into believing that taking of one article only warranted a conviction of grand larceny, even though there was no contention that any single article was worth $20. We think appellant’s construction of the instruction is incorrect. The other complaint is that the court erred in not defining the phrase “color of right.” The phrase is twice used in the instructions. For instance, in defining larceny, the court told the jury it was committed by a person who unlawfully steals the property of another with intent to convert it to his own use “without color of right or lawful excuse for the act, and without the owner’s consent.” The gist of appellant’s argument is that in the absence of definition the jury was misled. We cannot agree. It is not necessary that the court define every phrase used by it. To so require would result in instructions of interminable length, with definition.
Appellee’s motion that the appeal be dismissed has not been overlooked, but will not be ruled on.
It appearing there was no error in the trial, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.