71 S.W.2d 700 | Ark. | 1934
Appellee was placed on trial, under an indictment charging him with the commission of the crime of grand larceny, alleged to have been committed by *325 stealing an electric lighting plant, the property of the National Old Line Life Insurance Company. The theory upon which the insurance company claimed title to the articles alleged to have been stolen was that they were a part of the realty, the title to which had been secured through purchase under a decree foreclosing a mortgage upon which land the light plant was located. The mortgage described only the real estate, and contained no reference to the light plant.
At the conclusion of the testimony, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty under the direction of the court, and it is said that the reasons inducing this action were: (1) that the property alleged to have been stolen was not annexed to the realty in such a way as to become a part of it and subject to the lien held by the mortgagee, and (2) that, if said property was so annexed to the realty as to become a part of it, it was not the subject of larceny. It is apparent that the decision of these questions would involve a consideration of questions of fact. The decision of these interesting questions is foreclosed because they are not properly presented for our review.
A motion for a new trial was filed on the ground "That the court erred in its judgment in directing the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant." It appears, how ever, that this motion was not pressed to a ruling thereon, and that the court adjourned without disposing of the motion.
A motion for a new trial is essential to the review of an alleged error which does not appear upon the face of the record, and is essential in this case to a review of the action of the court in directing the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. The purpose of a motion for a new trial is to call the alleged errors occurring during the trial to the attention of the court, and to afford an opportunity for correction by granting a new trial if the errors may not otherwise be corrected. Nordin v. State,
In the case of Incorporated Town of Corning v. Thompson,
The motion for a new trial in this cause was not acted upon, nor was the judgment set aside at the term *327 at which it was rendered. It therefore became final with the adjournment of the term; and as no error appears upon the face of the record, the judgment must be affirmed, and it is so ordered.