People v. Luchetti

Citations

• 119 Cal. 501
• 51 P. 707
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 661

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Larceny—Evidence—Recent Possession of Stolen Cow— Explanation—Question por Jury.—The possession by the defendant on-the morning after the theft of a stolen cow, which the defendant was accused of stealing, is prima fade evidence of guilty possession, and is a circumstance, to be taken in connection with other corroborating-circumstances, tending to show guilt of the larceny alleged, unless satisfactorily explained; and where the defendant undertook to explain the possession as having been transferred to him by another person, under circumstances detailed by him, and it could not be said that his explanation was so clearly and evidently true that the jury could not find against it except under the influence of passion or prejudice, but there was evidence from which they might rightly conclude that the explanation was fabricated, the question whether his explanation was true and reasonable or fabricated was a question for the jury to determine, and their verdict of guilty cannot be disturbed on the ground that the inference of guilt was removed by the explanation given by the defendant of the circumstances attending his possession.</p> <p>Id.—Sale of Cow to Butcher—Evidence of Previous Proposal to Sell— Absence of Rebuttal.—It appearing that the stolen cow was sold by the defendant to a butcher on the morning after the theft, the testimony of the butcher that about a week previously the defendant asked the butcher if he did not wish to buy a cow, tended, in some degree, to render improbable the defendant’s explanation of his possession of the cow sold, and is not too remote to be inadmissible; and it being in the power of the defendant to rebut such inference if not correct, the failure of the defendant to oiler evidence to show that he had in his possession another cow which he was proposing to sell the week previous added to the improbability of his testimony.</p> <p>Id.—Instructions—Possession of Stolen Property—“Guilty Circumstance.”—The use of the