Barker v. State

453 S.W.2d 413, 248 Ark. 649, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1269
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 4, 1970
Docket5464
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 453 S.W.2d 413 (Barker v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barker v. State, 453 S.W.2d 413, 248 Ark. 649, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1269 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

Carleton Harris, Chief Justice.

Appellants, Lonnie Deane Barker and Clayton Barker, were charged by information on February 17, 1969, with the crime of cattle stealing, it being alleged that they feloniously killed with intent to steal an Angus heifer calf, the property of’Max Trice. The alleged crime occurred on February 6, 1969. On trial, appellants were convicted by a jury and each was sentenced to one year imprisonment in the state penitentiary. From the judgment so entered, appellants bring this appeal. For reversal, it is contended that the court erred in refusing to give appellants’ requested Instruction No. 1, and that appellants were prejudiced by the testimony of the sheriff when he testified that appellants refused to talk with him about the alleged crime, saying that they had rather not tell him anything.

Appellants’ requested Instruction No. 1 was as follows:

“The court instructs you the jury that larceny is the felonious taking of the property of another with the felonious intention of depriving the owner of his property and converting same to his own use and the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants intentionally and feloniously took the property with the intention of depriving the owner thereof.”

The court refused this instruction but gave it in a modified form, leaving out the phrase, “and converting same to his own use.”

The court had already, in its Instruction No. 2, instructed the jury:

“Larceny is the felonious stealing, taking and carrying, riding or driving away the personal property of another with the intent to deprive the true owner of his property. The statute upon which this prosecution is based is as follows:

“ ‘Every person who shall mark, steal or kill, or wound, with intent to steal, any kind of cattle, pigs, hogs, sheep, or goats, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for any time not less than one nor more than five years.’

“The value of the cow is immaterial. If he is guilty of stealing this man’s cow, he is guilty of a felony.

“The defendants start out with the presumption of innocence in their favor, and that presumption of innocence follows them throughout the trial, or until the evidence convinces you of their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the offense occurred in this county and state within three years next before the filing of the information.”

As mentioned, appellants’ requested Instruction No. 1 differs from the modified form of the instruction only in that the version given leaves out the words “and converting same to his own use”. This omission, says appellants, constituted reversible error.

The evidence reflected that Lonnie Barker, his brother Clayton Barker, and Clayton’s wife, Betty, were travelling in an Oldsmobile on Highway 146 towards Stuttgart when Lonnie Barker got out of the car and killed the calf owned by Trice which, with other cattle, was being pastured adjacent to Highway 146. Appellánts then put the dead calf in the trunk of the car, where it was, within a short time, found by the sheriff, who had received a call from a neighbor who witnessed the occurrence. At the trial, the Barkers all testified that they saw a wolf in the field, and that Lonnie Barker was shooting at the wolf, but missed it, and hit the calf. Lonnie testified that he went out into the field looking for the wolf but it “got away”; that the calf was quivering and kicking, with no chance to ■ live, and he shot it in the head. Appellants were aware that the cattle in the field belonged to Trice, and they both testified that they had no intention of depriving Trice of his calf but placed it in the trunk of the car for the purpose of taking it to the owner. They did not stop at Trice’s farm barn since, according to Clayton, Trice’s truck was not there, and they had in mind taking it to the owner’s home in the city of Stuttgart. Appellants were arrested by the sheriff while they were still driving on Highway 146, the officer testifying that the car was travelling 60 or 70 miles per hour, and that he forced them into the ditch. Within a few minutes, Mr. Trice arrived at the scene, and upon request of the sheriff, one of the appellants opened the trunk revealing the calf.

Appellants contend, that inasmuch as they testified that it was their intention to return the dead calf to Mr. Trice, the jury should have been instructed that they must find that appellants had the intent to deprive the owner of his property and to convert the same to their own use.

The objection to the modification of the instruction is tied in with the objections made to Instruction No. 2. The latter objections were as follows:

“To which said instructions the defendants, at the time objected, to the language that the defendants are accused of the crime of grand larceny, they are charged with killing of a cow, property of the prosecuting witness on the 6th of February, 1969. This leaves the jury who is not familiar with the law with the impression that the crime of grand larceny may be or is the killing of a cow, the property of another, or the prosecuting witness, and that it is the killing of the cow on the 6th day of February which is the property of the prosecuting witness [which] is grand larceny. The words ‘felonious stealing’ are not definite, they don’t have a definite meaning to someone who is unfamiliar as the jury is and then the quoting of the statute is objected to because the definition of larceny given by this instruction is not clear to the jury or is uncertain to the jury and the jury will have to make some conclusion as to what the law is and the jury is not versed in the law.”

We do not agree that error was committed in the giving of the instruction.

In Harrell v. State, 177 Ark. 505, 7 S. W. 2d 23, this same contention was made, but we said:

“Instruction 5 told the jury that, if they found from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant did ‘unlawfully and feloniously take, steal and carry away one Remington automatic shotgun, of a value in excess of $10, the property of G. W. Barker’, they should find him guilty. It is said that the instruction fails to tell the jury that the felonious intent at the time the gun was taken, if taken, was of the essence of the offense, and that it does not tell the jury that the taking must be with the intent to deprive the true owner of his property. We think the words ‘unlawfully’ and ‘feloniously’, as used in the instruction, are sufficient to cover the matters complained of. If the taking was done unlawfully and feloniously, it necessarily follows that it was done with felonious intent at the time of the taking, and done with the intent to deprive the owner of his property.”

The court correctly instructed the jury on the appropriate statutes governing the offense here involved. The first part of the instruction quotes § 41-3901, 1964 Replacement, and the second paragraph quotes § 41-39171, 1964 Replacement. We have held that it is proper to instruct a jury in the terms of the statute. Gentry v. State, 201 Ark. 729, 147 S. W. 2d 1, and cases cited therein. The court very clearly told the jury that the question was whether appellants killed the calf, “with intent to steal”.

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Related

Robinson v. State
510 S.W.2d 867 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
453 S.W.2d 413, 248 Ark. 649, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barker-v-state-ark-1970.