Corley v. State

160 Tex. Crim. 504
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 2, 1954
DocketNo. 26,873
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 160 Tex. Crim. 504 (Corley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corley v. State, 160 Tex. Crim. 504 (Tex. 1954).

Opinions

WOODLEY, Judge.

The conviction is for theft of a calf; the punishment, two years in the penitentiary.

The sufficiency of the evidence is challenged.

Appellant, who resided at Knox City, in the early morning of May 12, 1953, went to the home of Frank McAuley some fifteen miles west of Knox City, in King County, with four white-faced calves in a trailer. McAuley asked appellant where the calves were from and he said he was selling them for a boy at Stamford.

McAuley purchased two of the four calves, delivering another calf to appellant in partial exchange for one of them.

One of the calves McAuley purchased from appellant was identified as belonging to the 6666 Ranch in King County, Texas, by the following testimony.

[506]*506On the afternoon of May 11, 1953, around 5 or 6 o’clock, Ned Herr, a gauger for the Humble Oil & Refining Company, who also carried the mail, saw a cow walking the fence inside the Four 6 Ranch and a calf in the Benjamin-Guthrie Highway. He returned along the same route about 7 P.M. but did not notice the cow or the calf.

The next morning he again saw the cow walking the fence, but did not see the calf.

George Humphrey, the manager of the 6666 Ranch, testified that he found one of the ranch cows “walking the fence on the Highway east of Guthrie, bawling and with a tight bag.” This cow was penned on May 13, 1953, at “Dykes Creek Pen.” Two other witnesses saw the cow before and after she was penned.

The calves which had been purchased from appellant by Mc-Auley, and two others which appellant had had in his possession, were brought to these pens on the 6666 Ranch.

Manager Humphrey, after seeing these calves and the cow, testified in part:

“Q. One of your calves was missing about May 11th, 1953? A. Yes, Sir.

“Q. Did you ever regain possession of that calf? A. Yes, Sir.

“Q. After you regained possession of this calf did you put it with this cow you had penned on May 13th, 1953? A. Yes, Sir.

“Q. What kind of a calf was it? A. A Hereford calf, from a Hereford cow and Hereford bull, and it was light colored.

“Q. What color was the 6666 cow you had penned? A. Light.

“Q. State whether or not the color of the calf matched the color of the cow? A. Yes, Sir.

“Q. When this calf was placed in a pen with the cow, on March (May) 13th, 1953, what if anything happened? A. The cow claimed the calf.”

A number of pictures of the cow and this calf were taken and were offered in evidence.

[507]*507There is a great deal of testimony in the record regarding the mother instinct of range cattle and especially Hereford cows, and the actions and descriptions of the cow and calf which formed the basis of the identification of the calf by Mr. Humphrey, a part of which follows:

“Q. You don’t know whether that calf belonged to that cow? A. I would say it did belong to it.

“Q. You had never seen the calf before? A. No, Sir.

“Q. You don’t know whether any of those calves belonged to this particular cow? A. Yes, Sir, the cow claimed the calf; we put all of the calves in the pen and she picked this calf and let him suck and licked it and she wouldn’t let the other calves suck and I have been cow buying a good long time.

“Q. Don’t you know that a baby calf when it is young will suck any cow? A. The calf will or might but the cow wont let it suck if it is not her calf.

“Q. You have no other evidence that it was your calf except the calf sucked this cow? A. The evidence is that the cow was walking the fence with a tight bag and bawling and her calf wasn’t to be found near where she was.

“Q. Is there any other evidence that you have other than you got a calf down there and brought it up here and it sucked that cow? A. No, Sir, that calf resembles all of our cattle.

“Q. There are other Hereford cattle than yours? A. There is a difference. I can show you Hereford cattle that don’t resemble; there is as much difference in Hereford cattle as in black and white cattle.

“Q. You are not telling this jury that you know that this particular calf belonged to this particular cow? A. No, Sir; range Hereford cows don’t do those things and I say that calf was hers.

“Q. The only way you know is that the calf sucked the cow? A. No, the cow claimed calf; the cow would bawl the calf would answer her and when the calf would bawl the cow would answer it and go to it.

[508]*508“Q. You say the calf bawled? A. Yes, Sir, and the calf answered and went to her.

“Q. You say you put several calves in the pen with this cow? A. Four.

“Q. Where was the other three calves from? A. The Slaughter Ranch.

“Q. What, if anything, took place between the three calves from the Slaughter Ranch? A. When this cow let this calf nurse, the other calves came up and tried to nurse and she kicked them off.

“Q. What kind of calves were they? A. Cherry red with white markings.

“Q. What color was this calf? A. Kind of a palish light red.

“Q. Did this little calf that you claim resemble the other three calves? A. No.

“Q. You say you have worked about twenty years with cattle? A. All of my life.

“Q. Are you familiar with the habits and behavior of mother cows? A. I think I am.

“Q. State whether or not one of these Hereford Range Cows will claim a calf other than her own? A. I have never seen a wild range Hereford cow take another calf, than her own, unless you put her in a pen and tied — tie her feet.

“Q. Tell the jury how this 6666 cow acted when this calf was put in the pen with her? A. She smelled around on it and the calf went up to her and went to nursing-; she would let this calf nurse and when the other calves would try to nurse she would kick them off.”

There was other testimony corroborative of that of the ranch manager regarding the habits and mother instinct of cows, such as the following from Sheriff Cousins of Haskell County:

“A. The cow was in a big lot and the calf was in a little lot and Mr. Humphreys opened the gate and the calf ran straight to it’s mother.

“Q. Do you know of your own knowledge that it was it’s mother? A. The cows knows more about it then I do. We open[509]*509ed the gate and the calf ran toward the cow and the cow ran towards the calf and I wouldn’t have wanted to be in front of her.”

We find no error shown in the admission of this testimony and find the evidence sufficient to establish the identity of the calf which the 6666 cow claimed, as belonging to and missing from the ranch.

Testifying in his own behalf, appellant said that the calf identified as the 6666 calf, with three others, was brought to his home shortly before midnight on May 11th. Gerald Harris, he testified, came to his door and said a boy out there had some calves and that he wanted a horse. He went out to the car, looked at the calves and went with Harris and the boy to the Smith lot where they were unloaded. He testified that Harris made the trade and authorized him to sell the calves.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
160 Tex. Crim. 504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corley-v-state-texcrimapp-1954.