Hochman v. State

170 S.W.2d 756, 146 Tex. Crim. 23, 1943 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 467
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 3, 1943
DocketNo. 22398
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 170 S.W.2d 756 (Hochman 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
Hochman v. State, 170 S.W.2d 756, 146 Tex. Crim. 23, 1943 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 467 (Tex. 1943).

Opinion

DAVIDSON, Judge.

[25]*25This is a conviction for receiving stolen wool, knowing it to have been so acquired; the punishment, six years in the State penitentiary.

By Chapter 857, Acts Regular Session 45th Legislature, the same appearing as Art. 1426c, Vernon’s Penal Code, a new offense was created, whereby the theft of any wool is a felony.

The charge against appellant, as made by the indictment, was to the effect that he received, from Johnnie Menchaca and Alfonso Estrada, a sack of wool, which they had stolen from J. M. Mulcahy, knowing that it had been so acquired.

Johnnie Menchaca, for the State, testified that, about the last of May, 1942, he entered into a conspiracy with the appellant, whereby he (Menchaca) and Estrada were to steal sacks of wool, by breaking into and burglarizing freight cars, at Comfort, Texas; that the proceeds to be derived from the sale of such wool were to be divided between the three conspirators; that, when appellant first mentioned the idea of such enterprise, he (Menchaca) told him he “was kind of scared” to do it, whereupon appellant assured him that he would “back me up”; that appellant cautioned that no. wool was to be sold in sacks with any marks or brands thereon. In keeping with, and as a result of, such conspiracy, Menchaca and Estrada, on the night of May 31st, 1942, burglarized a freight car at Comfort, and took therefrom four sacks of wool, which Estrada carried to the home of Sarah Menchaca, the mother of Johnnie Menchaca, where it was re-sacked, in keeping with appellant’s instructions not to sell any wool in sacks having marks or brands thereon. The following day, Sarah Menchaca carried the four sacks of wool to Kerrville, where she sold it. She turned the proceeds over to Johnnie Menchaca, who paid to appellant the sum of $40.00 as his part. This theft and sale is and will be referred to as Transaction No. 1.

About a week following Transaction No. 1, Menchaca and Estrada, accompanied by Cecil Menchaca, burglarized a freight car at Comfort, and took four sacks of wool, which were carried to the home of Sarah Menchaca, where same was re-sacked. Thereafter, on June 11th, 1942, Johnnie Menchaca and Estrada carried one sack of this wool to appellant and delivered it to him by placing it on appellant’s pick-up truck, at his place of business in Kerrville. On the same day, appellant sold the sack of wool, and received therefor $79.50. He retained $7.50 of this amount, and delivered the balance to the conspirators. This was [26]*26Transaction No. 2, and it is for the receipt by appellant of this one sack of wool, sold by him, that he has been here convicted. The trial court, in his charge, expressly limited appellant’s guilt to this transaction.

A few days following Transaction No. 2, a third burglary of a freight car at the same place was committed by the same thieves, in which four sacks of wool were taken; and, after being re-sacked, same was carried and delivered to the appellant, who in turn sold it and divided the proceeds among the conspirators. This occurred on June 17th, 1942, or six days subsequent to the transaction relied upon by the State in this case.

A few days thereafter, the fourth burglary was committed, by the same thieves, in which six sacks of wool were stolen from a freight car. The six sacks were carried, by the thieves, to San Antonio, where they were found and recovered by the officers.

The foregoing facts are shown by the testimony of Johnnie Menchaca, Alfonso Estrada, Sarah Menchaca, and Cecil Menchaca, each and all of whom are accomplices, not only by reason of their participation in.the unlawful enterprise, but also by reason of their being under indictment for offenses growing out of these transactions. The trial court instructed the jury that they were accomplices as a matter of law.

Other testimony for the State consisted chiefly of proof identifying the wool in the four several transactions as having been stolen, by someone, from the freight cars; and especially is that true of the one sack of wool which was received and sold by the appellant. Mulcahy was the special owner of the-wool and freight car, by reason of his being the agent of the railroad company.

The witness Brooks, to whom appellant sold the one sack of wool out of Transaction No. 2, testified that he bought the sack from appellant and paid him $79.56 therefor; that apparently there were no marks or brands on the sack at the time of the purchase. However, a close examination, made after an investigation had been begun, revealed that brands and marks were discovered thereon, whereby it was identified. The sack showed to have been recently washed. Touching the sales of wool by the appellant, Brooks testified, upon cross-examination, that they were made in “broad daylight, right there in Kerrville; that is true, and his (appellant’s) place of business is within four or [27]*27five blocks from our place of business; he went to Schreiners’ Store (where payment for the wool was made) in business hours, in broad open daylight. I cannot say that there was an suspicious act on the part of Joe (appellant) to indicate that he was acting other than in good faith.”

The State introduced in evidence the following portions of a confession made by the appellant, viz.:

“On June 11, 1942, Alfonso Estrada and Johnnie Menchaca came to my store in Kerrville, that is, I found them waiting for me when I returned to my store early in the afternoon, and they had a. bag of wool which they wanted to sell. About two days before that, while I was in Comfort on business, Johnnie Menchaca came to my truck and asked me if I would buy some wool. At that time I asked him if the wool bag had any marks or brands on it, as I would not handle it to the warehouse if it had brands or lot numbers on it.
“On the 11th, as above stated, Johnnie Menchaca and Alfonso Estrada brought one bag of wool to my place in Kerrville. They had it in a pick-up. The sack had no marks or brands on it. They again asked if I would buy it and I told them I did not know the price. I called Schreiner’s warehouse and they said to bring it over. I took the sack of wool to Schreiner’s warehouse and sold it to Schreiner Wool & Mohair Commission Company, in Kerr-ville, the gross weight being 224 pounds less tare 3 lbs., net weight 221 lbs., at 26f-, and I received the commission company’s check for $79.56. The check was payable to me and I cashed it and, returning to my store where Johnnie Menchaca and Alfonso Estrada were waiting, I gave them all of the money the wool brought except $7.50.”

The defensive theory, as shown primarily by the testimony of the appellant; was to deny the existence of the conspiracy as charged by Johnnie Menchaca. He explained his receipt of the one sack of wool which he sold by saying that he did this as an accommodation to Johnnie Menchaca and his mother; that Johnnie Menchaca brought the sack of wool to his place of business and asked him to sell it for his mother, to whom it belonged, as he could get more for it than if he himself sold it. He denied that he made any charge for selling the wool or that the sale was made as a result of any previous agreement that he would receive a part of the proceeds. He admitted that, after the sale, he gave all the money received by him to Johnnie Menchaca, who in turn gave him $7.50, of which $5.00 was given voluntarily and $2.50 was for groceries purchased at appellant’s [28]*28store.

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Bluebook (online)
170 S.W.2d 756, 146 Tex. Crim. 23, 1943 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 467, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hochman-v-state-texcrimapp-1943.