Jacobs v. Caldwell

203 S.E.2d 188, 231 Ga. 600, 1974 Ga. LEXIS 1158

• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
• Decided: January 28, 1974
• Docket: 28144
• Status: Published

Opinions

Per curiam.

This appeal is from a habeas corpus judgment remanding the appellant to custody.

The appellant contends that his constitutional right of due process of law was violated in the convicting court because a portion of the court’s charge to the jury shifted the burden of proof to him, the accused.

The appellant was convicted by a jury of burglary and received a sentence of twenty years.

The portion of the court’s charge that is now attacked on constitutional grounds was as follows: "Now, the recent possession of goods under such circumstances may raise an inference of guilt on the part of defendant, and, unless such recent possession is satisfactorily explained, the responsibility being on the defendant to make such explanation, may authorize you to identify the defendant as the guilty party and convict him.”

This court has consistently upheld such a charge. In Aiken v. State, 226 Ga. 840, 844 (178 SE2d 202), this court held: "The possession of recently stolen goods, unaccounted for, raises an inference that the possessor is the one who stole the goods, and if the accused does not want this inference to arise in his case, he must account for his possession. [Cits.]”

Submitted August 3, 1973 Decided January 28, 1974. Oscar Benjamin Jacobs, pro se. Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, Courtney Wilder Stanton, William F. Bartee, Jr., Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.

The appellant’s complaint about the charge given in the convicting court is without merit.

Having reviewed the record, we also find that the other enumerated errors are without merit.

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur, except Gunter and Ingram, JJ, who dissent.