State v. Butler

94 N.E.2d 457, 57 Ohio Law. Abs. 385
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 15, 1949
DocketNos. 4342, 4343, 4344
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 94 N.E.2d 457 (State v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Butler, 94 N.E.2d 457, 57 Ohio Law. Abs. 385 (Ohio Ct. App. 1949).

Opinions

[386]*386OPINION

By HORNBECK, J. '

The defendants were indicted separately, tried jointly, convicted and sentenced on a verdict of guilt on two counts of the indictments against them. The charges were burglary and larceny, and forcible entrance into a vault. Each defendant appeals and in a joint brief filed in their behalf fourteen errors are assigned.

We shall not attempt to consider these errors categorically but will be content to discuss the more material questions raised.

The convictions in this case are as to certain material elements of the offenses charged based upon circumstantial evidence and it is urged that the Court did not fully and properly charge the jury on that subject in its application to the facts developed.

The Court carefully instructed the jury as to the presumption of innocence with which the defendants were clothed, read to its members the definition of reasonable doubt taken from the Code, and upon the, subject of circumstantial evidence said:

“Now evidence may be either direct or circumstantial or both. If a witness testifies from his personal knowledge as to the commission of an act, that is called direct or positive evidence, or if he testifies directly to something that he has seen or heard, that is called direct evidence, provided the evidence is material to be proven in the case. But it is not always possible to ascertain the truth in a case by evidence of this character, that is, by direct or positive evidence. Hence, the law permits the introduction of what is called in the law circumstantial evidence. And by circumstantial evidence is meant the proof of certain facts and circumstances in a given case from which a jury may reasonably and logically and directly infer other connected facts and circumstances which usually and reasonably follow, according to the common experiences of mankind. I charge you that in making inferences from facts you may not make an inference upon an inference, but you may draw any direct inferences which logically flow from the proof of the facts. • The credibility [387]*387of the witness detailing the circumstantial evidence, or the weight of such circumstances, if the jury finds that they occurred, are to be determined solely by you. But, in order to warrant a conviction of a criminal offense upon circumstantial evidence, or by any evidence, it is necessary that the evidence should be so clear and convincing as to exclude every reasonable doubt; and in order to warrant a conviction upon circumstantial evidence alone, the facts and circumstances must be such as to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis, but the single one of the defendant’s guilt.”

To this language of the charge no exception was noted, nor was any request made to charge otherwise.

The language of the charge follows the cases and particularly Carter v State, 4 Oh Ap 193. In our judgment it is a clear, concise and complete charge on circumstantial evidence with application to the facts as developed in this case and fully protects all of the rights of the defendants both as to the quantum and the nature of circumstantial evidence required to support a conviction.

What we say concerning the correctness of this particular part of the general charge may be given application to the charge in its entirety. We find no failure to protect the rights of the defendants in any part of the general charge, nor can we find that the Court prejudiced the cause of defendants in failing to give the special charge requested by defendants.

We find no support for the claims that the verdict was rendered under influence of passion and prejudice, or that the prosecuting attorney was chargeable with misconduct in argument to the jury. In one instance he stepped beyond the bounds of propriety but the trial judge promptly admonished the jury to disregard the objectionable statement. The development in the testimony of the witness, Tom Sawyer, Sergeant of Police, respecting former incarceration of Noble and McCurry in a penitentiary was unfortunate and especially so in view of the fact that counsel for defendants had taken early precaution to avoid the testimony reaching the ears of the jury. However, the trial judge promptly took all measures within his power to remove the effect of the objectionable language from the consideration of the jury and the prosecutor acceded graciously to this ruling. We assume that the jury observed the admonition of the court and therefore hold that the statement and the occurrences incident thereto were not prejudicial to defendants and would not require a reversal of the judgments.

[388]*388The court committed no error in refusing separate trials to the defendants or in the admission of any of the evidence offered and received on behalf of the State of Ohio and in overruling the motions of defendants to strike out questions and answers pertaining to purported conversations by plaintiff’s witnesses with defendants Noble and McCurry.

There are two questions in this case of substance:

(1) Are the verdficts and judgments of guilt supported by any evidence as to all the material elements of the offenses charged,

or

(2) Are they against the manifest weight of the evidence?

We do not propose to restate all of the' probative facts

developed because counsel for the parties have done so at full length in their briefs. If the evidence was sufficient to carry the question to the jury as to the guilt of the defendants as to each count of the indictment then we would say that it follows that it was sufficient to support the convictions on all counts.

There are certain outstanding facts and circumstances in this case which in our judgment afford proof on every material element of the crimes charged. The most difficult question arising is whether or not there is sufficient proof as to the offenses of burglary and larceny in the particular that the breaking and entering was done in the night season. We will discuss this along with other aspects of the evidence.

It is established beyond any doubt that there was a breaking and entering of the building at 343 North Fourth Street, and a vault in the building and a larcenous taking of property therefrom. It also appeared that the property stolen was morphine and the amount and value thereof were fixed. Likewise, it is undisputed that there was a breaking of the locks on the front door to the building, the gate to the bottom of the stairway leading to the second floor, on the door to the rear elevator, and the hasp on the lock of the compartment in which the morphine was kept, as is the breaking or cutting through of the vault between the janitor’s closet and the vault.

That the three defendants were together in Bruceton, Tennessee, in a 1948 Hudson Commodore Club coupe with Venetian blinds in the rear, and that they purchased a wheel for the car and a fire extinguisher is testified by two witnesses who made positive identification of all of the defendants. At the time of the purchase Butler did most of the talking but McCurry paid the bill. This Hudson automobile, bearing license No. 1382, with the added license number either 7 or 1, probably [389]

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Related

State v. Dudley
249 N.E.2d 536 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1969)
State v. Stuttler
172 Ohio St. (N.S.) 311 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1961)
Halko v. State
145 A.2d 84 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
94 N.E.2d 457, 57 Ohio Law. Abs. 385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-butler-ohioctapp-1949.