State v. Daugherty

470 P.2d 686, 12 Ariz. App. 366, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 658
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 24, 1970
Docket1 CA-CR 191
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 470 P.2d 686 (State v. Daugherty) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Daugherty, 470 P.2d 686, 12 Ariz. App. 366, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 658 (Ark. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

HOWARD, Chief Judge.

The defendants are appealing from a judgment entered against them on jury verdicts of guilty to burglary in the second degree and'grand theft.

At the trial both defendants were represented by a single attorney from the Public Defender’s Office. The testimony at the trial was that a safe was taken from a restaurant. The owner of the restaurant discovered the burglary on the morning of May 20, 1968, when he came to open the restaurant. He also discovered that the back door of his restaurant was open. The record does not reflect whether the back door had been opened with a key, whether it had been opened with force, or by some other means. The police came and the safe was discovered sitting on the grass in a nearby alley.

The State’s witness, Patrolman Meere, testified that on the morning of May 21, 1968, he was on a stakeout with Patrolman Ayers near the safe. Shortly before S o’clock in the morning he heard a car and saw defendant Daugherty walk down the alley, throw a blanket over the safe and begin to pull it away. Ayers testified that he found the car and Jake Vaughn was next to it. He placed Vaughn under arrest. In the car he found two pry bars and a duffle bag containing three screwdrivers. There was also testimony that one of the pry bars found in the car made marks similar to the marks on the aluminum siding near the door of the restaurant and that .this pry bar had made those marks.

During Daugherty’s testimony, while he -was being questioned by counsel for the •defense, the deputy county attorney held up a rap sheet. The record does not reflect whose rap sheet it was. Defense counsel •moved for a mistrial and the motion was denied.

Officer Ayers also testified that while .defendant Daugherty was lying on the ground beside defendant Vaughn, after their apprehension, Daugherty said, “Well, it almost worked.”

The defendants present the following questions for review: (1) Did the court err in misinstructing the jury on the inference to be drawn from the possession of recently stolen property? (2) Were the defendants denied effective assistance of counsel when they were represented by- the same counsel ? (3) As to the ‘ défendant Vaughn, was the alleged inculpatory statement of defendant Daugherty erroneously admitted against him ? (4) Was the deputy county attorney guilty of misconduct? (5) Was there sufficient evidence to convict either defendant ? , _

POSSESSION OF RECENTLY STOLEN PROPERTY

Defendant Daugherty claims that as to him the court erred in instructing the jury on the inferences to be drawn from the possession of recently stolen property. The court instructed the jury as follows:

“The mere fact that a person was in conscious possession of recently stolen property is not enough to justify his conviction of burglary. It is, however, a circumstance to be considered in connection with other evidence.
To warrant a finding of guilty, there must be proof of other circumstances tending of themselves to establish guilt.
In this connection, you may consider the defendant’s conduct, his false or contradictory statements, if any, and any other statements he may have made with reference to the property.
Now the mere fact that a person was in conscious possession of recently stolen property is not enough to justify his conviction of theft. It is, however, a circumstance to be considered in connection with the other evidence.
To warrant a finding of guilty, there must be proof of other circumstances tending of themselves to establish guilt.
*368 In this connection, you may consider the defendant’s conduct, his faults [sic] or contradictory statements, if any, and any other statements he may have made with reference to the property.”

Daugherty claims that the instruction is not applicable to him because the safe was in a public alley. He erroneously reasons that since it was a public alley other persons had a right to use the alley, ergo, his possession was not exclusive. He ignores the fact that he threw a blanket over the safe and dragged it for some 25 yards.

Possession of stolen goods means the power and intent to control. Commonwealth v. Dravecz, 207 Pa.Super. 483, 218 A.2d 587 (1966) ; Gamble v. State, 2 Md.App. 271, 234 A.2d 158 (1967); United States v. Cordo, 186 F.2d 144 (N.Y.1951). The evidence sufficiently shows that Daugherty had physical custody of the safe and was exercising the power and intent to control. The court did not err in giving the instruction as to Daugherty.

Defendant Vaughn claims that the instruction was erroneous as to him since he never even touched the safe.

The rule is that where two or more persons are acting in concert the possession of one is the possession of all. State v. Little, 5 Utah 2d 42, 296 P.2d 289 (1956) ; State v. Crawford, 59 Utah 39, 201 P. 1030 (1921); State v. Wright, 22 Del. (6 Penn.) 251, 66 A. 364 (1907); Cogshall v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 58 S.W. 1011 (1900); Moncrief v. State, 99 Ga. 295, 25 S.E. 735 (1896). There must, of course, be something else in the evidence to connect the defendant Vaughn with the crime. In the case sub judice we believe there was such other evidence. A pry bar was found in a duffle bag in the back seat of the car Vaughn was driving and an expert witness testified that this bar was used on the burglarized premises. They both were in the near vicinity of the burglarized premises when Daugherty “coincidentally” stumbled on to the purloined safe. The trial court did not err in giving the instruction as to defendant Vaughn.

DENIAL OF EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

The attorney for the defendants, for the first time on appeal, maintains that when there is a conflict of interest between co-defendants the court must appoint separate counsel for each defendant. In State v. Pickard, 105 Ariz. 219, 462 P.2d 87 (1969), the court pointed out that before a defendant is entitled to a new trial it is necessary to show that there was, in fact, a conflict of interest, that by virtue of that conflict his own case was in some way prejudiced and that the question was raised before the trial court so that the court had an opportunity to correct the error. Not one of those prerequisites is present in this case. There is no showing of a conflict of interest. Neither defendant at any time sought to blame the other. Both defendants testified and told essentially the same story. Defendants’ contention on this issue is without merit.

THE ADMISSION OF DAUGHERTY’S ALLEGED INCULPATORY STATEMENT

Defendant Vaughn claims that under the doctrine announced in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), the court erred in allowing into evidence Daugherty’s statement, “Well, it almost worked.” As we read Bruton,

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Bluebook (online)
470 P.2d 686, 12 Ariz. App. 366, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-daugherty-arizctapp-1970.