State v. Fassler

438 P.2d 317, 7 Ariz. App. 248, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 364
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 7, 1968
DocketNo. 1 CA-CR 132
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 438 P.2d 317 (State v. Fassler) 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. Fassler, 438 P.2d 317, 7 Ariz. App. 248, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 364 (Ark. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

STEVENS, Judge.

The appellant, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was convicted of the of[249]*249-fense of receiving stolen property, an offense defined by A.R.S. § 13-621, subsec. A. He was adjudged guilty and sentence was pronounced. He was released on bond pending appeal. The defendant was vigorously represented through all of the procedural steps, including the passing of sentence, by counsel of his own choosing and his present counsel has carried forward in like manner.

In reviewing the record in connection with this appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the conviction. The following is a brief outline of the facts. The defendant was a salesman for a company selling office equipment including calculators and typewriters. Contrary to company policy, he would buy and sell used office machines .as a matter of personal business as distinguished from company business. Sometimes he would also receive used equipment in trade in relation to company business. The defendant also owned some real property and one Lapsley was a tenant. Lapsley is the person from whom the defendant received the stolen typewriter specified in the information.

Lapsley testified that he and the defendant went to Mesa, Arizona in a car operated by the defendant and that while the defendant was making a business call for his employer, Lapsley remained outside of the building.

According to Lapsley, on the return trip to Phoenix, the defendant advised Lapsley as to the machines which were to be stolen and their location in the building, these being machines which the defendant was willing to buy. Thereafter Lapsley returned to Mesa and in the nighttime entered the building in question removing the designated machines but not taking other machines or property. On the following morning arrangements were made between Lapsley and the defendant to accomplish a transfer of possession near a named Phoenix restaurant. Prior to the transfer, Lapsley advised the police who were present at the designated location. The police observed the exchange of possession of the office machines including the typewriter in question and observed the defendant in the act of extracting money from his billfold with which to pay Lapsley. The foregoing is a brief resume of some of the evidence which the jury must have believed.

During the course of the trial the defendant took the witness stand and testified. He classified Lapsley as a heavy drinker, as one who was frequently drunk, as one who could not pay his rent, and as one who dealt rather liberally with the truth. The defendant admitted that on an earlier occasion he had purchased a vacuum cleaner from Lapsley. He also admitted that on another occasion he received two typewriters from Lapsley applying the purchase price thereof on back rent. On the occasion which we have under consideration in connection with the offense now on appeal, the defendant received four office machines from Lapsley including an IBM typewriter and an Olivette-Underwood calculator. The defendant urged upon the court and the jury that he believed that all of the items which he had purchased from Lapsley in each of the instances heretofore mentioned, including the incident in question, had been purchased by Lapsley in bars. The defendant urged that he had no indication that any of the items had been stolen. Lapsley testified that he and the defendant had traveled to Tucson in a car driven by the defendant and that it was in Tucson that Lapsley stole the two typewriters which he had turned over to the defendant to apply on rent.

ACCOMPLICE

There was no request for an instruction on the law relative to the testimony of an accomplice and the trial court did not instruct on the subject on its own motion. A.R.S. § 13-136 is as follows:
“A conviction shall not be had on the testimony of an accomplice unless the accomplice is corroborated by other evidence which, in itself and without aid of the testimony of the accomplice, tends [250]*250to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense. The corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense or the circumstances thereof.”

In the case of State v. Howard, 97 Ariz. 339, at pp. 341 and 343, 400 P.2d 332, at pp. 333 and 335 (1965), we find the following statements:

“The test of whether or not one is an accomplice is whether he could be informed against for the same crime of which the defendant is accused. State v. Thomas, 79 Ariz. 355, 358, 290 P.2d 470, 472.
* * * * * =l!
“It is the announced rule in Arizona that only where the evidence is clear and undisputed that a witness is not an accomplice is it proper for the court to fail to submit the question of whether the testimony of the accomplice has been corroborated. State v. Gutierrez, 81 Ariz. 377, 306 P.2d 634.
“In the instant case, the court below ' failed to submit any instruction whatsoever concerning the necessity for corroboration of the testimony of the complaining witness. * * *
* # * * * * “Failure to instruct the jury on the applicable principles of law concerning the necessity for corroboration of the testimony of the accomplice even though not requested is reversible error * *

The defendant cites Stephenson v. United States, an opinion of the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, on an appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, 211 F.2d 702, 14 Alaska 603, 53 A.L.R.2d 812 (1954) and urges that in the situation heretofore outlined in this opinion Lapsley and the defendant were accomplices in the burglary, in the resulting theft, and in the defendant’s receipt of stolen property. We quote the following from the Arizona Revised Statutes:

“ § 13-621.
“A. A person who, for his own gain, or to prevent the owner from again possessing the property, buys or receives personal property, knowing the property to have been stolen * * * is guilty of a felony if the value of the property bought or received is fifty dollars or more.
“ § 13-137.
“The parties to a crime or a public offense are classified as principals and accessories.
“ § 13-138.
“The distinction between an accessory before the fact and the principal in cases of felony is abrogated.
“§ 13-139.
“All persons concerned in the commission of a crime whether it is a felony or misdemeanor, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, or, not being present, have advised and encouraged its commission, * * * are principals in any crime so committed.
“ § 13-140.

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Related

State v. Brewer
514 P.2d 1008 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1973)
Travelers Indemnity Company v. Hudson
488 P.2d 1008 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1971)
State v. Fassler
446 P.2d 454 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
438 P.2d 317, 7 Ariz. App. 248, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fassler-arizctapp-1968.