State v. McKee

164 N.W.2d 434, 183 Neb. 754, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 684
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 24, 1969
Docket36889
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 164 N.W.2d 434 (State v. McKee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McKee, 164 N.W.2d 434, 183 Neb. 754, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 684 (Neb. 1969).

Opinion

White, C. J.

This is a criminal prosecution under section 28-508, R. R. S. 1943, for receiving stolen property with the intent to defraud the, owner. From a jury verdict of guilty and a judgment and sentence thereon, the defendant appeals. We affirm the judgment.

The defendant’s first contention is that the information does not state the facts which constitute the offense of receiving stolen property, under the above statute. The information provides in part as follows: “James H. McKee late of the County aforesaid, on or about the *755 23rd day of May, A. D., 1967 in the County of Platte, and the State, aforesaid, then and there being, did then and there feloniously receive goods of the value of over $100 that had been stolen, with the intent to defraud the owner thereof, the said James H. McKee knowing the said goods to have been stolen, all contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Nebraska.” (Emphasis supplied.)

The information is phrased in substantially identical language of the statute. The rule is when an information alleges all of the facts and elements necessary to constitute the offense described in the statute it is sufficient. Hans v. State, 147 Neb. 67, 22 N. W. 2d 385; McKenzie v. State, 113 Neb. 576, 204 N. W. 60; Chadek v. State, 138 Neb. 626, 294 N. W. 384. We note further that the defendant failed to move against the information by way of demurrer, motion to quash, or plea of abatement. Under the applicable statute, section 29-1812, R. R. S. 1943, the defendant has waived all defects that may be raised thereby. There is no merit to this contention.

The defendant complains that the venue of the case in Platte County, Nebraska, is improperly laid because the State has failed to prove that the act of receiving the stolen property occurred in Platte County, Nebraska. Our applicable statute, section 29-1307, R. R. S. 1943, specifically provides that the prosecution of the receiver of any personal property that shall have been feloniously stolen may be laid in the county where he received or had such property, notwithstanding the theft was committed in another county. The evidence shows that Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company in Omaha, Nebraska, was burglarized and approximately 60 cases of cigarettes were taken. The company does not sell at wholesale to any retail outlets in Platte County, Nebraska, where this prosecution was initiated. The evidence is that the company’s sole outlet for its product is in the area of Omaha, Nebraska. Each package of cigarettes is stamped *756 with the company’s exclusively assigned state cigarette tax number of 28482. Each package of cigarettes received in evidence in this case was stamped by meter with the above number. The evidence also establishes that Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company sells at wholesale to vending machine companies but that such vendors cannot sell at wholesale such cigarettes by the case but must put them in a machine for sale at retail. The evidence conclusively establishes that each package of cigarettes received in evdence, was found in Platte County, Nebraska, in the possession of the defendant or had been traded for or had been purchased from the defendant by the person who had custody over these cigarettes. This evidence is obviously ample, under the precise wording of the statute, to establish proof of venue by the State in the county where the defendant “had such property.” There is no merit to this contention.

Interwoven with the above argument is the next contention of the defendant that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict. The evidence is that 60 cases of cigarettes were stolen from Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company’s plant in Omaha, Nebraska, on March 12, 1967. These cigarettes were received from the manufacturer and duly stamped by the Ferer Company in its Iowa plant before delivery to its Nebraska plant in Omaha for sale at wholesale in Nebraska. The company is licensed to stamp- cigarettes for sale in the State of Nebraska, has an exclusively assigned number of 28482, and it is undisputed that each package of cigarettes was stamped by the company by means of its metering machine. As mentioned before, Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company has no service outlets outside of the Omaha area and specifically no retail outlet in Platte County, Nebraska. It does sell at wholesale to vending machine operators who place them in a machine for sale at retail. All of the packages of cigarettes introduced in evidence, stamped with the company’s number, were *757 found in the possession of the defendant or had been traded for or purchased from the defendant by persons who actually had the custody of the same. More specifically the cigarettes which were identified as exhibit 4 had been purchased by one Stewart E. Halpin, a Nebraska highway patrolman, at the Avenue Bar in Columbus, Nebraska, which in turn is owned by one Tom Reilly. Reilly, in turn, had obtained the cigarettes, which were identified as exhibit 16 in the evidence, by trading the defendant some old cigarette stock. One Raymond Liss had purchased the cigarettes which were identified as exhibits 17 to and including 20 from the defendant. These in turn bore the metering stamp of Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company, from which the 60 cases had been stolen. The balance of the cigarettes which were received in evidence, consisting of metered stamped cigarettes of Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company, identified as exhibits 5 to and including 12 were found in the basement of the defendant’s home located at 2909 Fifteenth Street, in Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska.

The defendant complains that there is insufficient evidence to establish guilty knowledge or intent to defraud on the part of the defendant. The evidence shows that one Raymond Liss had purchased his business, Ray’s Bar, from the defendant on May 1, 1967, in Platte County, Nebraska. Subsequent thereto Raymond Liss was contacted by the defendant in regard to purchasing some cigarettes at $2.25 a carton. Liss did not purchase any cigarettes from the, defendant at that time. However, at a later date, Liss went to the defendant’s home on some other business and the defendant again offered to sell him cigarettes this time at $2 a carton, and Liss purchased the cigarettes at this price. The wholesale price at the time on regular cigarettes was $2.74 a carton and $2.84 a carton for king-size cigarettes. The defendant had a regularly issued tobacco license. In State v. Henry, 174 Neb. 432, 118 N. W. 2d 335, our court stated, on passing *758 upon the sufficiency of evidence in this kind of a situation, as follows: “If the facts which were known to each defendant were such that a man of the age, intelligence, and experience of each defendant would know that the television sets were stolen, then the jury could find that each defendant had guilty knowledge,.” As we view the evidence it is amply sufficient to sustain the verdict. It shows that the exhibits, representing cigarettes, were the same cigarettes stolen from Ferer’s Tobacco & Candy Company and also clearly shows that the defendant received or had said exhibits in Platte County, Nebraska.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 N.W.2d 434, 183 Neb. 754, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mckee-neb-1969.