State v. St. Clair

643 S.W.2d 605, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3753
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 5, 1982
DocketNo. WD 33020
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 643 S.W.2d 605 (State v. St. Clair) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri 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. St. Clair, 643 S.W.2d 605, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3753 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

MANFORD, Judge.

This is a direct appeal from a jury conviction for stealing in violation of § 570.030, RSMo.1978. The judgment is affirmed.

Four points are presented which in summary charge the trial court erred (1) in its failure to sustain appellant’s motion for new trial because the verdict was against the weight of the evidence,1 (2) in submitting an instruction, (3) in failing to instruct on the lesser and included offense of tampering, second degree, property damage, second degree, and property damage, third degree, and (4) in failing to instruct on the intent required to constitute the crime of stealing.

Appellant was charged with stealing by deceit. The case was transferred on a change of venue to Harrison County. The record reveals one Leila Smoot met appellant about a year prior to the offense. Smoot testified appellant asked and persuaded her to drive an automobile and stage a collision with his own automobile to obtain insurance monies. Smoot testified that on the morning of August 5, 1980, she met appellant for coffee and he agreed to pay her $50 for helping him. She agreed. Appellant drove Smoot to French Motors and asked her to go in and get an automobile. She refused because she stated she was afraid. Appellant then drove Smoot to his daughter’s house. The daughter, Joanne Cope, and Smoot had never met. The three discussed getting an automobile. Smoot and Cope drove to French Motors. At French Motors, Cope did all the talking. Cope and Smoot talked with Leroy Soperla about buying an automobile. They first inquired about a pickup truck, but it was inoperable and the discussion centered upon a 1969 Cadillac. The two women told Sop-erla that they wanted an automobile for under $1,000. Soperla told them that they could drive the Cadillac around the block. Cope returned home. Smoot drove off in the Cadillac. Smoot met appellant and told him she did not want to do it. Nonetheless, the evidence shows that Smoot drove the Cadillac and appellant drove a blue station wagon out to a gravel road. Appellant parked his station wagon in neutral, and without the emergency brake on, at an angle to the road near a big role in the roadway ditch area. Smoot further testified that appellant punctured the right front tire of the Cadillac with a sharp instrument. Smoot testified that she was going to drive around appellant’s automobile instead of hitting it, but as she drove, the right front tire went flat and jerked the Cadillac across the road and it struck appellant’s automobile. After the collision, appellant went looking for help.

The highway patrol was summoned to the scene. A tow truck arrived. The operator of the tow truck observed appellant’s station wagon in a ravine near the road. He testified that the station wagon was in neu[607]*607tral, the emergency brake was off, and that, if the station wagon had been in gear with the emergency brake on, it would not have rolled. He observed no skid marks.

The trooper who investigated the scene testified that the Cadillac had damage to the right front, the right front tire was flat and had a large gash in the sidewall. He testified that appellant’s station wagon was totalled. He observed no skid marks. The trooper interviewed appellant and, according to the trooper, appellant stated that he was “walking up the gravel road when the Cadillac passed him going south and then he heard a tire blow out, and then heard a crash and turned around and saw that the Cadillac had struck his automobile”. The trooper also testified that appellant stated that he did not “... hear any tire noise”.

A forensic scientist testified that he had examined the tire front of the right front of the Cadillac and found that the cords had been cut smoothly with a sharp instrument and were not “torn” as if the tire had blown.

The value of the Cadillac was fixed between $400. and $800. The damage to the Cadillac was fixed at $900 to $1,000.

Evidence for the defense included one Warren Cooper and appellant’s son, both of whom testified that they observed appellant in Chillicothe, Missouri, the morning of August 5, 1980. The time of the offense was placed at between 10:00 a.m. and before noon. Cooper and appellant’s son testified that they saw appellant at about 10:00 a.m. According to the evidence, Chillicothe is some 35-50 miles from the scene of the offense.

Appellant testified that he had never met Smoot. He testified that he left Chillicothe a little past 10:00 a.m. en route to the Wal-Mart Store in Cameron, Missouri. He stated that his station wagon had quit running on the gravel road and, as he started walking the Cadillac came by, he heard it hit bumps in the road and then he heard a “Bam”. He stated that the Cadillac had passed once before while he was working on his station wagon. Appellant testified that his station wagon had quit running and he had coasted it to a shady spot. He put on the emergency brake about half-way on and left the gear in neutral because he was trying to start it.

The jury returned its guilty verdict and assessed punishment at one year in the county jail. After the trial court overruled his motion for a new trial, this appeal followed.

As regards point (1), it is ruled against appellant. The evidence upon the record was substantial to support the jury’s verdict and finding that Smoot, at appellant’s request, made false representations to Soperla in order to secure the Cadillac. The evidence was substantial to support the jury’s verdict and finding that Smoot, at appellant’s request, appropriated the Cadillac with the intent and purpose of depriving the owner thereof. The evidence satisfied the requirements of the statute. Section 570.030, RSMo 1978 provides:

“570.030. Stealing.
1. A person commits the crime of stealing if he appropriates property or services of another with the purpose to deprive him thereof either without his consent or by means of deceit or coercion.
2. Stealing is a Class C felony if (1) The value of the property or services appropriated is one hundred fifty dollars or more or
(2) The actor takes the property appropriated from the person of the victim or
(3) The property appropriated consists of:
(a) Any motor vehicle, watercraft, or .. ,2” (Emphasis added).

Section 570.010, RSMo 1978, the definition section applicable to § 570.030, supra, provides:

(3)“Appropriate” means to take, obtain, use, transfer, conceal, or retain possession of and,
[608]*608(8) “Deprive” means
(a) To withhold property from the owner permanently, or
(b) To restore property only upon payment of reward or other compensation, or,
(c) To use or dispose of property in a manner that makes recovery of the property by the owner unlikely.”

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Related

State v. Winkelmann
761 S.W.2d 702 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1988)
State v. Ferguson
678 S.W.2d 873 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
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654 S.W.2d 260 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)
State v. Smith
655 S.W.2d 626 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
643 S.W.2d 605, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-st-clair-moctapp-1982.