Title: State v. Gafner
Citation: 168 N.W.2d 680
Docket Number: 41164
State: Minnesota
Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court
Date: June 6, 1969

168 N.W.2d 680 (1969) STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Steven James GAFNER, Appellant. No. 41164. Supreme Court of Minnesota. June 6, 1969. C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Robert E. Oliphant, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, Robert Collins, South St. Paul, for appellant. Douglas M. Head, Atty. Gen., Richard H. Kyle, Solicitor Gen., St. Paul, Francis H. Watson, County Atty., Leonard T. Street, Asst. County Atty., Red Wing, for respondent. Heard before KNUTSON, C. J., and NELSON, MURPHY, OTIS, and FRANK T. GALLAGHER, JJ. NELSON, Justice. Appeal from the judgment of conviction and from an order of the district court denying defendant's motion for a new trial. Defendant-appellant, Steven James Gafner, was charged by information with the crime of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in violation of Minn.St. 609.55. It appears from the evidence that on the night of March 14, 1967, defendant was missing from the State Training School at Red Wing. At the trial the evidence tended to show that defendant was in possession of and operating a certain motor vehicle in the city of Duluth on the morning of March 15, 1967. The evidence further showed prima facie that the said motor vehicle had been taken in Red Wing without its owner's consent. There was evidence at the trial that defendant was observed by the arresting officer driving the vehicle in the company of another person. There was no direct evidence whatsoever that defendant himself was involved in the taking of the motor vehicle. Defendant did not take the stand in his own behalf to negate any inferences that he "took" the motor vehicle because of the direct evidence against him that he "used" the motor vehicle. Defendant requested an instruction that Minn.St. 609.605(9), which involves using a motor vehicle without the owner's permission, is a lesser included offense of § 609.55, which involves both taking and using a motor vehicle without the owner's permission, and that the jury could find defendant guilty of the lesser offense. The instruction sought was refused and defendant moved for a new trial on the basis of that refusal, appealing from the denial of that motion. Defendant's assignments of error raise two questions: (1) Whether an offense defined by one section of the statutes, § 609.605(9), is a lesser included offense of a crime defined by another section, § 609.55; and (2) if it is, whether it is prejudicial error not to submit the lesser included offense to the jury as an alternative verdict. Defendant contends that in the case at bar all the justifiable inferences and the evidence of legislative intent indicate that § 609.605(9) is a lesser included offense of § 609.55. He argues, on the second point, that the case law has established that it is prejudicial error not to submit a lesser included offense to the jury as an alternative verdict where it is not certain that the defendant is either guilty as charged or not at all. The state cites State v. Jordan, 272 Minn. 84, 136 N.W.2d 601, for the proposition that it is proper for the judge to weigh the evidence to determine whether it would justify a finding that defendant could have committed the lesser crime without committing the greater. Defendant contends that the state misconstrues a dictum of the Jordan case to arrive at the foregoing proposition and then to go on to argue that the weight of the evidence was against defendant. Defendant argues that the state presented no direct evidence that he did that act which turns the lesser offense into the greater, and that the state's line of reasoning shifts the burden of proof to defendant to show his innocence of the greater offense. The trial court appears to have adopted the dictum of the Jordan case in ruling against defendant on his motion for a new trial, denying to defendant the presumption of innocence with respect to the element which distinguished the lesser offense from the greater, namely, the "taking" of a vehicle. Section 609.55, under which the prosecution was had, reads as follows: Section 609.605 provides: The Advisory Committee Comment on § 609.605(9), 40 M.S.A. p. 570, contains the following statement: State v. Pankratz, 238 Minn. 517, 57 N.W.2d 635, cited by both the state and defendant, contains the following statement with respect to the submission of a lesser degree of the crime charged (238 Minn. 538, 57 N.W.2d 647): The latest case which concerns itself with similar issues is State v. Jordan, supra. *683 There we said (272 Minn. 86, 136 N. W.2d 603): Evidently the court below chose to follow principle (b). Defendant on this appeal contends that this case comes under the principle set forth in (c) and that he was therefore entitled to appropriate instructions advising the jury of its power to return a verdict finding him guilty of the lesser offense specified in § 609.605. The members of this court feel that it would have been appropriate for the trial court to apply principle (c) as being consonant with the intent of the legislature relative to §§ 609.55 and 609.605(9) and with the fact situation which this appeal presents. We accordingly grant a new trial. Reversed and new trial granted.