Opinion ID: 1923635
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Motion For Acquittal

Text: 17 M.R.S.A. § 3551 provides: Whoever buys, receives or aids in concealing stolen property, knowing it to be stolen, shall be punished: . . . . . . 2. Value exceeds $500. If the value thereof exceed[s] $500, by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 5 years. We have said that the State can successfully convict a defendant for receiving only if it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following three elements of the crime: (1) the property was stolen, (2) the defendant either bought, received or aided in concealing that property, and (3) the defendant knew the property was stolen. State v. Thibodeau, Me., 317 A.2d 172 (1974). As the factors of element two prescribe, the crime may be committed in any of three different modes. In the present case, the State does not argue nor does the evidence suggest that the appellant is guilty of buying stolen property. The issue on appeal, therefore, is whether the evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that Robert Creamer received or aided in concealing stolen property, knowing it to be stolen. The appellant argues that the State did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt his possession of the stolen goods and that even if such possession were established the jury could not reasonably infer that he received those goods knowing them to be stolen. It is not contested, and we take it as proven, that the chain saws the appellant carried into the Eldridge residence on the night of February 6 were in fact stolen. The appellant's argument is essentially, therefore, that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt elements two and three. The outcome of the defendant's appeal turns not on whether the defendant received and aided in concealing any of Mr. Eastman's stolen chain saws but, instead, on whether he received or aided in concealing any of the saws which were named and described in the indictment. When we analyze the evidence we find that it shows that the 39 saws stolen from Mr. Eastman consisted of Jonsered models 52, 80 and 621, Frontiers and Tiltons. The grand jury indicted the defendant for receiving two Jonsered 80s and one Jonsered 621. Certainly, proof he received or aided in concealing Frontiers, Tiltons or Jonsered 52s would not satisfy the allegations of the indictment. Mrs. Eldridge observed an indefinite number of saws which she could not identify by make or model being carried into her home. Mr. Theriault observed there some Jonsereds (the models of which were undisclosed) and some Frontiers. He bought 20 of them, some of which were Jonsereds but which were not described as to model. In order to arrive at a verdict of guilty of felonious receiving, it was necessary for the jurors to find either that two of the saws being brought into the Eldridge home were Jonsered 80s or that one was a Jonsered 80 and one a Jonsered 621. [1] While the jurors could find from the evidence that all of these saws had come from the just committed Eastman break ( State v. Bey, Me., 342 A.2d 292 (1975)), the 20 bought by Mr. Theriault having been so identified, it is not possible to say that they comprised all of the saws which had just been stolen from Mr. Eastman. Mr. Eastman lost 39, more than one of Model 80 and 621. The number which appeared at the Eldridge home is described as around twenty and (by Mr. Theriault) as at least twenty-five. The evidence shows that an undisclosed number of Mr. Eastman's saws fell into the hands of Mr. Emery and were not shown to have been in the lot which the defendant helped to conceal. [2] At least two of these (the two introduced as exhibits) were the models charged in the indictment. In short, the absence of testimony from Mr. Emery leaves a gap in the State's chain of proof. More than one Jonsered Model 621 and 80 were stolen from Mr. Eastman and it doubtless seemed more likely than not to the jury that some of them were in the lot which came to the Eldridge house. However, this lot was not shown to have contained all of Mr. Eastman's saws and the possibility that the saws taken to the Eldridge home consisted of Frontiers, Tiltons and Jonsered 52s and no Jonsered 80s and 621s is not so remote as to exclude all reasonable doubt as to the defendant's guilt of receiving the saws alleged in the indictment. Recognizing the weakness of its position, the State informs us that the appellant has waived this particular point by his failure to raise it in his brief. We must disagree. The appellant's brief proclaims its argument in the broadest possible terms, that is, The State did not present evidence sufficient to establish appellant's possession of the stolen goods beyond a reasonable doubt. Although the argument principally addresses the issue of whether the appellant ever had legal possession of the saws Mrs. Eldridge saw him carry into the housean argument of little meritits focus is not so tightly defined that it does not occasionally wander to other points with sufficient clarity to raise, if not develop, them as legal issues.