Opinion ID: 2365763
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Heading: the jackson appeal of burglary convictions

Text: Jackson has appealed his conviction of burglary in the first degree of the dwellings of William Sadler, Roger Stice, and Robert Moore. Each of these three individuals testified that their homes had been broken into, that a quantity of guns and other articles had been stolen and that no person had been given permission to enter their homes and take the articles which were stolen. Some of the articles stolen from each home were sold by Jackson to a police undercover agent. This officer stated that Jackson told him the articles belonging to William Sadler were taken from a house down the road and that the articles taken from Roger Stice and Robert Moore were hot. K.R.S. 511.020 provides that a person is guilty of burglary in the first degree when, with intent to commit a crime, he knowingly enters or unlawfully remains in a building, and when in effecting the entry or while in the building or in the immediate flight therefrom he, or another participant in the crime, is armed with explosives or a deadly weapon. The appellant concedes the evidence is sufficient to show his knowledge that the merchandise disposed of by him was stolen, but he maintains that it was simply a flight of the imagination to infer from the evidence that he unlawfully entered a building or was armed with a deadly weapon. One who steals a deadly weapon during the course of a burglary is armed within the meaning of K.R.S. 511.020. Meadows v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 551 S.W.2d 253 (1977); Daugherty v. Commonwealth, Ky., 572 S.W.2d 861 (1978). The possession of stolen property is prima facie evidence of guilt of theft of the property. Wheeler v. Commonwealth, 295 Ky. 28, 173 S.W.2d 817 (1943); Martin v. Commonwealth, Ky., 276 S.W.2d 19 (1955). Where there is a breaking and entering and property taken from a dwelling and the property is found in possession of the accused, such showing makes a submissible case for the jury on a charge of burglary. Wahl v. Commonwealth, Ky., 490 S.W.2d 769 (1972). Because the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction that appellant stole the property which was taken in a break-in, it follows that the evidence supports a jury finding that said appellant committed the burglary in which the property was stolen. The appellant contends that the rule in Kentucky which allows possession of stolen property to create a prima facie case of guilt of the theft thereof has been declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970); County Court of Ulster County, New York v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979); Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975); and Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977). These cases clearly hold that the state is required to prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt and that the burden of proof cannot be shifted to an accused by a presumption which requires him to prove his innocence. It is a long leap from this thesis to the conclusion that the rule followed in Kentucky shifts the burden of proof to the accused. County Court of Ulster County New York v. Allen, supra ; Mullaney v. Wilbur, supra ; and Patterson v. New York, supra ; each were cases where an instruction of the court placed a burden of proof upon the accused. In this case there was no instruction to the jury which shifted any burden to the accused. The burden of proof rested with the Commonwealth throughout the trial. Historically, it has been the law in this state that it is not unreasonable for a juror to believe that one found in possession of stolen property is guilty of the theft. The jury is not instructed to find such a person guilty unless he proves that his possession is innocent and no burden of proof is ever placed upon the accused. Indeed, if possession of stolen property is the only proof of theft, the jury may well find the accused not guilty, but because human experience has shown such a strong connection between the possession of stolen property and the theft thereof, a jury is authorized upon a showing of possession to convict of theft. This is not such a shifting of the burden of proof as is condemned in the cases cited by Jackson.