Opinion ID: 1689158
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Insufficiency of Evidence of Theft

Text: The majority states that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to allow the jury to find that defendant committed theft. Yet, there is no direct nor circumstantial proof to support that finding. As to direct proof, no one testified that they witnessed Marcantel take the weapons; the firearms themselves did not contain the defendant's prints; and the guns were never found in defendant's possession but in the possession of others including Todd Deshotel, Rebecca Dupre and Mark McCauly (none of whom were charged by the State) who merely gave testimony that they had seen Marcantel in possession of firearms belonging to the Prejeans. Similarly, there was no circumstantial evidence to support an inference of theft by Marcantel. First, the fact that Marcantel was a cousin of the Prejeans and was familiar with the house does not make him a thief. Second, just because defendant's father knew the Prejeans were to go camping on May 11, 1997 does not mean that the defendant himself knew of that trip. There was no testimony that defendant was told of the vacation plan. Finally, the fact that a visibly inoperative .25 caliber gun, a gift to Cecil Prejean from defendant's father was not taken, does not necessarily prove that Marcantel was the thief or the burglar. Cecil Prejean admitted that the gun did not have a clip. Furthermore, other weapons besides the .25 caliber gun were left behind as well. Cecil Prejean testified that none of his shotguns were taken. The State provided no explanation as to why the defendant would not have taken the other operable weapons if he was, in fact, familiar with the Prejean home. Finally, the jury did not find the defendant guilty of burglary yet found him guilty of theft when there was no direct proof that the defendant had committed the burglary, nor that he stole the Prejeans' weapons. What the majority has done, in actuality, is determined that the defendant was guilty of theft based upon the presumption of La.Rev.Stat. 15:432, a presumption that the majority stated was unnecessary to discuss. The presumption in La.Rev. Stat. 15:432 is that the person in the unexplained possession of property recently stolen is the thief. That presumption, however, has dubious constitutional validity, see State v. Searle, 339 So.2d 1194 (La.1976)(on reh'g), but may provide a rational, permissive inference for a factfinder under the particular circumstances of the offense. State v. Johnson, 406 So.2d 153, 155-56 (La.1981). Here, the majority has, in effect, found that Steve Marcantel is guilty based upon the presumption of La.Rev.Stat. 15:432 alone without supporting direct or circumstantial evidence. Such a holding, in my view, is a violation of basic principles of criminal law that a defendant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. La. Const. art. 1, § 2.