Opinion ID: 2365763
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the charges of theft by unlawful taking

Text: Jackson was convicted of ten counts of theft by unlawful taking. He contends that three of the thefts occurred in counties other than Warren County in which the case was tried, and therefore the trial in Warren County was improper. The venue of criminal prosecutions is the county or city in which the offense was committed. K.R.S. 452.510. Improper venue may be waived. RCr 8.26 provides that a defendant may move for a transfer of a prosecution to the proper venue if it appears that the offense was committed in a county other than that in which the prosecution is being conducted. K.R.S. 452.650 provides that the venue of a prosecution may be waived and that failure to make a timely motion to transfer the prosecution to the proper county shall be deemed a waiver of the prosecution. There was no motion here for a transfer of the prosecution to the county in which the theft occurred. Jackson did move for a directed verdict on the ground that the offenses were not committed in Warren County. K.R.S. 452.580 provides: Where a person obtains property by larceny, robbery, false pretenses, or embezzlement in one county and brings the property so obtained into or through any other county, he may be tried in the county in which he obtains the property or in any other county into or through which he brings it. Because the stolen property was brought into Warren County by appellant, Warren County was a proper venue for the prosecution and the motion for directed verdict was properly overruled. Although objection to venue is waived by failure to move for a transfer of the prosecution, when the instructions require the jury to find, as they did here, that the offense occurred in the county of prosecution, the Commonwealth cannot contend the jury was not bound by the instructions. Chancellor v. Commonwealth, Ky., 438 S.W.2d 783 (1969); Hodges v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 614 S.W.2d 702 (1981). The motion for directed verdict did not raise this issue because, as we have seen, the motion for directed verdict was properly overruled. The question of whether the evidence was sufficient could only be raised as to this aspect of the case by an objection to the giving of an instruction which authorized the jury to find that the offense was committed in Warren County, Kentucky. Kimbrough v. Commonwealth, Ky., 550 S.W.2d 525 (1977). We do not find any such objection to the instruction and appellant, in his brief, does not point out such an objection. Jackson contends that one felony conviction of theft by unlawful taking of a radio scanner must be reversed because there was no proof of value of the scanner. This issue is not preserved for review by a motion for directed verdict on that ground. It appears, however, that appellant is entitled to have the conviction on this charge set aside on another ground, namely, that appellant was convicted of the theft of guns from the residence of Roger Stice under count 13 of the indictment, and the theft of the scanner from the Stice residence under count 25 of the indictment. The guns and the scanner were stolen from the same residence at the same time, and therefore constitute only one theft. Nichols v. Commonwealth, 78 Ky. 180 (1879); Jacobs v. Commonwealth, 260 Ky. 142, 84 S.W.2d 1 (1935). The question of double jeopardy was not raised in the trial court; nevertheless, it can be raised on appeal. Sherley v. Commonwealth, Ky., 558 S.W.2d 615 (1977). The appellant further contends that the convictions for theft by unlawful taking must be reversed because there is no evidence that he stole the property. The conviction is based upon his possession of the stolen property and is sustainable upon the same grounds that the convictions for burglary were sustained at an earlier point in this opinion. All of the convictions for theft by unlawful taking are affirmed except the conviction for theft of the scanner radio from Roger Stice. That conviction is reversed, and the sentence thereon vacated.