Opinion ID: 1778888
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of State's Evidence.

Text: There was sufficient probative evidence from which, together with attending circumstances, the jury could find that appellant committed the crime charged, and to find criminal intent to steal, convert and deprive the owner of the property in question. There was direct evidence that appellant cut down 10 white oak trees ranging in diameter from 18 to 24 inches on land belonging to IMC Drilling Mud, Inc.; that he caused the logs to be loaded onto a truck, and that he sold the logs to a stave company, receiving therefor a check in the sum of $99.54, which he cashed. At trial appellant made this significant admission against interest, confirming the fact that the cutting occurred on the lands of IMC Drilling Mud: Q. Now, the nearest Dresser Material land to this land where you cut the timber is over a quarter-mile away, isn't it? A. Yes, sir, it's about a quarter-mile, I understand now. While there was no direct evidence of criminal intent, there was ample circumstantial evidence of this element of the crime. IMC Drilling Mud, Inc. leased 455 acres of land to the Richards brothers. It was fenced. The trees in question were cut inside a fenced 16-acre tract lying within the 455-acre tract. The IMC Drilling land adjoins timber lands owned by Dresser. The nearest place on Dresser land where timber had been cut was a half mile from where the trees in question were felled. Buck Richards, one of the lessees, was notified on a Sunday that chain saws were running on the leased land. He went to the place, where he found appellant winching a log, dragging it up a hill to load it onto his truck; another man cutting a tree, and several more men sitting around drinking beer. Nine or ten trees had been cut. Richards asked appellant who gave him permission to cut the timber. Appellant first told Buck that he was cutting it for Bob Warden. Buck's brother, Burnham, informed of these facts, notified and summoned Bob Warden. The two went to the place where the timber had been cut. In the meantime the timber had been loaded onto appellant's truck and the truck had left the scene. Following the truck tracks Burnham and Warden caught up with appellant, whose truck had mired down in the mud. Appellant had exited from the property by a different route from that by which he entered, and had cut a wire fence in the process of leaving. He left via a creek and spring branch. Burnham asked appellant who gave him authority to cut the timber. Appellant answered that he was cutting timber on Dresser land. Informed that it was not Dresser land but land of IMC Drilling, appellant offered to pay for the timber. Burnham asked appellant about the latter having told Buck that Bob Warden had given him permission to cut on there, Warden having told appellant that he had never given appellant permission to cut any timber for him. Appellant did not reply and did not, in the presence of Warden, claim that the latter had authorized the cutting. Instead appellant claimed that he thought he could cut anywhere on Dresser, and that all he had to do was turn the money over to Warden. Informed that Burnham would have to report the timber cutting appellant told Burnham to take the money or get the hell out of here; that they had no business there; that appellant had had enough of them, and said, You boys better get away from here and leave me alone. Neither IMC, the Richards brothers, or Bob Warden had given appellant permission to cut timber on IMC Drilling land. Appellant conceded that he had not been authorized to cut the trees by Bob Warden and sought to justify the cutting on the ground that appellant's brother Joe was supposed to have the permission to cut the timber on Dresser property; that appellant thought this was Dresser land; that while he was thoroughly familiar with the location of boundary lines of properties in this area where he had been raised he was not familiar with the boundary line between Dresser property and that of IMC Drilling. He understood that the timber he cut belonged to Dresser. He conceded that he made no attempt to determine ownership of the land. Bob Warden testified that he had not given appellant or his brother Joe permission to cut any timber on any lands. Appellant and his brothers were raised within a mile of where the timber was cut. [E]verybody knew that there was forty acres of real good white oak on this land. From the foregoing the jury could infer that due to his knowledge of boundary lines in the area and the existence of a boundary line fence (through which he had to pass to get onto IMC Drilling land) appellant knew that the trees he cut were growing on land belonging to IMC Drilling and that neither he nor his brother had permission to cut the trees; that appellant cut the trees in a remote area on Sunday, a day when discovery would be least likely; that when caught red-handed he misrepresented that Warden had authorized the cutting; that when discovered he quit cutting and immediately left the scene by a different route, hastily cutting a wire fence in order to make his exit; that when overtaken and confronted with Warden's denial appellant changed his story and offered to pay for the logs and when told he would be reported appellant lost his temper and made threatening statements. At trial appellant offered a different justification (i. e., permission given appellant's brother Joe by Bob Warden) which, in turn, was repudiated by Warden. The jury was entitled to draw the conclusion that appellant did not cut the timber and sell the logs in good faith under color of a rightful claim, but that he knowingly cut the timber on the property of another without authority or vestige of right to do so, and that he carried away and converted the logs to his own use with criminal intent to wrongfully deprive the rightful owner thereof permanently.