Court Opinion

ID: 9854955
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:17:25.635039+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:37.475341
License: Public Domain

GREENE, Judge,
dissenting.
I believe the State failed to present substantial evidence of defendant’s recent possession of the stolen goods at issue, and thus, the trial court erred in submitting the felonious larceny charge to the jury.2 I therefore dissent.
*247In order to invoke the doctrine of recent possession and survive a motion to dismiss a larceny charge, the State must present substantial evidence that:
(1) the property described in the indictment was stolen; (2) the stolen goods were found in [the] defendant’s custody and subject to his control and disposition to the exclusion of others though not necessarily found in [the] defendant’s hands or on his person so long as he had the power and intent to control the goods; and (3) the possession was [discovered] recently after the larcenyf.]
State v. Maines, 301 N.C. 669, 674, 273 S.E.2d 289, 293 (1981) (citations omitted). Although it is not necessary the stolen property be found either in the hands or on the person of the defendant, the property must be under the defendant’s “exclusive personal control.”3 State v. Foster, 268 N.C. 480, 487, 151 S.E.2d 62, 67 (1966); State v. Lewis, 281 N.C. 564, 567, 189 S.E.2d 216, 219, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1046, 34 L. Ed. 2d 498 (1972). It is not enough that recently stolen items are found in a container belonging to the defendant without some indication the defendant was either in possession of the container or exercised exclusive control over the container at the time the stolen items were found in the container. State v. English, 214 N.C. 564, 566, 199 S.E. 920, 921 (1938) (recent possession did not apply when there was no evidence the defendant was in possession of his truck at the time the stolen items were found or at the time the items were placed there); see State v. McFalls, 221 N.C. 22, 23-24, 18 S.E.2d 700, 701-02 (1942) (trial court erred in instructing the jury on recent possession where the goods were found in the defendant’s cedar chest in an apartment she shared with two other individuals and there was no evidence the defendant placed the goods there or knew of them). Thus, the principles of constructive possession (where possession can be inferred even though it is nonexclusive) are not available to support the recent possession doctrine. 52A C.J.S. Larceny § 107, at 595 (1968).
In this case, it is not disputed the property was stolen and its possession discovered recently after the larceny. The question is whether there is substantial evidence the property was found in defendant’s “custody and subject to his control and disposition to the exclusion of others.” In this case, in viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the stolen items were not found on defendant’s *248person but were found in garbage bags containing defendant’s personal items. Those bags were located in an apartment, leased by Klostermeyer, in which Defendant had stayed for several days prior to 30 April 1999. At no time during defendant’s stay with Klostermeyer did he have exclusive access or control over the apartment.4 Indeed, after 1 May 1999, defendant had no access to the apartment as the locks were changed on the door on 2 May 1999. Moreover, the State presented no evidence whatsoever that defendant was present in the apartment after 30 April or that the garbage bags were removed from the apartment during the period between 30 April and 3 May 1999, the latter date being the date on which the property was found. In addition, the arresting police officer testified at trial that to the best of his knowledge, defendant had not been in the apartment after 30 April 1999 until taken there on 3 May 1999. Thus, there is no evidence giving rise to the presumption defendant stole the property in question. Accordingly, I would reverse the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss and reverse the conviction.

. The State does not argue in its brief to this Court that evidence exists defendant took the property at issue, except under the recent possession doctrine.

. The fact that the possession of the apartment (in which the bags containing the stolen goods were found) was shared with the victim of the larceny in this case is not material; the possession remained nonexclusive.

. I note “exclusive possession may be joint possession if persons are shown to have acted in concert” or as an accomplice. State v. Solomon, 24 N.C. App. 527, 529, 211 S.E.2d 478, 480 (1975). In this case, however, there is no evidence of an accomplice.