Court Opinion

ID: 9722966
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:58:45.662771+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:43.433823
License: Public Domain

Opinion Concurring in Result
Hunter, J.
I would concur only in the result obtained in Justice Prentice’s opinion, i.e., the affirmance of the second degree burglary conviction and a remand for vacating the judgments of the conviction for theft and automobile banditry.
I believe this Court should reaffirm the rule in Gann v. *42State, (1971) 256 Ind. 429, 269 N.E.2d 381, as exemplified by the instruction given therein, which in my view is a comprehensive statement of the law in cases such as that, in that it spells out to the jury how they must consider all of the evidence in the case. The instruction is set out in its entirety as follows:
“INSTRUCTION NO. 22
“The unexplained, exclusive possession of a defendant of recently stolen property is a circumstance which may be considered, along with the other facts and circumstances of the case in determining the guilt or innocence of the accused. However, the mere possession of stolen goods, standing alone, is insufficient to support a conviction, and the defendant cannot be convicted on the basis of evidence of mere possession of stolen goods alone.
“If you should find from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a burglary was in fact committed on the premises involved in the case, and that within a short period of time thereafter the defendant himself or with others was found in the unexplained, exclusive possession of property identified by the evidence as that stolen from the burglarized premises, you may consider such circumstance in arriving at your verdict in this case. However, no presumption of guilt of burglary is made or arises against a defendant merely by reason of his exclusive possession of goods which have been unlawfully and burglariously taken within a short period of time beforehand, if such be the case. Proof of the commission of the offense must be made beyond a reasonable doubt by the State, and the defendant has no burden to account for or explain for his possession of the goods, but the burden of proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt rests entirely upon the State, and you would not be warranted in finding the defendant guilty unless all of the elements of the offense charged have been proved by the evidence, of whatever class it may be, beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Givan, C.J., and Pivarnik, J., concur.
Note. — Reported at 366 N.E.2d 1171.