Court Opinion

ID: 9703435
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:56:05.464883+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:48.893628
License: Public Domain

FORD ELLIOTT, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I agree with the majority that in a prosecution for theft by receiving stolen property the Commonwealth must prove as an element of the crime that the property was in fact stolen. Additionally, it bears emphasizing that circumstantial evidence may be utilized to establish this element. The focus must be on proving the status of the goods — not on attempting to identify the “victim” of the crime or the circumstances of the theft. If the victim can be identified, then certainly the Commonwealth can produce the victim and evidence regarding the theft. However, as set out by the Commonwealth, such bright line evidence is not always available. For instance, in situations where the defendant is in possession of goods or automobile parts with obliterated identification numbers, such as a warehouse storage area or “chop shop,” the identity of the true owner, and therefore evidence of a theft, may never be capable of proof. However, under such circumstances, the introduction of the goods, their quantity and character, the obliterated identification numbers, and the circumstances under which the property was discovered should all be admissible on the question of whether the goods were stolen. Such factors could provide ample circumstantial evidence from which a jury could infer that goods were stolen and that defendant had knowledge of this fact.
However, while I agree with the majority that the trial court did not properly instruct the jury on the elements of the crime, I cannot agree that a new trial is the proper remedy under the facts and circumstances of this case. Rather, I *602would find that the Commonwealth did produce evidence to establish appellant’s guilt as to all the elements of the crime. Appellant was arrested as the result of a “sting” operation set up by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office in conjunction with the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office and the Harrisburg Police Department. As set out by the Commonwealth and verified by the record:
On five different occasions, appellant sold items to agents operating the store. All items had original price tags affixed. On the fifth occasion, the Appellant entered the ‘general store’ and borrowed a box from the agents and left. Shortly thereafter, a second party, Richard Moses, entered the store carrying the same box that the Appellant had borrowed and proceeded to sell the agents the items contained in the box, all of which still had original price tags affixed to them.
The undercover agents turned over the above items to the Harrisburg Police Department, where photographs were taken of each item. The police then returned the items to their owners. Additionally, the police were able to extract a still picture of the individual involved in the above transactions from the videotape. The picture was later identified as the Appellant.
The Harrisburg Police then requested that the Appellant come to the police station. The Appellant complied and, while there, denied stealing the items in question. Rather, the Appellant stated that he had received the items from two males on 13th and Derry Streets, who were druggies and were known to the Appellant ‘Gary’ and ‘Doogie.’ The Appellant stated that he did believe the items were stolen.
On January 11 and 12 1990, the Honorable Warren G. Morgan of the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas presided over the Appellant’s jury trial on five (5) counts of theft by receiving stolen property. At trial, two agents from the Office of Attorney General and two officers of the Harrisburg Police Department testified to the above-stated facts. Additionally, representatives of the burglarized stores testified that their stores did sell the type of mer*603chandise at issue and that like items were missing from inventory.
Appellee’s brief at 2-4 (notations to notes of testimony omitted).
Based on the above, I would find that the Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the goods were stolen. Since our standard of review when confronted with a challenge to jury instructions is whether the instructions were erroneous and whether such error prejudiced or harmed appellant, I must affirm the judgment of sentence in this instance. See Leaphart v. Whiting Corp., 387 Pa.Super. 253, 564 A.2d 165 (1989), appeal denied, 525 Pa. 619, 577 A.2d 890 (1990); Commonwealth v. Tharp, 373 Pa.Super. 285, 541 A.2d 14 (1988) (defendant is entitled to new trial for instructional error only where such error has been clearly prejudicial). While I agree that the charge given to the jury was erroneous in that it did not include the element that the Commonwealth must prove the goods were actually stolen, I believe that such error was harmless. As evident from the previously recited facts, the Commonwealth clearly presented sufficient evidence that the goods in this case were stolen. Accordingly, appellant cannot claim to have been harmed by the error in omitting that element from the instructions. For appellant to claim relief based on this erroneous charge, he must convince this court that had the correct charge been given, the jury might have found that the goods were not stolen and returned a different verdict. My review of the evidence does not lead me to believe that scenario would have occurred. The evidence clearly establishes, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the goods were stolen.
The majority, however, questions the appropriateness of this review of the sufficiency of the evidence, at this juncture, when the evidence has never been reviewed by a jury in light of the correct instructions. My response is two-fold. First, any challenge to jury instructions necessarily requires a review of the evidence adduced at trial, as all challenges to jury instructions must be considered in light of the evidence. See *604Commonwealth v. Tharp, supra. As set out by this court in Commonwealth v. Humphreys, 367 Pa.Super. 154, 532 A.2d 836, at 840 (1987),
Where the evidence clearly supports the omitted instruction, thereby leaving little room for speculation by the jury, this Court has held that the failure to define an element to the jury was not prejudicial error. See Commonwealth v. Ehrsam, 355 Pa.Super. 40, 59-60, 512 A.2d 1199, 1208-1209 (1986); Commonwealth v. Goins, 348 Pa.Super. 22, 501 A.2d 279 (1985); Commonwealth v. Mlinarich, 345 Pa.Super. 269, 287, 498 A.2d 395, 403-404 (1985) (en banc), allocatur granted, 512 Pa. 115, 516 A.2d 299 (1986). Cf. Commonwealth v. Waller, 322 Pa.Super. 11, 468 A.2d 1134 (1983) (clear misstatement of law was prejudicial).
Second, and perhaps more important, the appellant has placed the sufficiency question before this court by directly raising it on appeal.1
The first issue presented by appellant in his brief questions whether the Commonwealth failed to prove that the property was actually stolen. Appellant has argued to this court that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the verdict because the Commonwealth failed to establish, by way of direct evidence, from whom and under what circumstances the property was stolen. Specifically, appellant points to the testimony of the burglarized retail dealers as insufficient to establish that the particular items in question were stolen.2 However, as set out above and recognized by the majority’s holding today, this is not the requirement of proof placed on the Commonwealth. In cases involving theft by receiving stolen property, the Commonwealth’s burden of production may be satisfied by direct or circumstantial evidence and the circumstances of a theft need not be proven. Instantly, in assessing all of the evidence presented by the Commonwealth, I believe there was little room for speculation by the jury that the goods in *605question were in fact stolen. The only conclusion to which such an assessment can lead is that appellant’s conviction was proper and the trial court’s erroneous jury instruction was not prejudicial.
McEWEN and BECK, JJ., join in this concurring and dissenting Opinion.

. Also, the Commonwealth presents the sufficiency of the evidence as an alternate basis for affirmance on appeal.

. The retail dealers had testified that they sold the particular type of merchandise and that such like items were missing from their inventories.