Court Opinion

ID: 9710084
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:01:42.543193+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:54.106892
License: Public Domain

McCown, <1.,
concurring.
The jury in each of these cases was instructed under the language of section 28-1011.24(13), R. S. Supp., 1972, that: “The presence in a vehicle other than a public conveyance of any * * * destructive device shall be prima facie evidence that it is in the possession of all persons occupying such vehicle at the time such * * * destructive device is found, * * *.”
The defendants have contended that the statute is constitutionally defective because it creates a presumption which shifts the burden of proof to the defendant on the issue of possession, and that there is no rational connection between the fact proved and the fact presumed. The contention is that the mere fact that the defendant was an occupant of the vehicle provides an irrational and wholly arbitrary foundation and connection upon which to base the presumption that all occupants are in possession of any destructive device found in the vehicle.
*33If we were to hold that “any combination of parts” consisting of otherwise lawful and innocent items which could be converted or assembled into a destructive .device was a “destructive device” without proof of an intent to use such parts by converting or assembling them into a destructive device, the defendant’s argument as to constitutional validity might well be unanswerable. Where the individual items which make up the “combination of parts” are each ordinarily and generally designed and intended for lawful and innocent purposes, there is simply no rational basis upon which an individual's presence in a vehicle can justify a presumption that his knowledge and consciousness of the presence of such items is sufficient to give him the knowledge and consciousness of being in possession of a destructive device. A criminal statutory presumption must be regarded as irrational or arbitrary, and hence unconstitutional, unless it can at least be said with substantial assurance that the presumed fact is more likely than not to flow from the proved fact on which it is made to depend. Leary v. United States, 395 U. S. 6, 89 S. Ct. 1532, 23 L. Ed. 2d 57. See, also, Turner v. United States, 396 U. S. 398, 90 S. Ct. 642, 24 L. Ed, 2d 610.
We have now held, however, that an intent to .use such combination of parts by . converting or assembling them into a destructive device is a material element of the crime here. -Under that holding and under the statutory definition of destructive device, a combination of otherwise innocent parts is not a destructive device within the meaning of the statutory presumption unless and until it- is- found that the defendant had an intent to use such combination of parts by converting or assembling them into a destructive device. That requirement of specific intent on the part of the defendant with respect to the particular items involved removes the constitutional infirmity and affords a completely rational and constitutional basis for the statutory presumption as to possession.
*34The instruction on the presumption as given, however, directed the jury to apply the presumption in the language of the statute. The instruction as given, in effect, instructed the jury that the articles comprising the combination of parts in this case were included in the statutory definition of a destructive device.
In a prosecution for possession of a destructive device involving a combination of otherwise lawful and innocent parts, a finding by the jury of the necessary specific intent is a prerequisite to the application of the presumption of possession under section 28-1011.24(13), R. S. Supp., 1972. The jury should therefore be instructed that if it finds that the defendant had an intent to use the combination of parts by converting or assembling them into a destructive device, then and in that event, the statutory presumption as to possession may be applied.
In the Arbuckle case here the record graphically demonstrates that the cross-examination of the character witnesses was for the purpose of establishing the truth of the facts inquired about rather than to test the witnesses’ credibility. As a general rule, evidence of other crimes than that with which the accused is charged is not admissible in a criminal prosecution. Exceptions to that rule must be carefully and conscientiously applied. A criminal defendant should be convicted because the evidence establishes that he is guilty of the offense for which he is being tried, and not because he has been charged or convicted of other independent criminal offenses, nor because he is a “bad man.” It is a fundamental concept of our system of criminal justice that an accused, whether guilty or innocent, is entitled to a fair trial. It is not only the duty of the trial court but of the prosecutor as well to see that he gets one.