Court Opinion

ID: 9776573
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:39:18.506143+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:11.101955
License: Public Domain

Judith Rogers, Judge, dissenting. The majority cites Moore v. State, 299 Ark. 532, 773 S.W.2d 834 (1989), for the proposition that the supreme court recognized that there is a point at which the testimony of the property owner as to value does not constitute substantial evidence. They then go on to state “this case does not present such a situation”. I respectfully disagree. In the Moore case, the supreme court reversed a class B felony conviction based on the theft of a 1980 oldsmobile 98 car. There, the owner testified that she had paid $3,600 for the used car in 1985, which was three years prior to the trial date. The court stated, “We do not question the propriety of admitting Ms. Newsome’s testimony as to her opinion of the car’s value, despite the remoteness in time of her purchase, absent objection to that testimony.” The court held, however, that even without objection, the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict. The majority makes much of the fact that there was no objection challenging the competency of the owner’s value testimony in this case. However, as in Moore, the question does not involve the propriety of admitting the evidence, but rather the issue is whether the testimony constitutes substantial evidence that the value of property was $2,500 or more. Here, the victim testified that she had purchased the fur coat for $2,200 as early as 1979 or as late as 1982, approximately ten years before the coat was stolen. The trial court obviously did not accept the testimony of the purchase price as representing the market value of the fur coat, for if it did, the cumulative value of the property stolen would not amount to $2,500. The court then must have considered the victim’s testimony purporting to be the “replacement value” of the property. In this regard the victim testified that she did not find any coats exactly like hers, but that the current prices of coats of the same type could be purchased new from anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000.1 fail to see how this evidence can sustain a class B theft conviction. Surely, a fungible item, like used clothing, possessing no unique characteristics, is not inherently more valuable after ten years of use. Consequently, the replacement value of an old, used fur coat cannot be determined by comparison with the purchase price of a brand new coat, which, incidentally, inflates the value of the stolen property in this case. It is the owner’s present interest in the property that the law seeks to protect, Hughes v. State, 3 Ark. App. 275, 625 S.W.2d 547 (1981); the replacement cost in this instance is simply not reflective of market value. Furthermore, the statute provides that “If the market value cannot be ascertained, the cost of replacing the property within a reasonable time after the ofíense” can constitute evidence of market value. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-36-101(11) (A) (ii) (Supp. 1989). Here, there is no indication from the record that the market value could not be ascertained. In Moore, supra, the court reiterated that it was the state’s duty to establish the market value of stolen property, and that this obligation was just as important as its duty to establish the identity of the thief. In my view, the state did not carry its burden based on the evidence presented. Experience and knowledge can only be applied to evidence adduced. Cannon v. State, 265 Ark. 271, 578 S.W.2d 20 (1979). This is such a case where the owner’s testimony does not constitute substantial evidence that the value of the property was at least worth $2,500. Cooper, J., joins in this dissent.