Lehr v. State

Morton, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The Appellants, Barry Paul Lehr, William Cecil Burke and Robert Clarence Goodnow, were convicted of grand larceny of a safe by Judge John N. Macguire in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, on January 26, 1967, and sentenced to five years in the Maryland House of Correction. Carroll L. Bridgeforth, sales manager of the Royal Crown Bottling Company of Winchester, Virginia, testified that when he arrived at the Company’s plant on September 19, 1966, the Company’s York Safe, three feet high and weighing approximately five hundred pounds, was missing. Mr. Bridgeforth testified that the safe contained $28,733 in cash, although the Appellants were not charged in this case with the larceny of the money.

The safe was discovered, after surveillance by the Baltimore County Police, in a house located on East Joppa Road in Baltimore County. The Appellants were seen from time to time during the surveillance on or about the premises where the safe was recovered. The Appellants contend, inter alia, that the State did not establish by the evidence that the value of the safe allegedly stolen was in excess of $100. The State’s only evidence regarding its value was provided by Mr. Bridgeforth who, on direct examination, testified as follows : “Q.

(Mr. Boone) Do you know the approximate value of the safe that was removed from your plant in Virginia ? A. I think according to the indictments, a hundred and thirty dollars, according to the indictment. Mr. Franklin: Object to that. ⁷⁷⁸ The Court: Sustained. Q.

(Mr. Boone) Do you have an opinion as to the value— Mr. McFarland: Object to that. The Court: Overruled. The Witness: I’d say a hundred and