Petrey v. State

⁶⁰² Hornby, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The only question presented by court-appointed counsel on behalf of appellant is whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain a jury verdict of guilty under an indictment in which the appellant was charged with the larceny of goods valued at less than $100 in the first count and with the larceny of other goods valued in excess in $100 in the second count. More specifically, the question is whether the proof of ownership of the stolen property varied from that alleged in the felony count. Additional questions are raised by the appellant in a “supplement” he undertook to file in his own behalf without having sought leave to do so.

The motion of the State to dismiss the appeal on account of the inadequacy of the printed record extract was withdrawn. The appellant was charged in the first count of the indictment with stealing a sewing machine alleged to be the property of one Herman Ross. In the second count he was charged with stealing a pair of electric cow clippers, a rachet set, a battery charger and an insect sprayer alleged to be the property of one Eugene Racine. At the trial the State produced a Lois Ross who identified the sewing machine as belonging to her father, Herman Ross.

Another witness, Elwood Racine, identified the cow clippers, the rachet set and the battery charger as belonging to him but said they were in the possession of his son at the time of the theft. This witness also identified the insect sprayer as the one stolen from his son but did not refer to him by name. The cross-examination of the witness was confined to the value of the goods alleged to have been stolen. The appellant, relying on Wersten v. State, 228 Md. 226 , 179 A. 2d 364 (1962) and Richardson v. State, 221 Md. 85 , 156 A. 2d 436 (1959), contends that the State, not having proved that the person named in the indictment as the one to whom the property belonged was the same person referred to as “son” in the testimony of Elwood Racine, did not meet its burden of establishing what interest Eugene Racine had in the property.

Both Wersten and Richardson stand for the proposition that proof of ownership as. alleged in an indictment is essential to warrant a