Lavender v. The State

Lavender v. The State. Indictment for Larceny of Hog. 1. Avei'ment and proof of ownership of stolen property. — When husband and wife are living together, and the husband has possession of personal property belonging to the wife, it may be described as his in an indictment for larceny. 2. Description of animal stolen__A pig, four or five months old, may be described as a hog, in an indictment for larceny. From the Circuit Court of Sumter. Tried before the Hon. Luther E. Smith. The indictment in this case charged, that the defendant, Frank Lavender, alias Frank Jackson, “feloniously took and carried away a hog, the personal property of Hal Lide.” “On the trial,” as the bill of exceptions states, “the evidence for the State tended to show that the defendant feloniously took and carried away a pig, the property of the wife of said Hal Lide, who was then living with his said wife, and was in possession of said pig, in said county; and that the pig was at that time between three and five weeks (?) old, weighed between twenty and forty pounds, and was worth from two to four dollars. This being all the evidence in the case, the defendant requested the court, in writing, to charge the jury — 1st, that if the animal stolen was a pig, not more than four or five months old, the defendant can not be convicted of grand larceny; 2d, that if the animal stolen belonged to the wife of Hal Lide, they must find the defendant not guilty.” The court refused each of these charges, and instructed the jury, in effect, that if they believed the evidence, they must find the defendant guilty'; to which charge, as well as to the refusal of the charges asked, the defendant duly excepted. No counsel appeared in this court for the defendant, so far as the record and docket show. John W. A. Sanford, Attorney-General, for the State. [MAJORITY — MANNING, J.] MANNING, J. A hog, the property of a married woman, living with her husband, who has possession of it, is not incorrectly described, in the indictment for stealing- it, as the property of the husband. — Davis v. The State, 17 Ala. 415. And a pig, four or five months old, is a hog, within the meaning of section 4358 (3706) of the Code of 1876, making it grand larceny to steal any “hog, sheep, or goat,” &c. — See Parker v. The State, 39 Ala. 365. Let the judgment be affirmed.