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97 Ark. 152

Rugless v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Decided January 2, 1911

Supreme Court of Arkansas · decided 1911-01-02

W. Wells, Judge; The indictment will not support a verdict of guilty of robbery, and the evidence will not support a verdict of guilty of larceny. This is a case of robbery or nothing. Property taken in the presence of witnesses, even though violently done, is not robbery if taken under the claim of ownership. 28 Ark. 126.

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““The evidence for the state shows that the defendant took the horse in the presence of others under claim of title, and there is an absence of criminal intent, which must operate jointly with the act to constitute larceny.””

quoted by 2 later decisions, including 61 Okla. Crim. 382 - Stanley v. State, 45 Okla. Crim. 123 - Lansdale v. State

Relies on Brown v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

reversed · Decided 1911-01-02

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently May 2009

5 state decisions

201911192019301940195019601970198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Hart, J.

¶1William' Rugless was indicted for the crime of robbery. The jury found him guilty of larceny, and assessed his punishment at 12 months’ imprisonment in the State penitentiary. Judgment was rendered upon the verdict, and the defendant has duly prosecuted an appeal to this court. The sufficiency of the indictment is questioned, but we do not deem it necessary to pass upon that question because we do not think the verdict is warranted by the evidence.

¶2The evidence upon whioh the State relies for a conviction shows that one William Holmes was in the possession of a horse, claiming to be the owner thereof. The defendant, William Rugless, went .to Holmes’s home to get the horse, claiming that it belonged to him. After several hours’ controversy about the title to the horse, the defendant took it and carried it home under claim that he owned it. The testimony on the part of the State shows that the taking was accomplished by means of putting Holmes in fear, and that on the part of defendant shows that Holmes voluntarily parted with the possession of the horse.

¶3“Where, in an indictment for robbery, it 'appeared in evidence that the talcing of the property by the defendant was violent, but done in the presence of others under claim of title, held, that such taking did not constitute the crime of robbery.” Brown v. State, 28 Ark. 126.

¶4The evidence for the State shows that the defendant took the horse in the presence of others under claim of title, and there is an absence of criminal intent which must operate jointly with the act to constitute larceny. The case appears to have been fully developed at the trial. The judgment will therefore, be reversed, and the case dismissed

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