Elster

In this case the defendant was convicted of grand larceny. He moved for a new trial. The motion was denied, and from the judgment of conviction and the order denying a new trial he has appealed.

The larceny is charged to have been committed on Sunday, April 1, 1883. It consisted of the stealing of a calf from the custody of its alleged owner. The principal evidence connecting the defendant with the offense was the discovery of the hide of the calf in the shop of a butcher, to whom the defendant had fetched and sold it early on the morning of April 2, 1883. At the trial the defendant attempted to account for the possession, but it was contended the account was false. The question, therefore, of the guilt or innocence of the defendant depended upon the possession by him of the property soon after it was alleged to have been stolen, and the circumstances in connection with its possession and sale. Assuming that the calf belonged to the person named in the information as the owner, and that it had been stolen from him, yet the mere possession of recently stolen property, standing alone, and unconnected with other facts and circumstances tending to prove guilt, is not of itself…