State v. Moffitt

In this appeal from a conviction for selling a stolen rifle, we reverse and remand for a new trial because the court erroneously instructed the jury on the element of knowledge.

Defendant was charged under 13 V.S.A. § 2561(b), making it a crime for a person to sell stolen property “knowing the same to be stolen.” The court charged the jury, in effect, that knowledge is proved if defendant should have known, given all the facts and circumstances, that the property was stolen.

The court instructed:

The fact in issue is whether the defendant knew the rifle was stolen. The State doesn’t have to…