State v. Tchida

FOSHEIM, Chief Justice.

Richard Tchida was convicted on two counts of grand theft for receiving stolen firearms1 and two counts of possession of a firearm by one with a prior violent crime conviction.2 He appeals. We reverse.

In December 1982 two pistols were unlawfully removed from the Schütz Foods Company in Sisseton, South Dakota. Both firearms were retrieved from a cemetery by the local sheriff’s office on January 11, 1983, following an anonymous phone call. Investigation revealed that the pistols had been stolen by two fourteen-year-old boys. The lads arranged with Jonathan and Harlan…