State v. Fair

COPELAND, Justice.

Defendant assigns as error the trial judge’s failure to charge the jury that the doctrine of recent possession was applicable only if the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the cuff links discovered in the defendant’s possession were stolen at the same time and place as the items listed in the bill of indictment.

The State relied heavily on the doctrine of recent possession. Upon an indictment for larceny, recent possession of stolen property has always been considered by this Court as a circumstance tending to show the guilt of the possessor. State v. Bell, 270 N.C.…