Thomas v. State

John Edward Thomas, the appellant, was indicted for theft of property in the first degree. He was sentenced as an habitual offender to life imprisonment. Two issues are raised on appeal.

I

It is argued that Thomas' motion to exclude the State's evidence should have been granted because there was no proof that Thomas exerted any unauthorized control over the stolen truck, and that consequently the State failed to prove an element of the offense of theft defined in Alabama Code Section13A-8-3 (1975).

There was a significant amount of circumstantial evidence connecting Thomas to the theft. Briefly,…