Underwood v. State

Defendant-appellant, Ronnie G. Underwood (Ronnie), appeals to this court following his conviction of theft. Ronnie contends that the trial court erred by giving the jury over his objection State’s Final Instruction No. 4 which provided as follows:

“The exclusive possession of stolen property soon after a theft has been committed, if not explained to the satisfaction of the jury, may raise an inference that the person in possession of such stolen property is guilty of the Theft charged. The inference of guilt does not raise from the mere possession of the property stolen, but arises from the…