Example of Acquittal for Possession of Stolen Property In Texas

In Jordan v. State, 658 S.W.2d 675, 676 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1983, no pet.) the defendant was arrested on an unrelated theft charge some 300 feet from a car he had been driving, but which was owned by another. Jordan, 658 S.W.2d at 675. A search of the car revealed a flashlight under the driver's seat which had been stolen in a burglary of a building two days earlier. Id. Based on his unexplained possession of the flashlight, the defendant was charged and convicted of the burglary. See id. On appeal, court held that the flashlight was not in the defendant's possession because it was found out-of-sight under the seat of a vehicle belonging to another. See id. We therefore concluded the evidence was legally insufficient and ordered the defendant acquitted. Id. at 676. Court is aware that in an appropriate instance the State may show a defendant jointly possessed stolen property with a co-conspirator or others in which the defendant is engaged in a joint enterprise. See, e.g., Ross v. State, 463 S.W.2d 190, 191 (Tex. Crim. App. 1971).