State v. Chester

707 So.2d 973 (1997)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A truck owned by John Lawrence disappeared from the carport of his home. Lawrence lost not only his vehicle but also several thousand dollars worth of tools he used in his construction business. Later that night, D appeared at the home of Charlie Johnson. D was accompanied by a second individual who brought to Johnson's porch a toolbox containing over a dozen straight wrenches and four offset wrenches used to change hydraulic lines in heavy construction equipment. Lawrence's initials appeared on some of the wrenches but were not visible to casual inspection when D opened the box and displayed the wrenches to Johnson. D had known Johnson for several years and offered to sell him the toolbox and wrenches for 35 dollars because he 'needed gas' for a trip to New Orleans. He settled for 30 dollars, all of the cash Johnson had with him that morning. D left the tools with Johnson, who asked no questions about the property he had just acquired. Johnson had occasionally worked for Lawrence and discovered that the tools had been stolen from his former employer. Lawrence recovered his property from the shed at the back of Johnson's home. Lawrence testified at trial that the offset wrenches, specialty tools difficult to find, alone cost 100 dollars each. D had sold approximately 800 dollars worth of equipment to Johnson for 30 dollars.