CRIMINAL LAW — Larceny Of Use — Of Automobile — Criminal Intent Required — Intention Is A Question Of Fact. In a prosecution for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle under Code (1957), Art. 27, § 349, criminal intent must be shown in order to convict. Intention is a question of fact. In the instant such prosecution, it was held that the trial judge's finding that the defendant possessed criminal intent when using the automobile was fully supported by the evidence and permissible inferences therefrom. p. 183
Decided June 5, 1959.
PER CURIAM.
The sole question involved in this appeal is whether the appellant, who was convicted of the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle under the Code (1957), Article 27, § 349, possessed criminal intent, a necessary element of the offense, Anello v. State, 201 Md. 164, when he was physically using an automobile belonging to another. The question of his intention, of course, involved a question of fact. We recently quoted from a celebrated statement of Lord Bowen in an action of deceit to the effect that the state of a man's mind is as much a question of fact as the state of his digestion. Tufts v. Poore, 219 Md. 1, 11. We have carefully examined the record; the evidence, and permissible inferences therefrom, fully support the finding of the trial judge that the appellant possessed criminal intent when using the automobile. Anello v. State, supra.
Judgment affirmed.