Blackburn v. State
Blackburn v. State
Opinion
The indictment consists of a first count charging burglary in the second degree, a second count charging grand larceny, and a third for buying, receiving and concealing stolen property. Pursuant to a verdict of guilt, the court imposed a sentence of ten years imprisonment.
The evidence indicates that appellant-defendant, a white male, and Darrell Busbin, an Air Force enlistee, were present on December 4, 1977, in the home of Sergeant Wayne Nakatsuka where appellant rented a room. The three played cards for a while.
According to Busbin's testimony (who admittedly was in need of money), he and appellant, at the latter's invitation, took an automobile ride that afternoon of December 4, 1977, to Hope Hull in Montgomery County where appellant showed him Henderson's T.V. and Appliance Sales and Service that was vulnerable to burglary. In the early morning hours of December 5, 1977, the two burglarized the store and carried away five microwave ovens and four Zenith television sets, one of which was a twenty-three inch set described in the indictment.
Entrance into the store was gained by firing a pellet gun at a back window. The gun was used to set off any burglar alarm that may happen to be in the store. Appellant, after breaking the window with a crowbar, crawled through and opened the back door through which the witness Busbin entered. They both then proceeded to steal the ovens and the television sets.
When they were unable to load all the appliances into the one automobile, the appellant contacted his sister by telephone. She and his wife drove to the scene where the appliances were loaded in the two cars and transported to Montgomery. All or part of the appliances were taken to the house of Sergeant Nakatsuka. Only one of the appliances was described in Counts 2 and 3 of indictment, namely "one twenty-three inch Zenith television." It was left in the den and was not taken to the appellant's room in the house.
An investigation by law enforcement officers led to the discovery of the twenty-three inch television in the den. The investigation also led to the sale of some of the appliances by witness Busbin, who at first denied any implication in the offenses alleged in the indictment. Several months later, Busbin elected to give a confession that implicated the appellant. He also elected to appear as a witness for the State.
George W. Henderson, who was the operator of the burglarized store and the owner of the stolen appliances, testified about the break in and the broken window. He also testified as to finding some gun pellets in the burglarized area. The testimony of Mr. Henderson fully established the corpus delicti of the burglary and theft charged in the indictment. We note that the television stored in the den was properly identified as an appliance that was stolen from Mr. Henderson's store as alleged in the indictment. The jury returned three specific verdicts of guilt:
"We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of buying, receiving, or concealing stolen property; we, the jury find the defendant guilty of grand larceny; we, the jury find the defendant guilty of burglary."
We think it clearly appears from the record that the deputy's activities at that time were investigative and that accusation had not been focused on the appellant. It also appears that appellant had not been taken into custody by detention or arrest. Under such circumstances, there was no lawful requirement for a predicate. Miranda v. Arizona,
Corroboration of the testimony of an accomplice need not be sufficiently strong of itself to support a conviction, and it is sufficient if it tends to connect the accused with the offense. Cunningham v. State,
Aside from finding pellets in the floor of the store, there is sufficient corroborative testimony in the record to support the conviction. Nakatsuka testified that around 5:00 or 5:30 on the morning of the crime he heard the voices of the appellant, the appellant's wife and sister, and Busbin in the house. Later that morning when Nakatsuka went into the den, he found the twenty-three inch Zenith television sitting there. It was not there the night before. Later when Deputy Bryan was investigating the crime, he asked the appellant if that was his television set in the den, and the appellant stated that it was. Nakatsuka's testimony would therefore corroborate Busbin's testimony that upon burglarizing the store the appellant had his wife and sister come to the store and assist in carrying the stolen merchandise back to the Nakatsuka residence. *Page 912 Deputy Bryan's testimony, likewise, connected the appellant with the recently stolen goods.
The unexplained possession of recently stolen goods will support an inference of burglary and larceny if there is also proof of breaking and entering and theft of the goods so connected in time as to permit the further inference that the larceny was the product of the breaking and entering. Goode v.State, Ala.Cr.App.,
Busbin was an admitted accomplice in the crime; however, Nakatsuka denied any complicity. We therefore cannot determine as a matter of law that Nakatsuka was an accomplice. Where the question of whether a witness is an accomplice is a disputed fact, it becomes a jury question. Ex parte State (re: Yarber v.State), Ala. [Ms. July 14, 1978, SC 2622]; Jacks v. State, Ala.Cr.App.,
Appellant did not take the witness stand, nor did he put up any witnesses. None of the evidence implies that he bought, received or concealed the television described in the indictment from another. The evidence implies that he stole the television set when he burglarized the store. "Since a thief may not receive stolen property from himself, the appellant cannot be convicted of receiving stolen property where the evidence shows that (he) actually stole the property."Nicholson v. State, Ala.Cr.App.,
The judgment of guilt as to Counts 1 and 2 is due to be affirmed. The judgment of guilt as to Count 3 is reversed, and the cause therein is rendered.
The foregoing opinion was prepared by the Honorable Bowen W. Simmons, a Retired Circuit Judge, serving as a judge of this court under the provisions of § 6.10 of the Judicial Article (Constitutional Amendment No. 328); his opinion is hereby adopted as that of the court.
AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED AND RENDERED IN PART.
All the Judges concur. *Page 1092
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wilton Mason Blackburn, Alias v. State.
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published