Williams v. Peyton, 13183.
| Decision Date | 22 July 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 13183.,13183. |
| Citation | 414 F.2d 776 |
| Parties | James H. WILLIAMS, Appellee, v. C. C. PEYTON, Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Edward J. White, Asst. Atty. Gen., of Va. (Robert Y. Button, Atty. Gen., and Reno S. Harp, III, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Virginia, on brief), for appellant.
William C. Mach, Petersburg, Va., Morton B. Spero, Petersburg, Va. (Court-assigned counsel), on brief, for appellee.
Before SOBELOFF, WINTER and BUTZNER, Circuit Judges.
The Commonwealth of Virginia appeals from an order of the District Court granting a writ of habeas corpus to James Howell Williams, a Virginia prisoner currently serving an eight-year sentence for statutory burglary.
The petitioner was tried without a jury in the Petersburg City Hustings Court, and, following his conviction, was sentenced on February 5, 1965. A petition for a writ of error filed in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia was denied on December 4, 1967. Williams then sought habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court. Relying on the state court record, the District Court granted the writ on December 4, 1968, finding that a total lack of evidentiary support for an essential element of the crime charged rendered the petitioner's conviction constitutionally invalid.
The record reveals that at the trial Mrs. Betty Cox of Petersburg testified that she saw someone enter her house through the front door at approximately 1 a. m. on November 21, 1964. Mrs. Cox stated that she was lying in her darkened bedroom but had left the living room lighted and the front door open because her daughter was expected home shortly. She saw the intruder walk slowly across the living room toward the bedroom. He directed a lighted flashlight into the dark room, hurriedly leaving the house when the light fell on Mrs. Cox's face. Mrs. Cox notified the police, who picked up the petitioner in the neighborhood about fifteen minutes later and took him to Mrs. Cox. She identified him as the intruder.
A police officer who was called to the Cox home testified that he saw the petitioner hiding about 200 yards from the house. He fled from the police but was pursued and captured. At that time he denied having been in Mrs. Cox's house.
When the petitioner testified at trial, he admitted having entered Mrs. Cox's house but attempted to explain his presence there. He stated that he had met two men earlier in the evening and had arranged to sell them some whiskey. Since they did not have enough money with them to pay for it, he drove them to the vicinity of Mrs. Cox's house, and they left the car allegedly to go and get more money. After waiting some time for the men to return, the petitioner went looking for them. Following their general direction, he saw that a single house on the block was lighted and entered in search of them. According to his version, he found no one home and left the house, hiding from the police because he feared they would find the illegal whiskey in his car. He denied having seen Mrs. Cox in the house.
Under Virginia law, the elements of statutory burglary are breaking and entering "the dwelling house of another in the nighttime...
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