Ball v. State

• Citation: 7 Md.App. 219,254 A.2d 367
• Decision Date: 17 June 1969
• Docket Number: No. 290,290
• Parties: George BALL v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 219

7 Md.App. 219

254 A.2d 367

George BALL v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 290.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

June 17, 1969.

Thomas V. Miller, Jr., Clinton, for appellant.

William E. Brannan, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom were Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen., Arthur A. Marshall, Jr., and Vincent J. Femia, State's Atty. and Asst. State's Atty. for Prince George's County, respectively, on brief, for appellee.

Before MURPHY, C. J., and ANDERSON, MORTON, ORTH and THOMPSON, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

In this appeal the sole question is whether there was evidence legally sufficient to sustain the appellant's conviction in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County of storehouse breaking.

According to the owner of an establishment known as Sandy's Liquors, he closed the store about midnight on March 14, 1968; the alarm system in the building was actuated about 1:00 a. m.; and upon returning to the store, at the request of the police, he observed that cinder blocks had been 'knocked out' of the rear wall of the building creating a hole 'large enough for a person to get through.' He testified that the hole led into a storermoon containing liquors, wines and beer having a value in excess of one hundred ($100) dollars.

Another witness testified that he was sitting with a companion in their parked car eating a sandwich, after having worked until midnight, when he observed three men get out of a car parked in front of them and proceed 'toward the back of Sandy's Liquor Store.' According to the witness, 'they stayed approximately ten minutes, and then came back to the car and (got) into the car and drove off.' Shortly thereafter, 'the same car came back from around the corner * * * from the opposite direction from the way he went, and parked behind us.' The witness stated that two men then left the car and 'went across a field this time' toward the rear of the liquor store 'and one stayed in the car.' Approximately six or seven minutes later 'the burglar alarm went off' and 'when the burglar alarm went off * * * the horn blew on the car, one person ran from across the field and got into the car. And at this point the car started up and pulled off around us and turned the corner.' The witness and his companion thereupon noted the license number, make and color of the car which they gave to police officers who responded to the sounding of the burglar alarm.

A detective on the Prince George's County .police Force testified that he was cruising in the area when he received on his police car radio the alert that the burglar alarm at Sandy's Liquors was sounding and a description of a car which was leaving the vicinity of the liquor store. He immediately proceeded some three blocks to Sandy's Liquors, there heard the alarm sounding and observed a car fitting the description pull from the curb about twenty-five feet from the liquor store. He stopped the car which was being driven by the appellant, accompanied by his seventeen-year-old nephew, and took them back to the liquor store. There he observed 'a hole approximately two cinder blocks high and three cinder blocks wide knocked completely through' and the cinder blocks which had filled the hole were 'inside on the floor, and also over top the cases of beer and whiskey that was inside of the establishment.' He thereupon arrested the appellant and his companion.

The appellant testified that he and his nephew went to the area to purchase cigarettes and beer at another store; that he parked his car within one hundred feet of Sandy's Liquors; that he went behind Sandy's Liquors to urinate; that he was sitting in his car when the burglar alarm sounded and, because he had a previous criminal record, thought he should leave immediately. He denied any participation in the crime but admitted that he had been previously convicted of breaking and entering and assault and bettery.

It is first contended that the evidence produced by the State simply shows that the appellant was in the general area of Sandy's Liquors and this, in law, is insufficient to sustain his conviction. While it is true 'that the mere presence of a person at the scene of a crime is not, of itself, sufficient to establish that that person was either a principal or an accessory to the crime', Tasco v. State, 223 Md. 503, 509, 165 A.2d 456, 459, it is an important element in determining an accused's guilt. Johnson v. State, 227 Md. 159, 163, 175 A.2d 580; Shifflett v. State, 3 Md.App. 550, 553, 240 A.2d 286. In the case at bar, however, contrary to the appellant's assertion, we have more than the appellant's mere presence at the scene of the crime. Here the evidence shows that the appellant was driving a car which just prior to his apprehension was seen twice circling the liquor store; the car then stopped, three men alighted and went to the rear of the store where they stayed approximately ten minutes; the men then left the area in the car, only to return and park; and two of the three men returned to the rear of the store. When the burglar alarm sounded minutes later, the driver of the car gave a horn signal and one of the men ran back to the car, which then departed. The car, when stopped as it was leaving the area, was being driven by the appellant. The owner had testified that there was no hole in the rear of his building when he closed the store at midnight and it was there when he returned shortly after 1:00 a. m. On this evidence, we cannot say that the trial judge was clearly erroneous in finding the appellant to be one of the criminal agents. Md. Rule 1086. The lower court was not required to believe the appellant's assigned reason for his presence at the rear of the store or his flight from the scene when the burglar alarm sounded. Jones v. State, 5 Md.App 180, 245 A.2d 897; Chavis v. State, 3 Md.App. 179, 238 A.2d 151. The Court of Appeals and this Court have consistently held:

'The trier of facts in a criminal case is enjoined by law to give due force to the presumption of innocence, and then to proceed cautiously in weighing the evidence; but he is not commanded to be naive and to believe without scrutiny every glib suggestion or far-fetched fairy...