Caldwell v. State, CR

• Decision Date: 17 September 1973
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 498 S.W.2d 858,255 Ark. 95
• Parties: Jerry Lyle CALDWELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 73--65.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 858

498 S.W.2d 858

255 Ark. 95

Jerry Lyle CALDWELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 73--65.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Sept. 17, 1973.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 8, 1973.

Louis W. Rosteck, Little Rock, for appellant.

Jim Guy Tucker, Atty. Gen., by James W. Atkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

BYRD, Justice.

Appellant Jerry Lyle Caldwell for reversal of his convictions of burglary and grand larceny contends that the evidence was insufficient and that, assuming the sufficiency of the evidence, there was insufficient proof of value to sustain a grand larceny conviction. We find no merit in either contention.

The proof, stated in the light most favorable to the trial court's finding, shows that appellant was doing business in Little Rock as Caldwell Safe & Lock Company and as such had an employee by the name of James Collins. Collins generally rode home from work with appellant unless he spent the night at appellant's home. Both Collins and appellant testified that they had been at appellant's home until 11:00 p.m. on November 20, 1970, when appellant left to take Collins home. Appellant's wife had retired for the night before they left home. While in route from appellant's home in Little Rock located at 2607 Johnson Street, to Collins' home at 2119 Perry Street, appellant testified that he remembered he had left something cooking on the stove and that he stopped at a phone booth near the Thriftway Food Store located at 7000 Asher Avenue, to call his wife. While making the phone call he heard Collins pop the door to the store and saw him come back with the heard to the safe located therein. He says that he asked him 'what he thought he was doing taking the safe, because I knew Bob pretty well and I took him out and dumped it out in . . . the pond.' In his confession he stated:

'On Thursday or Friday night approx. Nov. 19 or 20, 1970, between 12:00 midnight and 1:00 a.m. myself & Jimmy Collins went to the Thriftway food store at 7000 Asher Ave. I was driving a 1966 Mustang and parked by the phone booth at the Deep Rock Service Station across from the store. I went into the phone booth & Jimmy left the car & took a Jimmy Bar & popped the front door open. Jimmy Collins carried shavings from a Mosler safe with him into the store because the shavings if analyzed would match the shavings or metal from the safe in the grocery store. The safe was locked and Jimmy opened the safe with the combination. Jimmy was with me when I changed the combination & he had the combination. Jimmy got the safe open & there was no money in the safe. Jimmy come out of the store & brought the safe top with him & left the metal shavings near the safe. He got in the car & I drove to Rodney Parham & Reservoir Road where Jimmy got out and threw the safe top into a pond of water on the west side of Reservoir Road. The...