Commonwealth v. Griffey

• Decision Date: 02 July 1973
• Citation: 307 A.2d 283,453 Pa. 142
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Richard Larry GRIFFEY, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

307 A.2d 283

453 Pa. 142

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Richard Larry GRIFFEY, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

July 2, 1973.

John C. Marston, Asst. Public Defender, Doylestown for appellant.

Kenneth G. Biehn, Dist. Atty., Stephen B. Harris, 1st Asst. Dist Atty., Alan M. Rubenstein, Asst. Dist. Atty. Doylestown, for appellee.

Before JONES, C.J., and EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

EAGEN Justice.

John Joseph Grzyminski and Richard Larry Griffey were convicted by a jury in a joint trial in Bucks County of conspiracy and attempted burglary. Post trial motions were denied and a prison sentence of one to five years was imposed on Griffey on the attempted burglary conviction. Sentence was suspended on the conspiracy conviction. Griffey filed an appeal in the Superior Court which unanimously affirmed 'the judgment' without opinion. We granted allocatur and now reverse.

From the Commonwealth's evidence at trial, the jury was warranted in finding the following facts:

On January 25, 1968, after consuming a quantity of alcoholic beverages, Jones Tirendi and the appellant, Griffey, decided to 'pull a heist' and under threats of physical violence from Tirendi, Ernest Doerner accompanied them and drove them in his automobile. The three proceeded to pick up John Grzyminski at his residence, after which the group stopped at a gas station where Tirendi stole a sledge hammer. Followkng this, the group drove around for awhile and about midnight Tirendi directed Doerner to stop in front of the Lincoln Musical Bar in Trevose, Bucks County, saying, 'We're going for a drink and case the joint and then we're coming out again.'

While in the establishment, Tirendi questioned the bartender about a T.V. set located behind the counter and after the bartender left their presence, Tirendi remarked to Grzyminski, 'I'm coming back for that T.V. later tonight.' 'One of the boys' also said in the presence of the four 'that cash register looks like its pretty hard to break into' to which Tirendi replied, 'Don't worry about that, I'll smash it on the floor, if I have to.'

After leaving the Lincoln Musical Bar the four visited another bar in Bristol where they stayed until 'closing time.' Shortly after 2:30 a.m. on January 26th, the four drove back to the Lincoln Musical Bar. The automobile pulled in a driveway and stopped behind some cabins on the rear of the property. Tirendi and Griffey then alighted from the vehicle and proceeded in the direction of the building in which the bar was located. The two returned to the automobile several times and on one such occasion said, 'some people were in there . . . and they would wait for awhile . . ..' Later on, the lights in the bar went out and Tirendi and Griffey again exited from the automobile and proceeded towards the rear of the building. Shortly thereafter, the two ran back and Tirendi excitedly told Doerner to start the car. The manager of the bar called the state police and the four were apprehended shortly thereafter. Scratches were found on the metal plate of the lock in the door on the rear of the building.

Testifying in his own defense, Griffey disputed important portions of the Commonwealth's testimony. He stated, inter alia, that when the automobile returned to the Lincoln Musical Bar at 2:30 a.m. on January 26th, he had no prior knowledge of Tirendi's plan to...