London v. State
| Decision Date | 27 April 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 4247.,4247. |
| Parties | LONDON et al. v. STATE. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Osceola District, Mississippi County; S. L. Gladish, Special Judge.
Jack London and Russell Corbin were convicted of burglary, and they appeal.
Reversed and remanded.
Claude F. Cooper, of Blytheville, Ivy & Nailling, of Osceola, and T. J. Crowder, of St. Louis, Mo., for appellants.
Jack Holt, Atty. Gen., and Jno. P. Streepey, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The prosecuting attorney filed his information charging the defendants with burglary and grand larceny. It charged that they did, in the nighttime, on April 17, 1941, with force break and enter the store building of E. G. Robbins in the town of Joiner, Arkansas, with the intent then and there of committing grand larceny by stealing and carrying away personal property of the value of more than $10, and that they did steal and carry away one adding machine of the value of $225 and $300 in lawful money of the United States.
The appellants were arraigned and entered pleas of not guilty. Appellants were found guilty of the crime of burglary and their punishment fixed at imprisonment in the State penitentiary for a period of three years. They were not found guilty of grand larceny.
There was a motion for new trial which was overruled, the defendants saved their exceptions, prayed an appeal to the Supreme Court which was granted, and the case is here on appeal.
William Guthrie, a witness for the state, testified that his home is in St. Louis; that he has been in the penitentiary both in Missouri and Arkansas; was sent to the penitentiary in Missouri on a charge of robbery and released August 12, 1940, and went to Sikeston, Missouri; worked four months for Paul Jones, who runs a night club in Sikeston, and then worked a short time as a taxi driver for Jack London; London owns two taxi cabs, drove one of them himself; on April 17, 1941, he was cooking for Joe Ryan; that was the first time he had met Ben Adams and Arthur McRee; Russell Corbin brought them to Ryan's cafe; Corbin lived in Caruthersville; they went to find a man who could open a safe; witness told them Jack London could, so they went to get in touch with him; they said they knew a safe down in Arkansas where they could get from $500 to $1,000; when witness got off from work he went home and changed clothes; the others picked him up there and they all went to Joiner; got in London's taxi in front of the house and talked; their car had Oklahoma license behind; London asked about the safe; witness had never had any dealing with safe breaking before; somebody said London would get the tools; the deal was made in London's taxi; the five of them went to Hayti; two in London's taxi and the rest in the Ford; left London's taxi in Hayti and all got in the other car and went to Joiner; got there about midnight and parked the car behind the store; could not get into the store and went down to a junk pile and got a piece of iron and opened the door with it; London got the tools out of the car and opened the safe; the fellow that got the death penalty and Russell Corbin stood guard on the outside; witness held a flashlight; McRee was around in the store; Jack opened the safe with a punch and hammer; witness did not know how much he got, all he saw was about $30; McRee took the cash register out with him; he tried to open it and could not; they took about four cartons of cigarettes; after they left the store, they stopped on a bridge and someone threw the cash register out; later stopped to change a tire; witness does not know where it was; he was asleep; McRee and Adams went after the tire and Jack and Corbin were in the back seat; waked up just before they got to Hayti; divided the money and witness got $7; when they got to Hayti London and witness got in the taxi and went to Sikeston; the other three got in their car and said they were going to Caruthersville. On cross examination this witness said that he had quite a criminal career; served two terms in the penitentiary before this one; both terms for robbery; did not rob anyone at Sikeston; has gone as long as several months without robbing or stealing; never knew Ben Adams or Arthur McRee until they came that day with Russell Corbin; had never been in Joiner before, but has passed through; after they had broken into the store and got the cash register and money they went through Truman, but did not stop until they had a flat tire; does not remember where they had the flat, he was asleep; got to Hayti about three o'clock in the morning; got to Sikeston about 4:15 and stopped at the cafe; went to the penitentiary in Arkansas in connection with another job; have been there about three and a half months; witness is cook at the cafe and doing his best to make a parole; his brother is a salesman, his father a real estate salesman in St. Louis, and witness is the black sheep. When they went to Joiner witness was armed with a gun, a 44, and there was another gun, a 38, but does not know who carried it.
Arthur McRee, another witness for the state, testified that he is 29 years old, single; present address in Arkansas State Penitentiary; serving a life sentence on a charge of robbery and murder. His testimony as to the burglary and larceny is practically the same as that of Guthrie; witness said that he had known Guthrie since 1939; had been in jail together. Witness then testified about their having crooked dice to sell; tried to sell to Corbin but he would not buy; witness testified that he had killed a man in Arkansas and he got a life term in the penitentiary; Ben Adams got the death penalty for the murder; they were arrested on the Joiner job about the first of June at Dallas, Texas; Guthrie was in jail at Blytheville; Ben actually killed the man; he owned a liquor store and when they went in to rob him he resisted and they killed him.
Donald Watson testified that he lives at Arbyrd, Missouri, and runs a filling station, owned by E. J. Eubanks; has worked there about two years; 34 years old and married; in April, 1941, he fixed a flat; drove out after midnight and fixed it; it was either a Chevrolet or Ford; thinks it was a Ford; witness recognized Ben Adams and Arthur McRee as the man who came to the filling station; Adams came first and stayed at the filling station while witness went up and got the tire and brought it back; McRee came back with him; witness had trouble jacking up the car; it was muddy and the car was heavy; did not notice how many people were in the car; thinks McRee got out of the front seat; heard voices in the car and when they moved around in the car it would shake; does not know how many peo...
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