People v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 14 April 1967
• Docket Number: Gen. No. 51534
• Citation: 226 N.E.2d 435,82 Ill.App.2d 207
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 435

226 N.E.2d 435

82 Ill.App.2d 207

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.

Gen. No. 51534.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division.

April 14, 1967.

Gerald W. Getty, Chicago, James J. Doherty, Frederick F. Cohn, Chicago, of counsel, for appellant.

John J. Stamos, Chicago, Elmer C. Kissane, David B. Selig, Chicago, of counsel, for appellee.

McCORMICK, Justice.

CHARGE: Burglary. ^*

JUDGMENT: After a bench trial the court found the defendant guilty and imposed a sentence of not less than one nor more than three years.

POINT RAISED ON APPEAL: Defendant was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

EVIDENCE: Augustine Molina testified as follows: He had a place of business on the first floor at 1816 North Halsted Street in the City of Chicago, where he sold records, jewelry, and phonographs. On Friday, February 25, 1966, he closed his store about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. There was only one door to the shop and that was protected by a gate in the front. When he returned to the store on February 26, at about 9:30 a.m., he saw that the left side of the wall was broken; there was a big hole in it, about 1 1/2 to 3 --big enough for a person to crawl through--and a window in the back of the basement was broken. There was a lot of plaster lying around on the floor inside the shop. Molina stated that he checked the goods in his store and found 20 rings and 8 earrings missing. He said he did not know the defendant, Robert Jackson, nor did he give him any authority to enter his store; he had never seen Jackson before and Jackson had never purchased anything from him. He stated that the wall was not an outside wall, and if a person crawled through it he could go to the stairs to the basement where there was a broken window with a hole about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 large. He testified that the missing rings were worth $10.00 each and the earrings $4.00 each; that he did not have any insurance to cover loss by theft.

Police Officer Philip Duhr testified that he went to 1816 North Halsted Street at 6:55 a.m., on February 26, 1955; that it was a 2-story building with a record shop on the ground floor; that he saw a hole in the inner wall leading into the shop, and found an open window leading into the basement on the north side of the building, through which window he and his partner entered. He stated that he and his partner searched the basement, then found a second stairwell and an open door which lead to a rear apartment of four or five rooms, occupied by Jose Soto, his wife and four children, all of whom were sleeping when the police entered. He testified that they woke the family, then went into a side room used for hanging laundry, and found the defendant, Robert Jackson, hiding behind a dresser in the room. Officer Duhr stated that he asked Soto if he knew the defendant and he said he did not; the defendant said nothing. Officer Duhr further testified that on the stairs leading from the basement towards the hole in the shop wall they found a screwdriver and a crowbar.

On cross-examination Officer Duhr reiterated his testimony that he got into the basement from the outside through a window which was pushed up; there was no glass in it and it was boarded up on the inside; that the window was about 18 inches high and 2 and a half feet wide; that the hole in the wall leading into the record shop was large enough for a person to crawl through. He further testified that when the defendant was arrested his clothes were covered with the plaster dust from the hole.

Robert Jackson testified in his own behalf that at the time of his arrest he was living at 1154 East 62nd Street, but he gave his mother's address of 1526 South Drake, because he was living with a girl friend at the other address. He stated he worked off and on for a man who owned Christian Home Furniture at 3122 West Madison. He stated that he had been in Molina's store three or four times and had known Molina for quite a few years; that he believed Molina used to have a store at LaSalle and Division; that occasionally he bought things from Molina and resold them, which he called horsetrading; and these items were usually bongo drums and record players. Jackson testified that on February 25, 1966, at about 9:00 p.m., he talked to Molina in his store; that Molina brought up the subject of a deal which had previously been discussed between them, in which the defendant was to make it appear that a burglary had been committed in the store. He stated that he did not know what Molina expected to gain from it, but that he was told to stay in the store and some time during the night to make it look as though the store had been broken into; that he was then to put some rings into a brown case, put them aside, and when Molina came to open up that morning, Jackson was to take the articles to a public locker and bring the key back to Molina. He testified that for going through with the deal he was to receive from Molina 'one Olson amplifier, between thirty-five and forty-five watts, * * * also one turntable, and about $200 in cash.' He stated that it was daylight when he knocked the hole through the wall from the inside; he saw a woman outside the store looking in and he went behind a case to take out the rings and put them in the case which was on the floor; that a car drove up outside with several occupants in it who began waving to him and honking the horn, and he indicated to them that the store would open at nine or nine-thirty. He stated that about 5 minutes later the police arrived, at which time Jackson went through the hole in the wall to the basement; that he was trying to open the boarded-up window when he heard footsteps, and when the policeman turned his flashlight inside, the defendant saw the other stairwell which he entered and which led into the Soto apartment where he was discovered by the police. He later testified that he had left the brown case on the floor when he left the store; that when he was arrested he did not tell the police about the 'deal' he made with Molina, and that he did not have any rings on him when he was arrested.

The defendant testified that he had gone to sleep in the rear of the store while looking at television and did not waken until daylight; that he had knocked the hole in the...