Rolack v. Com.

• Decision Date: 13 September 1974
• Citation: 514 S.W.2d 47
• Parties: Arthur Terry ROLACK, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 47

514 S.W.2d 47

Arthur Terry ROLACK, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Sept. 13, 1974.

Anthony M. Wilhoit, Public Defender, Anna H. Isaacs, Asst. Public Defender, Frankfort, for appellant.

Ed W. Hancock, Atty. Gen., Kenneth A. Howe, Robert W. Riley, Asst. Attys. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee.

CATINNA, Commissioner.

Arthur Terry Rolack was convicted by a jury in the Fayette Circuit Court on two separate counts of obtaining property under false pretense and a third count of being a habitual criminal. His punishment was fixed at life imprisonment.

On appeal Rolack argues that (1) the trial court should have sustained his motion for a new trial, as a photographic identification of him was improper, and (2) he was denied due process and equal protection of law, as the life sentence imposed by the habitual criminal statute constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

On September 4, 1962, Lawrence Anderson of Wilson Machinery and Supply Company sold a skil saw to a black man. On March 30, 1973, Bruce Hammell, owner of Tookey's Auto Supply, sold a battery charger to a black man. On both these occasions the black man, who was dressed in a Coca Cola Bottling Company uniform, represented that he was an employee of Bluegrass Coca Cola Bottling Company and authorized to purchase both the skil saw and battery charger. Invoices charging these items to the account of the Coca Cola Bottling Company were prepared. The black man signed each invoice as agent of the company and accepted delivery of the merchandise.

Although the black man was a stranger to Anderson, he did not consider this unusual or suspicious. On a number of prior occasions, employees of the bottling company, unknown to him, had made credit purchases as agents of the company.

The black man was likewise a stranger to Hammell. While the battery charger ordered by the black man was being delivered from the warehouse, he and Hammell discussed other mutual acquaintances. The fact that both men were familiar with certain employees and operations of the bottling company caused Hammell to conclude that the black man had authority to make the purchase.

Neither Anderson nor Hammell discovred the fraud until the bottling company refused to pay for the items purchased. They reported the incidents to the authorities, and Detective Charles Majors of the Lexington Metro Police was placed in charge of the subsequent investigation. Hammell and the bottling company, after investigating the possibility that the black man was a former Coca Cola employee, concluded that he could have been Arthur Terry Rolack, a recent employee in the paint shop. This information was given to Detective Majors.

Before Rolack was arrested or taken...