State v. Green, 19717

• Decision Date: 01 November 1973
• Docket Number: No. 19717,19717
• Citation: 261 S.C. 366,200 S.E.2d 74
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Bobby S. GREEN et al., Appellants.

Page 74

200 S.E.2d 74

261 S.C. 366

The STATE, Respondent, v. Bobby S. GREEN et al., Appellants.

No. 19717.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Nov. 1, 1973.

James A. Stuckey, Jr., Vernon R. Scott and D. J. Stratos, Charleston, for appellants.

Sol. Robert B. Wallace and Asst. Sol. Capers G. Barr, III, Charleston, for respondent.

BRAILSFORD, Justice:

At the December, 1972, term of the Charleston County Court, the appellants, Bobby S. Green, Albert Legare and Ferman Hallums, were convicted of attempted armed robbery and sentenced to terms of imprisonment. They have appealed on exceptions which are argued in the brief under two questions, as follows:

'I. Did the Trial Judge err to Appellants' prejudice by permitting testimony that the Appellants had escaped from the same prison in North Carolina four days prior to the alleged attempted robbery?

'II. Was any or sufficient evidence adduced to submit to the Jury or permit it to find that Appellants Green and Legare were guilty of attempted armed robbery?'

We consider these questions in inverse order.

The three appellants entered Bayne's Country Store on Johns Island in Charleston County at about 8:30 P.M. on August 24, 1972. About on hour later, Hallums, pretending that he wished to purchase a bottle of beer, drew a pistol on the proprietor, telling him to 'Hold it.' Bayne grappled with his assailant and secured a pistol from under the counter. Several shots were exchanged. Bayne got the upper hand and held Hallums and his companions at pistol point until the police arrived.

There is no dispute that Hallums attempted to rob Bayne. The only issue arising on this phase of the appeal is the sufficiency of the evidence to establish that Green and Legare were present at the scene of the crime by prearrangement with Hallums to aid, encourage and abet him in its perpetration. If so, they were guilty as principals. 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 88(1)--88(2) (1961).

We state the evidence in the light of the principle that it, and the inferences to be drawn therefrom, must be viewed most favorably to the State, and that the issue is for the jury if there is any evidence, direct or circumstantial, reasonably tending to prove the guilt of the accused. 7A West's South Carolina Digest, Criminal Law, k753 (1971).

The chain of circumstances tending to show that the three appellants were acting in concert at Bayne's Country Store on the evening of August 24, 1972, commences four days earlier when they escaped together from a facility of the North Carolina Department of Corrections at Lexington, North Carolina, some 250 miles from Charleston. At about 4:00 P.M. on August 24, they arrived together at the home of Charles Joyner on Johns Island. Legare was Joyner's nephew, and had previously lived with him on the Island, but they had not seen each other for several years. Legare's companions were strangers to Joyner. The four men drank beer and wine together until under 6:00 P.M. when Joyner, becoming drowsy, went to sleep on his bedroom, leaving the appellants on his premises. When Joyner was awakened about midnight, a pistol, which had been hanging on the wall of his bedroom when he went to sleep, was missing, as were the appellants.

In the meantime, at about 8:00 P.M., the appellants went together to Bayne's store which was only a short walk from Joyner's house. Bayne, a teen-age employee and several customers were in the store when appellants arrived. Young Abraham Murray and a companion were playing pool on a coin-operated table. After bumming a cigarette and match from Murray, the appellant Green pressed against the boy and inquired, 'Are you in with us?' Murray, thinking that he detected a hard object under Green's clothing, became alarmed and decided to leave. Before doing so, he confided his suspicion to Bayne's young employee, who, in turn, warned Bayne. The latter responded by moving his stool within easy reach of a pistol under the counter, and, while ostensibly reading a newspaper, watching the appellants.

Bayne testified that the three men were together until Green and Legare started shooting pool, after which Hallums stood nearby, 'watching them boys shooting pool. Occasionally he'd look up.' After having been in the store about in hour and...