State v. McGinnis
| Decision Date | 03 April 1969 |
| Citation | 158 Conn. 124,256 A.2d 241 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Connecticut v. Donald McGINNIS. STATE of Connecticut v. George SANDOR. STATE of Connecticut v. Edward STODOLSKI. |
Charles Hanken, Bridgeport, for appellants (defendants) in each case.
Arlen D. Nickowitz, Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on the brief, was Otto J. Saur, State's Atty., for appellee (state) in each case.
Before KING, C.J., and ALCORN, HOUSE, THIM and RYAN, JJ.
After a joint trial, the three defendants were convicted by a jury of breaking and entering a commercial vehicle in violation of § 53-74 of the General Statutes. The pertinent portion of § 53-74 makes it a criminal offense to break and enter a commercial motor vehicle with the intent to commit a crime therein. Following his conviction, one of the defendants, Donald McGinnis, was found guilty under the second part of the information which had been filed against him, charging him with being a second offender. General Statutes § 54-118. The three defendants have appealed from the judgments, claiming that the verdicts are against the evidence and that the court made an erroneous ruling on evidence. In accordance with the defendants' request, the court ordered the cases consolidated for this appeal.
The Victor Vending Company owned a panel truck which had two loading doors on the passenger side and two at the rear. Cigarettes and candy were piled along the walls of the truck, and a safe was attached to the floor.
Martin R. Melody was employed by the Victor Vending Company to service and repair vending machines. On March 30, 1967, at approximately 2 p.m., he parked his employer's truck in front of the Bowl-O-Rama bowling alley in the Brookside Shopping Center in Bridgeport. Melody removed merchandise from the side doors of the truck, and, after locking the doors, he took the merchandise inside the bowling alley to fill vending machines. Melody remained inside the building for about twenty minutes and returned to the truck at approximately 2:30 p.m. to get additional merchandise. After removing some merchandise, Melody locked the panel doors and returned to the bowling alley, remaining for about forty minutes. Upon returning to the truck, he discovered that the side doors had been opened, that the safe had been broken into, and that from five to ten money bags containing $500 as well as two half-cases of cigarettes were missing. One of the containers of cigarettes was a cardboard box with the word 'Marlboro' written on its side.
Melody notified the police department, and Floyd Pellegrino, a police officer, arrived at the scene at about 4 p.m. Officer Pellegrino observed that the side doors of the truck were open, that there were marks on one of the doors, that the safe was open and its door was bent, and that nearby there was a screwdriver bent into the shape of a U.
At about 2:50 p.m. on the day in question, Leonard M. Cocco, a sergeant in the Bridgeport police department, while on vacation, was driving his automobile in an easterly direction on Anton Street. He observed the three defendants sitting in a white car parked in front of the Brookside apartments, which were then under construction. Cocco continued driving for about 200 feet when he stopped and parked his car. From the place where he was parked, Cocco observed two of the defendants, George Sandor and Donald McGinnis, leave the white car and enter the apartment site.
Meanwhile, the third defendant, Edward Stodolski, remained in the car and drove into the parking area of the Shop-Rite Center, which is adjacent to the Brookside apartments. Cocco drove into the same lot and parked his car facing the white car. Within approximately ten minutes, Cocco observed Stodolski drive into the street and park his car. Cocco followed the defendants' car, and, shortly thereafter, he observed McGinnis and Sandor emerge from the Brookside premises. McGinnis was carrying a box with red letters on its side, and Sandor was carrying cloth bags; they both rejoined Stodolski in the parked car.
The defendants left the area, and Cocco followed their car for about one mile until it stopped and parked at the Fairchild-Wheeler golf course. Cocco then parked his car and approached the defendants' vehicle. When he was within a few feet of the car, he observed Stodolski in the driver's seat, Sandor alongside of Stodolski and McGinnis in the rear seat. Moreover, in the rear seat Cocco observed bags resembling 'bank bags' and a cardboard box with the word 'Marlboro' in red lettering. Thereupon, Stodolski put his car in reverse and fled the area at an excessive rate of speed.
Cocco followed and overtook the defendants' car, and at Fairfield Woods Road, he parked diagonally to cut off their car. As Cocco got out of his own car and approached the defendants' vehicle, Sandor covered his eyes with his hands, and Cocco said: 'I know you, Sandor.' At this point the defendants' vehicle backed up at a fast rate of speed and disappeared from Cocco's sight. Returning to his car, Cocco called police headquarters, giving a description of the defendants and their car and requesting that they be arrested on his authority. Shortly thereafter, Cocco learned of the theft at the bowling alley owing to a police radio call. Thereupon, Cocco proceeded to the bowling alley where he met Melody and Officer Pellegrino.
The Bowl-O-Rama, where the theft occurred, is a short distance from the Brookside apartments, where Cocco first observed the defendants with the cardboard box and the money bags. The entrance to the bowling alley, from Main Street, is about 500 feet north of Anton Street, which borders the southerly side of the Brookside apartments and the adjacent Shop-Rite Center parking area. A wooded area containing a rock ledge which rises about fifty feet lies between the bowling alley and the Brookside apartment site.
The defendants' principal claim is that the verdicts are not supported by the evidence and that the court committed error by denying their motions to set them aside. We do not agree with this contention. The question presented by the defendants' claim is whether the trial court abused its legal discretion in denying the motions to set aside the verdicts. Brooks v. Singer, 147 Conn. 719, 158 A.2d 745; Desmarais v. Pinto, 147 Conn. 109, 110, 157 A.2d 596. In determining whether the trial court abused its legal discretion, we decide only...
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State v. Moye
...be set aside. State v. Benton, 161 Conn. 404, 406, 288 A.2d 411; State v. Kelsey, 160 Conn. 551, 553, 274 A.2d 151; State v. McGinnis, 158 Conn. 124, 129, 256 A.2d 241." State v. Jackson, 176 Conn. 257, 262, 407 A.2d 948 Conn. (1978). There is no distinction between direct and circumstantia......
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State v. Spigarolo, 13220
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State v. Weinberg
...on facts it finds as the result of other inferences. State v. Gabriel, [192 Conn. 405, 425, 473 A.2d 300 (1984) ]; State v. McGinnis, 158 Conn. 124, 130, 256 A.2d 241 (1969)....' " (Citations omitted.) State v. Williams, 202 Conn. 349, 355, 521 A.2d 150 (1987), quoting State v. Little, 194 ......