State v. Sewell
| Decision Date | 19 July 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 33770,33770 |
| Citation | 299 P.2d 570,49 Wn.2d 244 |
| Parties | The STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Marvin Darrell SEWELL, Appellant. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
A. Clemens Grady, Port Townsend, for appellant.
William J. Daly, Pros. Atty., Port Townsend, for respondent.
The defendant was convicted of burglary in the second degree. The court denied defendant's motion in arrest of judgment and for a new trial, and entered judgment and sentence on the verdict. The defendant appeals.
Appellant contends that the state failed to prove the crime charged, and that the court erred in denying his motion in arrest of judgment.
Three witnesses were called by the state. The manager of the American Legion Club in Port Townsend testified that, at approximately seven o'clock a. m., July 27, 1955, he discovered that the club premises had been entered through a window on the west side of the building, and that two windowpanes in the basement door had been broken.
The sheriff of Jefferson county corroborated the manager's testimony. He also found that someone had attempted to open a cigarette machine, safe, and liquor cabinet, and noticed what appeared to be fingerprints on the broken pieces of glass from the basement door. A fingerprint expert was called to investigate.
The expert testified that the fingerprint on the broken piece of glass from the basement door was the only new print he found; that this fingerprint compared with that of appellant's index finger, and that, in his opinion, it was the fingerprint of appellant. With reference to the time the print was placed on the glass, this witness testified:
The state rested its case with the testimony of these witnesses. A motion to dismiss for failure of proof was denied.
The appellant denied that he was at or near the Legion Club on the night in question. He testified that he was a cook and manager of his mother's restaurant; that he was a member of the Legion, had club privileges, and patronized the Legion Club almost every Friday evening. His alibi was corroborated by other witnesses, who testified that they were with the appellant during the night in question, except for the time from four to five o'clock a. m. The appellant explained that, during that hour, he was in the restaurant preparing a lunch for himself, the restaurant then being closed to the public.
RCW 9.19.020, cf. Rem.Rev.Stat. § 2579, defines the crime of burglary in the second degree, in so far as it is applicable to this case, as follows:
'Every person who, with intent to commit some crime therein, * * * breaks...
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