State v. Smith
| Decision Date | 11 October 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 51336,No. 1,51336,1 |
| Citation | 394 S.W.2d 373 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Jefferson Davis SMITH, Appellant |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Norman H. Anderson, Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, J. L. Anding, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Pacific, for respondent.
Emanuel Williams, St. Louis, for appellant.
Defendant, Jefferson Davis Smith, was charged with and found guilty of the offenses of burglary in the second degree and stealing. The court found, as charged, that defendant had been convicted of five prior felonies and had been sentenced and imprisoned upon each of said convictions. The court fixed his punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of six years for the burglary and five years for the stealing, the sentences to run concurrently. See Secs. 560.070, 560.095, 560.110, 560.156, and 556.280 (). Defendant has appealed. He has not filed a brief and we will therefore consider the contentions properly raised in his motion for new trial.
Defendant was charged with the burglary of the Cross Road Lounge which was located at 2815 Cole Street, St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Birdie Keesee testified that she owned the Cross Road Lounge; that she was the last to leave the premises when the place was closed on September 13, 1964, and the upon leaving she locked and secured the premises; that about 11:30 p. m. on said date she was called by a police officer and immediately went to the Lounge; that she observed that the window on the east side had been broken and the lock on the front door was 'jammed' and a crowbar was lying in front of the premises; that there was blood on the window and on the sidewalk under the window; that she went inside and checked her stock and found that 83 half pints of whiskey, having a value of 'about a hundred and twenty-five dollars,' were missing.
Patrolman Ora Jennings of the Canine Division of the St. Louis Police Department testified that he was patrolling the area on the date in question and at about 11:10 p. m. discovered a broken window at the Cross Road Tavern; that he and his dog entered the building through the broken window but found no one inside; that he observed blood on the sidewalk and blood stains on various articles in the building, and that he immediately notified the district office as to his discovery.
Defendant was arrested on September 16, apparently after the police had received a 'tip' indicating that he may have been involved in the aforementioned burglary. After his arrest he was taken to the district police station and questioned. Three officers were present during the questioning as was William Keesee, husband of the owner of the Lounge. Each of these witnesses testified at the trial. The substance of their testimony was that defendant stated that he went to the tavern with two other men whom he refused to identify; that the two others broke into the tavern and he acted as 'lookout'; that he obtained a box and the men inside handed the whiskey out of the window to him and he put it in the box; that in receiving...
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Oldham v. State
...is only evidence which would sustain a conviction for grand larceny, Baker v. State, Okl.Cr.App., 487 P.2d 966, 967-968; State v. Smith, Mo., 394 S.W.2d 373, 374-375; State v. Lombardo, 104 Ariz. 598, 457 P.2d 275, 278; State v. Gray, 152 Mont. 145, 447 P.2d 475, Appellant asserts as error ......
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State v. Webb
...nearby. The direct testimony of the policemen put the defendant very clearly in the picture as an affirmative participany. In State v. Smith, Mo., 394 S.W.2d 373, a burglary case, the defendant received bottles of whiskey as they were passed out of a window. His conviction of both burglary ......
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State v. Cheek, 52060
...not to file a brief in this court. We will therefore consider the contentions properly raised in his motion for new trial. State v. Smith, Mo.Sup., 394 S.W.2d 373. During the early evening of September 18, 1965, defendant drove his Ford Mustang automobile from O'Fallon to St. Charles, Misso......
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State v. Echols, 54243
...property was less than fifty dollars in value. The trial court did not err. State v. Knicker, Mo.Sup., 366 S.W.2d 400; State v. Smith, Mo.Sup., 394 S.W.2d 373. Appellant's final contention is that the trial court 'committed prejudicial error by its finding that Defendant had a prior convict......