State v. Wallace
| Decision Date | 22 December 1925 |
| Docket Number | 26450 |
| Citation | 278 S.W. 663 |
| Parties | STATE v. WALLACE |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Robert W. Otto, Atty. Gen. (C. E. Curtis, of Jefferson City, of counsel), for the State.
Statement.
The grand jurors of the city of St. Louis, Mo., on October 1 1923, returned into the circuit court of said city an indictment, omitting the formal parts of which, reads as follows:
'The grand jurors of the state of Missouri, within and for the body of the city of St. Louis, now here in court, duly impaneled, sworn, and charged, upon their oath present: That Angelo Timponi, Ernest Wallace, and John Laffey, on the 17th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1923 at the city of St. Louis aforesaid, with force and arms, in and upon one William J. McCabe, feloniously did make an assault, and the said William J. McCabe in fear of an immediate injury to his person, then and there feloniously did put, and by force and violence to his person $ 4,744.34, lawful money of the United States of the value of $ 4,744.34, all of the moneys and personal property of the said William J. McCabe from the person and in the presence and against the will of the said William J. McCabe then and there, with force and violence as aforesaid, feloniously and violently did rob, steal, take and carry away, with the felonious intent then and there to permanently deprive the owner of the use thereof and to convert same to his own use, against the peace and dignity of the state.
'[Signed] Rudolph Schneider,
'Asst. Circuit Attorney.'
Said cause was assigned to Division No. 10, and on December 7, 1923, each of the defendants, Angelo Timponi, Ernest Wallace, and John Laffey, entered his plea of not guilty. On the following day, on motion of this appellant, a severance and separate trial was granted to him. On March 27, 1924, the jury, before whom said cause was tried, returned into court the following verdict:
'We, the jury in the above-entitled cause, find the defendant guilty of robbery in the first degree, as charged in the indictment, and assess the punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for 20 years.
'C. H. Hoffman, Foreman.'
Motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment were filed on March 28, 1924. The above motions were continued to April 7, 1924, and overruled. On May 2, 1924, allocution was granted defendant, judgment rendered, and sentence pronounced in accordance with the verdict aforesaid. On the same day an appeal was allowed defendant to this court.
State's Evidence.
Wm. J. McCabe, in behalf of the state, testified, in substance, as follows: That he was cashier of the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium, located at 919 North Taylor avenue in the city of St. Louis and state of Missouri, on November 17, 1923; that the office of the building is near the center; that it was so partitioned as to constitute one large room; that as cashier of said institution it was his duty to care for the money belonging to same; that on November 17, 1923, as such cashier, he had in his possession $ 4,744.34, located in the safe of said sanitarium, which was brought there to pay the employees of same; that the pay roll was put in envelopes, and the latter placed in a box, which he identified; that about 3:13 o'clock on the afternoon of November 17th, he was sitting at his desk, when Mrs. Matthews, an employee near him, looked east and exclaimed, 'Holdup! ' that he immediately looked to his left and saw defendant Timponi sitting on top of the railing of partition; that he also saw defendant Wallace in front of the cage window of said building, with a drawn revolver; that Timponi also had a revolver in his hand and said, 'Stick 'em up!' that he and Mrs. Matthews put up their hands; that Timponi then made them get down on the floor; that he was in about 10 feet of Timponi, and the light was good; that Timponi then went over to the safe, and robbed it of forty-eight hundred and some dollars; that he took the box containing the pay envelopes, and put it into a dark brown gunny sack, which he had taken out of his pocket; that he also opened a small cash drawer and took therefrom coins; that he also took from another cash drawer a wallet containing currency and greenbacks, which he also put into this gunny sack; that defendant Wallace was at the window and said to Timponi, 'Hurry up, Dick, hurry up;' that Timponi replied, 'I am going to take my time and take everything they have got;' that he then took a shotgun; that defendant Wallace, during this time, was standing at the cash window with a revolver in his hand; that both Wallace and Timponi, after taking the above money and gun, left the building, got into a new car parked on the outside, and went west on Belle Place at a high rate of speed; that Timponi took the shotgun.
On cross-examination, witness repeated the substance of his testimony as heretofore given. On re-examination, McCabe testified, in substance, that the height from the floor to the cash window, where Wallace stood, was about 41/2 feet; that the gun taken by Timponi belonged to Dr. Klinefelder, one of the staff doctors of the sanitarium; that the robbery occurred on Saturday, and he identified defendant and Timponi at police headquarters the next day about noon.
Mrs. Carl Matthews testified in behalf of the state and corroborated the testimony of McCabe as to the material facts in the case.
Nancy Bernard testified that she lived at 3822 Evans avenue, on the 17th day of November, 1923. About 3:30 on the afternoon of that day, she was on her front porch, and saw a blue automobile pass by her house and stop a little distance away. There were three men in it. The car stopped on the same side of the street that her house was on, and there was nothing to obstruct her view. When the three men got out of the car, one of them had a brown sack in his hand. The witness identified defendant Wallace as one of the men who got out of the car. This happened on Saturday afternoon. The next Sunday, the witness saw the defendant Wallace in the police station.
Nellie Wilson testified that she lived in Marion, Ohio. On the 17th day of November, 1923, she was visiting Mrs. Bernard at 3822 Evans avenue, St. Louis, Mo. About 3:30 o'clock on that afternoon she saw a blue automobile pass the house where she was staying. She and her aunt, Mrs. Bernard, were on the front porch when the car passed. It stopped within a short distance and east of the house. There were three men in the car. When the men got out of the car, they appeared to be looking around to see if anyone had seen them. They were turned in the direction of the witness. One of the men had a sack in his hand. After the men got out of the car, they went east and then turned south. The witness identified the defendant Wallace as one of the three men who got out of the car. The witness saw the defendant in the police station Sunday after she saw him in the car on Saturday.
John H. Stephensmeyer lived at 1401a North Sarah street. He was a sergeant on the police force of the city of St. Louis on the 17th day of November, 1923. He was assigned to the Tenth district, located at Deer and Easton. He went to 3822 Evans avenue on the afternoon of November 17, 1923. He found there a small Packard touring car, painted blue, a Remington shotgun in the rear of the car, and a money box for pay envelopes. He identified the gun shown him as the one he found in the touring car. He also identified a money box shown him as the one he found in the touring car.
Anthony J. Kloeppel lived at 2338 South Eighteenth street. He was a police officer on the 17th day of November, 1923. He was assigned to the Tenth district. He saw the car found near 3822 Evans avenue. The witness assisted in the arrests of Timponi and Laffey. They were arrested in front of 2815 North Sarah street, about 9:00 p. m., on the 17th of November.
Harry T. Shea testified that he lived at 2323 Hebert street. On the 17th day of November, 1923, he was a police officer. He was assigned to the Sixth district. He arrested the defendant Wallace at Grand Boulevard and Florissant avenue at 7 o'clock in the evening on the 17th of November, 1923.
Defendant's Evidence.
Defendant did not testify at the trial, but relied on an alibi, and produced several witnesses, whose testimony is substantially as follows:
Sam Bernstein lived at 3020 Sheridan. He sold papers at Grand and Hebert. On the 17th of November, 1923, he was selling papers at the Water Tower in North St. Louis. On that day he saw the defendant at the Water Tower, which is on Grand avenue. This was between 3 and 4 o'clock. He sold the defendant a paper at that time.
James Pohlman lived at 4312 John avenue. He was...
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