State v. Williams, 45791
| Decision Date | 19 April 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 45791,45791 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Ronnie Harris WILLIAMS, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
William H. Greer, Clayton, for appellant.
John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., George Cox, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Appellant was convicted in a jury trial of burglary in the first degree, § 569.160, RSMo (1978), and robbery in the second degree, § 569.030, RSMo (1978). He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment on each count to be served consecutively. This appeal ensues. We reverse.
Appellant first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. In reviewing a claim of insufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we accept the State's evidence as true and give the State the benefit of all reasonable inferences, while disregarding all evidence and inferences to the contrary. State v. Baker, 637 S.W.2d 392 (Mo.App.1982). Our review is limited to whether the evidence is sufficient to build a submissible case and whether there is sufficient evidence from which reasonable individuals could conclude that the defendant is guilty. State v. Turner, 631 S.W.2d 695, 696 (Mo.App.1982).
Within this scope of review, we now consider the evidence. Mildred Haller, age 75, lived alone in her one-room apartment. On October 27, 1981, two black men and a white woman broke open the door to her apartment and robbed her of approximately $1300, much of which was in $100 bills and $50 bills. During the robbery Mrs. Haller screamed when she was knocked to the floor and her arthritic leg was "shoved." One of the men wore a "sort of cowboy hat."
Victoria McFatridge lived with Pat Chism and Charles Humphrey in an apartment on the same floor as Mrs. Haller's apartment. On October 27, 1981, Chism, Humphrey and McFatridge were at their apartment with appellant and appellant's brother, Andre. Miss Chism is white; appellant and Charles Humphrey are black. Humphrey, Chism and appellant left the McFatridge apartment. Shortly thereafter, Miss McFatridge heard a door being knocked in and a scream. She and Andre then walked to a grocery store and called the police.
The police arrived and conducted an investigation. About one hour later the police stopped an automobile driven by appellant. Appellant was alone at the time. Appellant was arrested and searched. One hundred and twelve dollars were seized from his pockets, and a brown cowboy hat, which belonged to appellant, was seized from his automobile. He admitted being in the company of Chism and Humphrey that evening. Later that evening Humphrey and Chism were arrested. Seven hundred and twenty dollars, including seven $100 bills, were seized from Humphrey. Five hundred and eighteen dollars were seized from Chism, including three $100 bills and four $50 bills.
At trial, Mrs. Haller stated that she was unable to identify anyone involved in the crimes. She identified appellant's hat as being similar to the hat worn by one of her assailants. She identified the money seized as being the same type of bills that were stolen from her.
The evidence against appellant was circumstantial. The issue is whether it is legally...
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