Turner v. State, 29039
| Decision Date | 29 May 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 29039,29039 |
| Citation | 303 S.W.2d 386,165 Tex.Crim. 106 |
| Parties | Merlin Bland TURNER, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Frank M. Lamson, Port Arthur, Jack Brookshire, Beaumont, for appellant.
Ramie H. Griffin, Criminal Dist. Atty., James S. McGrath, Asst. Criminal Dist. Atty., Beaumont, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
DICE, Commissioner.
Under an indictment charging the offense of burglary with certain prior convictions of felonies less than capital alleged to enhance the punishment, appellant was convicted of the primary offense of burglary and assessed punishment at confinement in the penitentiary for eight years.
The sole question presented is the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction.
The evidence consists of that offered by the state as the appellant did not testify or offer any evidence in his behalf.
Appellant's written confession was introduced in evidence.
From the confession and other testimony it is shown that on June 26, 1952, around midnight the appellant and Robert Leroy Spradlin went upon the roof of a building occupied by Sommers Drug Store No. 8 in the City of Beaumont for the purpose of burglarizing the place. After drilling some twenty holes in the roof and removing two boards, they decided it was too late to finish the job, whereupon they placed the tools which they had brought with them consisting of a brace and bit, keyhole saw, punch and maul in the hole, covered it up with a piece of tin and left.
During the morning, the hole in the roof which was approximately 20 inches square and the tools were discovered by the store manager when water began coming into the building as the result of a rain which had fallen. Under direction of the branch manager a hole 10 inches square was then cut in the ceiling directly under the hole in the roof in order to concentrate the flow of water into the building. Later during the day a plan was worked out by those in charge of the store to set a trap to catch whoever had been upon the roof and cut the hole. Pursuant to the plan the same boards were placed back in the hole in the ceiling, secured with a brace lightly nailed, and a tub placed directly beneath on the floor. Arrangements were made for a person to remain in the store that night for the purpose of notifying the police in the event the subjects returned.
Around midnight appellant and Spradlin returned, climbed upon the roof and after appellant removed the piece of tin and was reaching down in the hole for the brace and bit something fell into the room below. The person stationed in the building then notified the police who immediately surrounded the building and upon going on the roof arrested the appellant and Spradlin and found the tools in the hole.
It was further shown that the roof and ceiling of the building were separated by 2"' by 6"' timbers on 24"' centers and that the tools were found lying on top of the ceiling in the space between the ceiling and the roof and below the opening cut in the roof by the appellant and his...
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Hendrix v. State, 44201
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