White v. State
| Decision Date | 16 December 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 37367,37367 |
| Citation | 385 S.W.2d 397 |
| Parties | Bennie WHITE, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Marvin Foster, Jr., Corpus Christi, for appellant.
Sam L. Jones, Jr., Dist. Atty., Kipling F. Layton and Douglas Tinker, Asst. Dist. Attys., Corpus Christi, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
BELCHER, Commissioner.
The conviction is for robbery; the punishment, twenty-five years.
The testimony of Harry Martin and Luther Green reveals that the appellant, Martin, and Green, agreed on Sunday, November 10, to rob a bank; and that after talking about a gun, Green and appellant went to the latter's home, where appellant got the gun and gave it to Green, who then returned to his home. Shortly after 10 A.M., Tuesday, November 12, the three met at Green's house in Corpus Christi. They agreed to rob the Citizens State Bank in Corpus Christi, and then discussed plans to rob the bank. They agreed that Green, accompanied by Martin, would drive a car to the bank; that Green would wait outside in the car while Martin entered the bank with the gun; and that appellant would meet them at a designated place on a certain street in another car. This understanding and plan was carried out.
The teller of the Citizens State Bank testified that about 11:30 or 11:45 A.M., November 12, a negro man appeared at the teller's window, holding a gun in his hand by his side, and in the other hand he held a brown paper sack, level with the counter. He told the teller to put money in the sack, and being in fear of her life the teller put $8,225 in the sack, and the negro turned and walked out the front door. She further testified that appellant was not the negro to whom she gave the money at the bank window.
Wilber Johnson testified that while in the bank about 11:30 A.M. November 12, he was alerted by some unusual occurrences when a negro man approached a teller's window; that he immediately went outside to his car, which had a two-way radio, and waited for the negro to come out of the bank. Immediately, Johnson saw him come out of the bank, carrying a gun and a paper sack, and get into an old black 1948 Chevrolet sedan, which was then driven away by another negro man. Johnson pursued the Chevrolet, and with the aid of his wife, who was with him, he radioed his position to the police as often as he could. After a short, winding chase, without Johnson losing sight of the Chevrolet, it stopped in the street and Johnson stopped about 100 feet behind it. Johnson saw two negro men get out of the Chevrolet, one of whom was carrying a sack, and both entered a faded 1954 Buick which was driven by another negro man. The Buick was driven away at a rapid speed, with Johnson in pursuit, only momentarily losing sight of the Buick when it would turn a corner while traveling a circuitous route. During the chase Johnson was constantly communicating with the police dispatcher. Johnson pursued the Buick for 'four to seven, or eight minutes' until it was stopped by the police. Johnson identified the Buick as the same car he pursued after the two negroes left the Chevrolet and entered the Buick, but he never saw the two men leave the Buick.
The officers identified the appellant as the driver of the Buick which they had stopped immediately after getting into a certain area in response to a radio dispatch. The appellant was alone in the Buick at the time. Johnson arrived at the scene immediately after the officers had stopped the Buick; and, in the presence of the appellant, he related to Officer Lowrance what he had seen at the bank and also told him what occurred afterward, including the identification of the Buick at the scene when appellant was apprehended.
The officers, after receiving additional information, went to the home of Luther Green in Corpus Christi. They arrested both Green and Harry Martin at Green's home. Martin was found under the house with $8,225 in money in a brown paper sack in his possession, and after coming from underneath the house he pointed out to the officers the location of the gun and they took possession of it. Green was arrested inside the house.
Martin testified that he and Green went from Green's house straight to the bank; that he entered the bank, exhibited the gun, and ordered the teller to put the money in the paper bag, which she did; that he returned to the car, which Green drove to the predesignated place, and appellant 'drove up behind us' in a car. Green and Martin, with Martin carrying both the gun and the money, got in appellant's car. As appellant drove away Green saw someone following them and appellant then increased the speed, turned four or five corners, and, after travelling for a period of three or four minutes, appellant let Green and Martin out at Green's house, into which they ran, with Martin still carrying the money and the gun. They counted the money, which totaled $8,225...
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