Williams v. State, 39190
| Decision Date | 16 February 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 39190,39190 |
| Citation | 398 S.W.2d 931 |
| Parties | Charlie James WILLIAMS, Ruby Faye Duson, and Lewis Draper, Appellants, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Thomas W. Gamblin, Post, for appellants.
George H. Hansard, Dist. Atty., Lamesa, Preston Poole, County Atty., Post, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
DICE, Commissioner.
The appellants, Charlie James Williams, Ruby Faye Duson, Lewis Draper, and a codefendant, Ada Mae Howard, were jointly charged by indictment, in separate counts, with the offenses of shoplifting and felony theft. The second count of the indictment charged the theft of two men's suits of over the value of $50 from one Jim Hundley.
Upon a joint trial of all four defendants, the appellants were convicted of felony theft, as charged in the second count of the indictment, and each was assessed punishment of five years in the penitentiary.
At the trial, the appellants Williams and Draper entered pleas of not guilty to the indictment, and the appellant Ruby Faye Duson entered a plea of guilty.
It was shown by the state's testimony that on the day in question the four defendants named in the indictment came into the Hundley's Men's Wear Store in the city of Post, between 3:30 and 4:00 o'clock, p. m. The two women, who were wearing full pleated skirts, went to the side of the store where the men's suits were kept. One of the men, Lewis Draper, went to the other side of the store and looked at some Bermuda shorts, while the other man looked at some boots. While in the store the two women were seen 'squatting' down on the floor in front of the rack of men's suits. After some ten or fifteen minutes the four left without making any purchase. On the same afternoon the four defendants came into two other stores in the city of Post and appeared to be customers but did not purchase anything. While they were in Martin's Department Store, the women were on the ladies' side of the store and after they left, some women's shoes were found to be missing. While in a Piggly Wiggly store all four of the defendants were at a drug counter, and the next day some deodorant and sanitary sprays were discovered missing.
It was further shown that on the same afternoon patrolman Gene Carpenter observed the four defendants consuming alcohol while seated in an automobile in 'the Flats' in the city of Slaton. When he went to their automobile he observed some clothes lying loose on the back seat. The officer directed appellants to drive to the police station and followed in his patrol car. When they arrived at the police station some cosmetics were found in the defendants' automobile which were identified as items missing from the Piggly Wiggly store in Post. The two women were taken into the judge's office to be searched, and when they got up to go into the room a Hundley's Men's Wear label fell to the floor. Officer Carpenter picked up the label and laid it on the counter near where the two male defendants were standing. The label disappeared and was never seen again. It was shown that the two women were twice searched by the police matron and nothing was found on their persons. But between the time of the first and second search two pair of shoes which were missing from Martin's Department Store in Post were found under two benches in the judge's office in which...
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