People v. Black

THOMPSON, J.

The defendantsdefendants were charged and jointly tried upon a charge of burglary. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of burglary in the first degree against

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the defendant Bodie Black, and a verdict of guilty of burglary in the second degree against the defendant Blanche Welch. From the judgments pronounced upon the verdicts the defendants prosecute this appeal.

The facts as disclosed by the testimony are as follows: Mrs. Caldwell, whose home was entered during her absence, returned at about 12:10 A. M. on the morning of January 27, 1926, in company with a friend named Brown. Upon arriving at the steps to the front porch they found an upholstered chair and victrola records, and upon entering the house discovered that rugs, lamps, bric-a-brac, console, gas stove, clothes, shoes, and other furniture and personal effects had been taken from the house; that the glass in the rear door. had been broken in, a key which had been tied to another key with a ring had been turned in the door and were then missing, which keys were subsequently found by the officers in the hip pocket of the defendant Black. Prior to the discovery of the chair and victrola records and upon approaching Mrs. Caldwell’s home she and Mr. Brown saw a Buiek automobile standing in a ravine near the house and a man standing near it who put his hand in his pocket and yelled, “Don’t come near me, don’t come near me!” Both Mrs. Caldwell and Mr. Brown identified this man as the defendant Bodie Black. The automobile belonged to the defendant Welch, and in it were found a coat, cloak, and vanity case belonging to her. In it also were found several of the articles removed from Mrs. Caldwell’s home. The defendant Bodie Black was seen depositing dishes taken from the Caldwell home in the back yard of the Welch home and the remainder of the property taken from the house was found in what was described as a vacant house about seventy-five feet from the Welch house, accessible thereto through the back yard of the Welch place. There is a statement in the transcript that the property was found in the automobile, the vacant house, back yard, and Mrs. Welch’s parlor. Bodie Black and Mrs. Welch were seen to pass in front of an adjoining house about 12:30 on the morning of the burglary and later were heard to hold a conversation in the rear of the residence of the defendant Mrs. Welch, in which Bodie Black stated to her, “Don’t worry, I have got it all planted, they will have nothing on us.” Both defendants took the stand in their own behalf