People v. Wade

JEFFERSON, J. The court found appellant Samuel Wade (hereafter defendant) guilty of second degree burglary, found that he had suffered a prior felony conviction and sentenced him to prison. Wesley Wade, also charged with the same offense, was found not guilty. In this appeal from the judgment, defendant maintains that his conviction is not supported by the evidence and that it is the product of an illegal arrest.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (as it must be viewed), the following facts appear: On the night of May 17-18, 1966, the warehouse door of the Record Merchandising Company was pried open and approximately 14 cartons of records were taken. Albert Knutson resides in an apartment located directly over the warehouse. At about 1 a.m. on May 18, he heard the sound of the warehouse door squeaking. He looked out of his window and saw a male Negro of medium build come out of the warehouse carrying two cartons. The man walked across the street to a light-colored automobile which was in the process of parking. Knutson was unable to see who was driving the car. He went to the phone and called the police. When he returned to the window the car and the man he had observed were gone.

On the afternoon of May 19 defendant entered the record store of George Hocutt and asked Hocutt if he was interested in buying some records. Defendant explained that he had gotten them from a friend and showed Hocutt five or six samples. Hocutt recognized the labels on the records. They were.distributed exclusively by the Record Merchandising Company. Hocutt explained to defendant that only one of the titles was [37]of value to him. Defendant told Hoeutt he had 125 of that label; that he would sell him the 125 for one dollar a record. (The wholesale price is two dollars a record.) Defendant said that he would give Hoeutt the rest of the records as part of the deal; he had 14 or 15 cartons in all (about 375 records). Hoeutt told defendant that if he came back the next morning he would have a check for $125 waiting for him. Defendant agreed to this arrangement and walked out. At the time, a white Chrysler was parked in front of the store, and Hoeutt observed that defendant walked over and had a short conversation with a male Negro sitting in the car. Hoeutt wrote down the license number of the car, QKF 772. Defendant then came back inside the store and told Hoeutt to make the check out to Robert Rochelle Wade. He then drove off in the white Chrysler.

After defendant left, Hoeutt called the Record Merchandising Company and told the manager, Donald Davis, about his transaction with defendant. At the time of the call Davis was being interviewed by police officers investigating the burglary of the warehouse, and he relayed the information he had received to them. The next day defendant and Wesley Wade were arrested when they drove up and parked near Hoeutt’s record store. They were in a white Chrysler which Wesley was driving. The 14 cartons of records stolen from the Record Merchandising Company were in the trunk of the vehicle. There were five loose record albums. On defendant's person was a driver's license with the name Robert Rochelle Wade.