Herren v. State

1939 OK CR 155, 100 P.2d 286, 97 P.2d 96, 69 Okla. Crim. 57, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 1
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 7, 1939
DocketNo. A-9582.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1939 OK CR 155 (Herren v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Herren v. State, 1939 OK CR 155, 100 P.2d 286, 97 P.2d 96, 69 Okla. Crim. 57, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 1 (Okla. Ct. App. 1939).

Opinions

DOYLE, P. J.

Appellant Buster Herren and Earl Herren were jointly charged by information in the district court of Jefferson county with the crime of burglary in the second degree, alleged to have been committed on the 4th day of February, 1938, by breaking into and entering a certain building occupied by Zeb Jones, in the town of Bingling, in Jefferson county, in which certain personal property belonging to the said Zeb Jones was then and there kept, with the felonious intent on the part of said defendants to take, steal and carry away said personal property, etc.

Upon his separate trial the jury returned a verdict finding:

“The defendant, Buster Herren, guilty of burglary in the second degree as charged in the information herein and fix his punishment by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of three years.”

His motion for new trial was overruled on April 29, 1938; thereupon the court rendered judgment in accordance with the verdict. From which judgment an appeal was duly perfected by filing in this court October 24, 1938, petition in error with case-made.

Appellant alleges several assignments of error for reversal of the judgment, but mainly relies in the brief o,n *59 the assignment that the evidence tending to connect him with the commission of the crime charged was insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury.

The uncontroverted evidence for the state shows that between 4 and 5 o’clock on the morning of the date alleged, the service station and garage, owned and operated by Zeb Jones, in the town of Ringling, was burglarized and several hundred dollars worth of merchandise, consisting of tires, inner tubes, batteries, pumps and automobile parts, were taken, and carried away. A window in the back end of the building had been broken open, entrance made, and a door had been broken open. Tracks of three men from the door of the garage to where a car had been parked, about 100 yards from the building were examined. The owner and three officers examined the tracks; found one certain shoe track that had a bell shape marking, on the heel.

Lee Herren, uncle of appellant, a brother of codefen-dant, Earl Herren, was the owner of a filling station and a small store located nine miles east of Ardmore, on highway No. 70, and he had a farm three miles east and a half mile north, occupied by his son-in-law, Tom Ruth-ledge.

Zeb Jones testified that six National Silent Tread tires were recovered, four had wrappers with his name and address, two were returned by Officer Allen, later four were returned to him, also one of two National High Yolt Batteries; they were dated and had a peculiar mark, and were identified and introduced in evidence; that different brands of tubes were taken and he identified tubes recovered as tubes for the National 600 x 16. That with Mr. Allen, Mr. Adams and Mr. Berry, he examined the tracks between the garage and where the car had been parked, that the value of the missing, property was about $300, *60 and he recovered approximately $150 worth, bnt was not present when that portion he recovered was found.

W. B. Allen, deputy sheriff of Jefferson county, testified that he went to Ardmore and with the sheriff of Carter county went east of Ardmore, about twelve miles and found 41 casings, among which were four new casings, having the name and address of Zeb Jones on the wrappers, all the casings found had been stolen, some at Ardmore, some at Wayne and some at Maud.

He further testified that he recovered two casings found on the rear wheels of a Plymouth car in Oklahoma City. Buster Herren claimed the car, and he found the battery introduced in evidence in the car; that Earl and Lee Herren were present; when he asked Buster where he got these casings and the battery, Buster said, “I bought them from a fellow in Oklahoma City, and gave him $5 each for the casings, I don’t know who he was.” Then he asked Buster if anybody was present when he made the purchase, and he said no.

W. R. Berry, sheriff of Jefferson county, testified that he was called to Ringling that morning and found the tracks of these persons very plain, and one was a very peculiar track, he had never seen one like it before or since; on the heel there was a bell shaped with two diamond marks; that Mr. Allen drew an impression of it. He was handed this as an exhibit and said it was a perfect print of the heel that made tracks found near the service station.

Floyd Randolph, sheriff of Carter county, testified that Lee Herren was an uncle of Buster and a brother of Earl Herren; that they had a little store and a filling station nine miles east of Ardmore, that Tom Ruthledge, Lee Herren’s son-in-law, was living on Lee Herren’s place, three miles east of the store, that he found tracks leading from *61 where an automobile was parked to where Ruthledge lived, and tracks around the Lee Herren place, that they made a mold or prints of the tracks where the tires were loaded, and followed these tracks until they got to the pavement, then found where they went into the pasture, and down a road around by the house and a hay bam, to about 100 yards of Tom Ruthledge’s house, where they found some twenty odd casings in the pasture on the Herrens’ place; they made another search later and found the car that belonged to Buster Herren, and one of those casings on it, with others in the back of the car. They went over and drove his car down to this place, the treads made were the same as those tracked, there had been no other car there. That the casings found were identified by the owners. Some from Maud, two from Ardmore and others from Ringling.

Jim Latham, deputy sheriff testified that he was with the sheriff when they made the search and recovered some 20 casings, and the first bunch was uncovered just across the fence from Lee Herren’s place, they discovered it by following a tread that was exactly like that where it went into the gate at Tom Ruthledge’s place.

W. R. Berry, recalled, was handed a pair of shoes and stated he got them from Earl Herren, codefendant, and they were admitted in evidence, one having a heel that exactly fitted the imprint testified to- by the other witnesses.

When the state rested the defendant interposed a demurrer and moved the court to direct the jury to return a verdict o-f not guilty, which was overruled.

The defendant did not testify as a witness and the only witness called on the part of the defense was Lee Herren. He testified that he operated a filling station and *62 a little grocery store nine miles east of Ardmore, on Highway No. 70, where 18 turns to Sulphur; that his farm is three miles east and three-quarters north; that his son-in-law, Tom Ruthledge, and another family live on the place; that he did not know anything about the stuff that the officers found out there; that Buster Herren was his nephew and lived at Oklahoma City, and Earl Herren is his brother; that he had nothing to> do with the placing of these tires out there where they had been found.

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Related

Conaster v. State
1969 OK CR 169 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Edwards v. State
1948 OK CR 96 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1948)
Sears v. State
1945 OK CR 15 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1945)
Wright v. State
1943 OK CR 105 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1943)
Land v. State
1942 OK CR 75 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1942)
Wilson v. State
1940 OK CR 110 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1939 OK CR 155, 100 P.2d 286, 97 P.2d 96, 69 Okla. Crim. 57, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/herren-v-state-oklacrimapp-1939.