State v. Kemano

166 P.2d 472, 178 Or. 229, 1946 Ore. LEXIS 122
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1946
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 166 P.2d 472 (State v. Kemano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kemano, 166 P.2d 472, 178 Or. 229, 1946 Ore. LEXIS 122 (Or. 1946).

Opinion

KELLY, J.

Defendant, Everett B. Kemano, having been convicted of the crime of burglary not in a dwelling house, appeals from such judgment of conviction, and submits two assignments of error.

The first of these assignments is stated thus:

“First: The evidence, being highly circumstantial, is insufficient to justify a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime charged in the indictment.”

The record discloses that defendant formally waived a trial by the court without a jury. This eliminates the necessity of a verdict; and hence we construe the foregoing assignment to mean that the testimony in the case is insufficient to support the judgment of the trial court, or, in other words, that there is no substantial evidence in the case in support of the material allegations of the indictment.

The second assignment is as follows:

“Second: The state failed to prove that the defendant did break and enter the premises, or even enter the premises.”

Upon appeal from a judgment of conviction, the appellate court is not warranted in weighing the testimony and determining its effect and value as the trial court or jury is required to do. In determining *231 whether error was committed by the trial court in failing to recognize the alleged insufficiency of the testimony to justify its judgment, the appellate court may properly go no further than to determine whether there is testimony of a substantial nature which tends to support the judgment of the trial court.

The charging part of the indictment is as follows:

“That said Everett R. Kemano on the 30th day of March, A. D. 1945, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, then and there being did then and there unlawfully and feloniously break and enter, by then and there forcibly breaking an outer window thereof, a certain building situated at 904 North Williams Avenue, in the city of Portland, County of Multnomah, State of Oregon, in which said building there was at said time kept certain personal property, to-wit, certain valuable goods and chattels with intent then and there on the part of him, the said Everett R. Kemano, to then and there unlawfully and feloniously take and steal therein and carry away, said personal property, to-wit, said goods and chattels, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon.”

The first element of the crime charged as alleged in said indictment is a breaking and entering of a building; the second, that there was property kept in said building; and third, that at the time of the breaking and entering, the defendant intended to steal therein. The indictment employs the phraseology of section 23-513, O. C. L. A. Vol. 3, p. 48.

The term “breaking and entering” in this character of a case must be understood in the light of the statutory provision to the effect that every unlawful entry of any building with intent to steal or commit any *232 felony therein shall be deemed a breaking and entering the same. Section 23-515, O. C. L. A. Vol. 3, p. 49.

Because of the provisions of the section of our statutes, last above cited, and the charge alleged in the indictment; there are really but two elements of the crime under consideration, namely, an unlawful entry of a building with intent to steal therein; and the presence of property in such building at the time of said entry.

In the case at bar there was undisputed evidence that the building mentioned in the indictment contained personal property which could have been the subject of larceny. There was likewise testimony that a window had been opened through which entry could have been made.

Within about 150 feet from said building, defendant was apprehended seated in an automobile about 4:10 o’clock A. M. of the day charged in the indictment as that upon which said crime was committed. Upon then being questioned by the officers, defendant first stated that he had brought a boy friend there in order that the boy might go to his room. Shortly thereafter he changed his explanation by saying that he had brought a man named Bill Overstreet there so that Overstreet could go to Overstreet’s girl friend’s house. Neither Overstreet nor his purported girl friend appears as a witness. Upon defendant being asked to produce his draft card, it developed that defendant had been given a classification of 4-F which defendant explained was given him because of a previous record in the Oregon State Penitentiary.

In the glove compartment of the automobile there were some Philip Morris cigarettes and some Chelsea cigarettes. There was also a pair of gloves that showed indications of recently having had contact with gaso *233 line. The gloves were still damp and by the gasoline cap on his car, there was a smear of gasoline running down across the fender as if gasoline had been put in there recently. In the trunk of defendant’s automobile were some five-gallon cans.

While defendant was in charge of the officers, who had arrested him upon ascertaining the foregoing facts concerning him and the articles in his car, one of the officers caused defendant to remove his trousers; and, out of the cuffs thereon, brushed some steel and iron filings, which were taken to Dr. Joseph Beeman, Director of the Crime Detection Laboratory of the State Police for the State of Oregon.

Upon one of the five-gallon cans taken from the trunk of defendant’s automobile were splashes or spots of red paint. This can was taken by the officers and became an exhibit in the case.

The testimony disclosed that in the building in suit, there was a repair shop and a gasoline filling pump. In the repair shop a workman had spilled some red paint upon the floor and also upon portions of a five-gallon can that was upon the floor. This workman identified the can taken from defendant’s car as being the can upon which he had spilled the red paint. Actual size pictures were taken of the floor and the can was placed thereon and the paint upon the can fitted and matched the paint on the floor. The lock on the gasoline filling pump was broken and eighteen gallons of gasoline were gone.

In the manager’s office there was a desk in the drawer of which there were Philip Morris cigarettes and Chelsea cigarettes. This desk had been ransacked and the cigarettes were taken.

*234 An attempt had been made to break open the safe in the building, the dial to the combination lock was knocked off and holes were bored by an electric drill in the front of the safe. This safe had been painted with dark olive-drab green paint. Filings or drillings from the safe were upon the floor near the safe and these were gathered up and taken to Dr. Joseph Bee-man.

We quote from Dr. Beeman’s testimony:

“Q Would you be in position at this time to tell the court just what you did with these filings?
A Yes, sir.
Q Go ahead, and, in your own words, explain what you did.

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Related

State v. Edwards
471 P.2d 843 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1970)
State v. Grinolds
353 P.2d 851 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1960)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 P.2d 472, 178 Or. 229, 1946 Ore. LEXIS 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kemano-or-1946.