State v. Robb

303 N.W.2d 368, 1981 S.D. LEXIS 227
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 18, 1981
Docket13162
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 303 N.W.2d 368 (State v. Robb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota 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. Robb, 303 N.W.2d 368, 1981 S.D. LEXIS 227 (S.D. 1981).

Opinion

HENDERSON, Justice.

ACTION

This is an appeal by Richard Lee Robb (appellant) from a Minnehaha County jury verdict and final judgment finding him guilty of third-degree burglary. We affirm.

FACTS

At approximately 2:45 a. m. on February 3, 1980, the burglar alarm was activated at the J. C. Penney Store (store) located at the Empire Shopping Mall (mall) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Upon arrival at the store, the police found that a door on the store’s roof had been forcibly opened. No one was found inside the store and no merchandise was missing.

The police found several distinct fresh footprints in the snow on the roof of the mall. These footprints ended at the north side of the mall roof, where a gas pipe was vertically aligned with the north wall of the mall. At a point where the pipe meets the top of the mall roof, a small bag was found containing several hand tools. Footprints similar to the ones found on the mall roof were discovered by the police on the ground below the pipe and led around the corner of the building. The police followed these footprints for a few miles in a southerly direction but eventually lost the trail. A ladder, not the property of the mall, was also found on the south side of the mall roof.

Tire tracks were found on the ground directly below the area where the ladder *370 was recovered. These tracks headed south from the mall. One of the policemen on the scene noticed a 1963 Plymouth parked on the southern edge of the parking lot, facing the mall. The aforementioned tire tracks led towards this 1963 Plymouth. These tire tracks were similar to the tracks made by the 1963 Plymouth. An officer on the scene testified that, with his flashlight and cruiser’s spotlight directed at the vehicle, he saw appellant’s head peek up and momentarily look out the window. After the officers approached the vehicle, appellant stated to them that he had been sleeping. Appellant was then arrested. An arresting officer testified that appellant “didn’t appear to be groggy or anything as though he had been sleeping.” Appellant’s 1963 Plymouth was the only vehicle located on the south side of the parking lot. It appears that the vehicle was backed away from the wall to its parked position with a view towards the mall.

Two policemen testified that there were footprints on the hood of appellant’s vehicle which matched those on the mall roof; there were also scuff marks on the hood which were similar in dimension and appearance to the bottom of the ladder that was found. Some tools, a rope, and a pair of binoculars were found in appellant’s vehicle.

Detective Dennis Beck of the Sioux Falls Police Department received a telephone call at approximately 6:30 a. m. on February 3, 1980, from an individual identifying himself as “Ed.” At trial, Detective Beck stated that he recognized the caller as one Ed Branson, with whom he had spoken prior to this call. Appellant testified at trial that he and Branson were acquaintances. The caller asked whether appellant was at the police station because he had heard that appellant was in an auto accident; he also asked Detective Beck whether appellant was going to be able to bond out.

ISSUES

I.

Was there sufficient evidence presented at trial to legally support a rational theory of guilt? We hold that there was.

II.

Did the trial court err by admitting Detective Beck’s testimony due to (a) the method by which it was received and (b) its alleged violation of the hearsay rule? We hold that it did not.

DECISION

Appellant’s prime contention on appeal is that the evidence presented to the trial court was insufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty. The State’s case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. All elements of a crime, including intent, are provable by circumstantial evidence. State v. Moeller, 298 N.W.2d 93 (S.D.1980). In determining the sufficiency of evidence on appeal, the question is whether there is evidence in the record which, if believed by the jury, is sufficient to sustain a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Moeller, supra; State v. Dietz, 264 N.W.2d 509 (S.D.1978).

Appellant’s testimony regarding the night of the burglary was as follows: Around 11:30 p. m. on February 2, 1980, he received a telephone call at his home in Burbank, South Dakota, (approximately fifty miles from Sioux Falls) from a girl he had recently met, requesting that he come to Sioux Falls and meet her at a bar. Appellant knew this girl only by her first name, and she was not present at trial. Due to vehicle trouble en route to Sioux Falls, appellant arrived too late (1:50 a. m.) for his rendezvous. He then had a drink at a bar located at the south side of the mall. After ten minutes he left the bar, moved his vehicle under a light at the southern edge of the mall parking lot, and went to sleep. Appellant testified that he wasn’t cold because he was wearing a long, heavy coat and also had another coat and sweatshirt in the vehicle. Three policemen testified that the temperature that night was somewhere between 10° and 20° fahren- *371 heit. Appellant testified that he was later awakened by some policemen who were investigating the break-in of the store.

Appellant testified at trial that the imprints and scuff marks found on the hood of his vehicle were caused by standing on it when searching/hunting for foxes. He also testified that this is why he kept binoculars in his vehicle. According to appellant, tools and equipment found in his vehicle were used in connection with his employment as a construction worker.

At trial the State proffered the following theory as to how the burglary occurred: The ladder which was found by the police had been placed on the hood of appellant’s vehicle and then leaned up against the south wall of the mall. This allowed appellant’s accomplice to climb onto the mall roof and pull the ladder up behind him. Appellant then moved his vehicle to the southern part of the parking lot to act as a lookout. The unidentified accomplice then broke into the roof door of the store and activated the alarm system. Realizing the situation, the accomplice shinned down the pipe located on the north side of the mall and made his escape on foot into the night. In his haste, the accomplice abandoned his bag of tools on the mall roof. Appellant, unaware that his accomplice had activated the,alarm system and fled, had no opportunity to escape and instead pretended to be asleep in his vehicle when the police arrived.

Appellant maintains that his presence in the mall parking lot does not sufficiently link him to the burglary. It is true that the mere presence of a person at the scene of a crime does not make him a participant; however, it is a circumstance which tends to support a finding that he is a participant and, with other facts and circumstances, can establish his guilt. State v. Schafer, 297 N.W.2d 473 (S.D.1980).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
303 N.W.2d 368, 1981 S.D. LEXIS 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-robb-sd-1981.