Johns v. State

Per Curiam. Franklin Johns, the appellant, and Herman Brown, who did not appeal, were found “guilty generally” by the court, sitting without a jury, of breaking and entering a storehouse and stealing therefrom seventy cartons of cigarettes, approximately $150 in cash and a portable radio following the entry of a “not guilty” verdict of receiving stolen property. Motions for a directed verdict were twice denied. The appeal is from the court’s refusal to grant the motion at the conclusion of the case.

The contention is that on the evidence the court should have convicted the appellant of receiving instead of statutory burglary and larceny. Two Baltimore police officers on routine patrol saw two men—later identified as the defendants—place a large carton in the trunk of an automobile parked in an alley adjacent to the burglarized store. As the police car approached, the two men hurried into the automobile—owned by Johns but operated by Brown on this occasion—and drove away at high speed with the police in close pursuit. After a chase through the city streets, the suspects stopped their automobile and ⁴⁵⁸ fled on foot but were promptly apprehended.

A subsequent inspection of the premises revealed that the herein described property was missing. The seventy cartons of cigarettes were found in the automobile from which the defendants fled, but neither the radio nor the cash—other than small amounts —was found in the possession of the defendants. A bottle of soda and a warm hamburger were also found in the automobile. The defendants, in denying they broke into the store, claim that Brown had been told by someone, who was not produced, that he could pick up some cigarettes on the lot behind the store.

Both insisted that Johns, who claimed he knew