LUCCHESI, ETC. v. State

Horney, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Claiming that they were convicted of burglary and larceny on the uncorroborated testimony of accomplices, the defendants, Milton Bevans and Samuel Lucchesi, have appealed from the judgment entered on a general verdict of guilty by the court sitting without a jury. Sometime between 2:00 p.m. on February 22 and 10:25 a.m. on February 23, 1962, the home of a stamp dealer was broken into and robbed of a stock of foreign and United States postage stamps, some Japanese propaganda match box covers and a portable television. At the time of the burglary, the dealer and his wife were away on a trip.

None of the stolen property, with the exception of the match box covers and a few of the stamps, was recovered. In August of 1962, Chester L. Jones was arrested on another charge and during the ensuing investigation was questioned about the burglary. He gave the police information which ⁴⁶⁷ led to the arrest of Joseph Falice, who, in admitting that he had helped plan and execute the burglary, implicated the defendants as the other burglars and larceners. Joseph Falice, the admitted accomplice, was called by the State as a witness and testified to the effect that several days prior to the burglary he and the defendants had attempted to sell a small collection of stamps to the stamp dealer.

On the day of the burglary, Falice and the defendants “went out to look at the house” again and “parked across the street” from it. Between 6 and 6:30 o’clock that night they “went back out to the place.” The house was then unoccupied. To gain entrance the front door was forced open. The defendants entered the house and took what they wanted while Falice stood at the door as a lookout.

The stamps were removed from the premises in four suitcases and a sheet or pillow case and were carried to Falice’s house. The next day the defendants brought Chester Jones to the house to appraise the stamps. Some of the stamps and the match box covers were given to Jones and the remainder of the stamps was disposed of in New York. The proceeds from the sale of the stamps were divided equally between Fa-lice and the defendants.

Neither Falice nor Jones knew the other prior to their meeting on this occasion. Chester L. Jones testified to the effect that sometime in late February or early March of 1962, the defendants came to see him and requested him to obtain information concerning the value of stamps. They returned two days later, and Jones, who had some knowledge of stamp values, accompanied the defendants to Falice’s house. With the aid of a borrowed stamp catalogue, Jones estimated the stamps to be worth from $10,000 to $15,000.

Jones purchased some United States commemoratives for $15 and the money was divided then and there between the defendants and Falice. Jones was also given an envelope containing some foreign stamps and the match box covers which he sold for $1. At the trial, Jones admitted that he knew the stamps he received were stolen property, but denied he had participated in the burglary or theft. There was other testimony.

The stamp dealer’s maid testified that when she came to work on February 23, 1962, she found the front door broken open, the office in disorder and a pillow case missing. Another maid, employed in a home across ⁴⁶⁸ the street, had jotted down (for another reason) at about 2:00 p.m. on February 22, 1962, the license tag number of an automobile that had parked in front of her employer’s home. The tag number was identified to be that of a motor vehicle registered in the name of one of the defendants. Neither of the defendants testified.

The defendants contend that Chester Jones, as well as Joseph P'alice, was an accomplice, and that there was no sufficient corroboration of the testimony either of Jones or Falice, or