Lewis v. United States

771 F.2d 454 (10th Cir. 1985)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Police responded to a silent alarm at the post office. They arrested Mitchell as he fled from the east side of the building. Mitchell stated that D was still inside, but the police officers were unable to find anyone in the post office. =They found one blue bag of burglary tools at the scene and another blue bag in some nearby bushes. They also discovered that D's wife, Jo Ann Lewis, and Mitchell's girlfriend, Frances McCowan, were parked in a car across the street from the post office. D was arrested a short time later at his home, which was three blocks from the post office. Thomas Mitchell and Frances McCowan testified that D and Mitchell had burglarized the post office after having stolen a cutting torch and oxygen bottles from a local garage store. D presented an alibi defense based on the testimony of Debra Rogers. Rogers stated that D had been with her in Oklahoma City, some 100 miles away, on the evening of April 22, 1984. P called a rebuttal alibi witness, Sergeant Clarence Eslick of the Bristow Police Department, who testified that he had seen D buy gasoline at a local convenience store between 10:15 and 11:00 p.m. on the night of the burglary. D was convicted and appealed.