Massey v. United States

320 A.2d 296 (1974)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

At about 3:00 a.m. Beatrice was in her residence when she heard knocking and hammering on a door. She looked out her back window and observed a man kicking and pounding on a door of the nearby New Jersey Bar and Grill. She saw him stop for a while, run across the street, come back again, pound on the door some more and finally enter the building. Beatrice then called Miller, the proprietor of the New Jersey Bar and Grill, and informed him that someone was breaking into his establishment. She then called the police. Officer Kneiser arrived and noticed the splintered door. Beatrice advised the Officer that the individual was still inside. The officer then entered the storeroom area and saw someone back in that darkened area. He was asked to halt, but instead, the figure disappeared into another room and footsteps were heard running up a stairway. After surrounding the building and bringing in a K9 unit, D came down the stairs. D was clad only in his underwear and was rubbing his eyes. D claimed that he was staying with a Mr. Matthews, who lived over the bar and grill, and that he had heard nothing unusual. The search of the upstairs area revealed nothing of a suspicious nature and the officers returned to search the storeroom area. There were several clothes racks and several items of clothing were folded and stacked on the floor. D, fully dressed, came back down the stairs. Beatrice identified him as the man who broke down the door. D's coat and shoes were found near the storeroom door where the clothes racks were located. Beatrice stated that it 'looked like the one the man had on when he broke in.' Miller, the owner, testified that D frequented his establishment and that he had been there on that evening. Miller offered D a ride home. Miller drove him to a tourist home a few blocks away. Miller got home and received the call that his premises were being broken into and he immediately returned to the bar and grill. Miller noticed that the side door had been broken into. He noticed clothing on the floor next to a box which, although empty earlier, now contained some of the clothes. Miller had not given D permission to enter the premises after hours or to take the clothes off the rack. No one on the second floor testified that they had let D into their premises. D testified that Ms. Mitchell had let him into the premises, that he had taken his shoes and coat off, left them downstairs, and then gone upstairs to sleep with Mr. Matthews. D was convicted and appealed contending the evidence was insufficient to permit the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that [he] entered with the intent to steal.