State Missouri v. James Lewis Harper

Defendant Harper appeals from a jury conviction for a class C felony under § 570.030, RSMo 1978 for stealing cash and checks worth over $150.00 for which he was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Defendant makes four assignments of error. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Defendant offered no evidence; the facts presented by the state are recounted as follows. On March 23, 1980, $5,000 in checks and $2,500 cash was stolen from the Sav-Mor Service Station in Harrison County, Missouri. A short time before the theft was discovered, defendant and two other young men arrived at the station in a green Chevrolet with a dent in the driver's side and with Oklahoma license plates. They entered the station and asked for a fill-up. One of the men, described as a ""little Mexican boy"" and later identified as Carlos Martinez, went to the back of the station and was not seen again until the trio left. Defendant and Curtis Lee Davis, the third man, occupied the time of the station's owner, Richard Graham, purchasing several items, one at a time and, at the same time, busied the station's attendant with various questions and work on their car. Defendant and Davis acted in a nervous manner during this time. When Martinez returned from the back of the station he had ""both hands in his pockets and his jacket ""bulged out"" in front. After one of the three asked the attendant how far it was to Des Moines, they departed, apparently in the opposite direction.