State Missouri v. Delbert Lee Crow

These two appeals from convictions of burglary and stealing are closely related, and the facts and the legal questions presented in each case are identical. They were submitted together and are consolidated for purposes of the opinion. The defendant signed a written confession covering both offenses. No question is raised as to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the convictions nor as to any trial error. The essential question for decision is whether the defendant is entitled to immunity from prosecution in these two criminal cases by reason of the fact that he and his brother furnished information to the sheriff of the county with respect to a number of other crimes. The facts relating to the commission and solution of the two crimes here involved are covered in large part by the defendant's written confession which was introduced in evidence without objection of any kind. The defendant Delbert Lee Crow was thirty-two years old in 1954, was unmarried, and lived with his parents at Carthage, Missouri. On May 27, 1954, he left home between 10 and 11 p.m. and drove his 1947 four-door Buick automobile to Kirk's Package Liquor Store, 819 West Seventh Street, in Joplin, Missouri, which had been closed for the night at about 8:30 p.m. To the rear of the liquor store was a garage owned and operated by Carl R. Shadday. The defendant first broke into the garage and stole a large number of tools, some of which he used to break into the package liquor store. He stole 17 or 18 cases of whiskey from the liquor store together with a quantity of cigarettes, worth in the aggregate about $2,000. At about 4 a.m. he finished loading the liquor, cigarettes, and tools into his car and started towards Carthage. At a place on Highway 96, about 2 1/2 miles east of Highway 43, he undertook to unload and hide some of the cases of the liquor in a field. While so engaged at about 4:40 a.m. he was apprehended by members of the Missouri Highway Patrol who were cruising the area in a patrol car.