Opinion ID: 2182951
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The burglary.

Text: Many of the facts surrounding the early morning burglary on Sunday, July 29, 1973, of the Zwei Herzen Tavern in Sheboygan are undisputed. At about 3:30 that morning, when a motorist came upon a white station wagon in front of the tavern, two surprised individuals jumped into the station wagon and took off, leaving a heavy black safe on the street. The motorist gave chase, and, after losing sight of the station wagon for a moment, discovered it a few minutes later up on a curb and empty. A resident of the neighborhood where the car had ground to a halt was startled out of her sleep and saw two men jump out of the car and flee. The car was owned by defendant's wife, and defendant and his friend, Robert Gage (alias Robert Adams), were using the car that night to visit various bars, including the Zwei Herzen. Later on the morning of July 29th, the owner of the tavern determined that bottles of liquor, cigarettes, a small amount of money, a cardboard box, and a garbage pail were missing from the premises. Except for the money, all of these items, as well as a crowbar, were discovered that morning by Mrs. George Goeres in the bushes in her backyard near an alleyway. Close by this alleyway was the yard of the house in which defendant, his wife, and Robert Gage were then residing. At trial it was established that the defendant was in the Zwei Herzen Tavern earlier that night, that the safe that was eventually hauled into the street was visible to all tavern patrons; two persons used defendant's wife's car in the burglary, and defendant and Robert Gage were seen together, using that car, several times that night; tar marks were found at the point of entry into the tavern, and defendant and Robert Gage were employed as roofers and had tar pails in the car they were using. At the trial, two of defendant's friends, Conrad and Carol Kline, testified that they were with the defendant at about 12:30 a.m. at a bar, persuaded him because he was so drunk to give his car keys to Robert Gage, and then saw him get into a car as he was walking away from the bar. Defendant, however, had no recollection of ever having seen the Klines that night, but definitely recalled having given his car keys to Robert Gage. Wallace Peters, defendant's brother, testified that he picked up his inebriated brother at about 1:30 a.m. as he was walking down the street. Daniel Mistrioty, a Milwaukee friend of the defendant, stated that defendant was brought to his house in a state of intoxication by Wallace Peters, and was immediately put to bed. Other testimony contradicted this version of events. Lupe Torres testified that defendant and another man appeared at her door at 4 a.m., and said they needed to borrow a car because of an emergency. Jose Rodriquez and Gilberto Canales testified that between 4 and 5 a.m. defendant and a man fitting Gage's description came to the Rodriquez house and remained there until Gus Torres returned about 8 a.m. When Torres arrived, Peters asked him and Canales to go look for a box with some liquor in it that was in an alleyway behind his house. By this time, however, Mrs. Goeres had dutifully removed the stolen goods and placed them in her garage. But she did testify that she saw two men in a car matching the description of Torres' car drive slowly through the alleyway at about 8:30 or 9 a.m. Torres testified that when he and Canales returned to the Rodriquez house without the box, Peters told them not to worry because it was hot anyway. Later that morning, at about 11 a.m., the police arrived at the Rodriquez house, and, according to the testimony of Rodriquez, Torres, and Canales, Peters and the man he was with crawled under the bed and hid.