Poole v. Commonwealth

The question before us is whether Wayne Edward Poole’s conviction of robbery should be reversed because of a volunteered instruction given by the trial judge to the jury.

Poole and one Michael Allen Kirkpatrick were arrested and charged with a robbery of a motel in Harrisonburg on May 20, 1968. See p. 269, infra. Poole’s testimony as a defense witness at Kirkpatrick’s trial was introduced in evidence and read to the jury at Poole’s trial. In that testimony Poole exonerated Kirkpatrick and confessed that he alone had committed the robbery. Poole did not testify at his trial.

In his closing…