Whaley v. Commonwealth

Defendant, Nathaniel Whaley, was convicted by a jury of rape and statutory burglary and was sentenced to twenty years and five years, respectively, in the State penitentiary. We granted defendant a writ of error in each case.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in (1) refusing to grant an instruction on the presumption of innocence; (2) admitting into evidence a pair of undershorts; and (3) granting an instruction on the range of punishment for statutory burglary.

The evidence shows that shortly after midnight on September 7, 1970, defendant entered, without breaking, the home of…