Whittaker v. Commonwealth

Convicted by a jury of breaking, and entering a dwelling and stealing several antique items, Douglas McArthur Whittaker was sentenced by final order entered February 27, 1976 to confinement in the penitentiary for five years.

Although the owner, Theodore D. Lewis, identified some of the articles seized under warrant from Whittaker’s home as his property, he conceded that none was a “one time manufacture piece”. Other testimony indicated that “thousands” of such items had been manufactured.

The only witness whose testimony directly implicated Whittaker as one of the criminal agents was Hilton…