Avent v. Commonwealth

Alpheus E. Avent was indicted for statutory burglary. He waived a jury, was tried by the court, found guilty and was sentenced to con finement in the penitentiary for a term of 5 years. From this judgment he was granted a writ of error, and we have before us his contentions that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain the conviction, and that a witness for the Commonwealth who testified as an expert in fingerprinting was not qualified.

On October 4, 1966, the storehouse of the Friedman-Marks Clothing Company, Incorporated, at 1400 West Marshall Street, Richmond, Virginia, was broken into,…