Ortega v. Commonwealth

BENTON, Judge.

The trial judge convicted Francisco Ortega of five counts of burglary and five counts of grand larceny and acquitted him of burglary while armed. On appeal, Ortega contends (1) the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of his prior crimes and (2) the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt his identity as the burglar. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Ortega’s convictions.

I

Between January 6 and 20 of 1998, six burglaries occurred in the Del Ray and Rosemont sections of the City of Alexandria. Detective Barry Schiftic testified that the burglaries had…