Stamps v. Commonwealth

AKER, Justice.

The Movant, Johnny Lee Stamps, was tried in Christian Circuit Court, convicted of third-degree burglary pursuant to KRS 511.040, and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. We reverse.

The case arose when two police patrolmen spotted Movant and an accomplice at the rear of a liquor store in Hopkinsville, Kentucky between midnight and one A.M. on January 24, 1978. Movant was apprehended by one of the patrolmen.

It was discovered that the two individuals had caused damage to the back of the store which was constructed of 6…