Robert Allen Wilkins v. Commonwealth of Virginia

The appellant in this case was tried and convicted by a jury for stealing deodorant, soap, and “wave caps” from Wal-Mart as a third offense petit larceny for which the jury recommended the maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. Appellant may in fact be guilty of that offense and merit the punishment recommended, but on the record before us, I do not believe that it can be seriously argued that he received a fair trial. For the following reasons, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s analysis and conclusion that the trial court did not err under Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501,…