State v. Franklin

WEIER, Presiding Judge.

By its verdict, a jury found defendant, Robert Franklin, guilty of robbery in the first degree by means of a dangerous and deadly weapon. § 560.135, RSMo 1969, V.A.M.S. Upon determining the defendant had committed a prior felony, the court sentenced him to forty-five years imprisonment.

On August 17, 1973, defendant and another black male, both wearing yellow hard hats, entered Little Bit’s Tavern at 923 South Grand in St. Louis. Soon after ordering a beer, the defendant pulled a gun on the tavern owner, Mrs. Carrol Reason, and announced, “ ‘This is a stick-up.’ ” The…