A Grand Junction man convicted of third-degree burglary by a jury in February 2019 has lost an appeal. On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the ruling affirming the conviction of 58-year-old Valentino E. Whitaker was filed. Whitaker had raised three claims, that there was an insufficiency of evidence to support the conviction, ineffective assistance of trial counsel and a challenge to the $5,000 victim restitution order. Whitaker and his counsel say there was not sufficient evidence to prove that he was the person who removed and kept a purse and the $5,000 in it left in a shopping cart at Walmart on June 29, 2018. However, during the trial, video surveillance clearly showed Whitaker taking the cart out of the building and to his vehicle. It does not show him actually removing the purse and putting it in his car, but the bag was no longer visible after he left. Whitaker claimed he only pushed the cart out to hide the fact that he had urinated in his pants and he did not see the purse. The acquittal request on this claim was denied. Evidence also supported the fact that the victim had $5,000 in her purse and the courts upheld restitution in that amount. As for the claims of ineffective counsel because his attorney did not challenge surveillance evidence and did not move for a mistrial when testimony of prior felony convictions was presented, the courts did not affirm an acquittal but did preserve the issue for post-conviction relief proceedings. Whitaker was originally charged with second-degree theft, but the jury convicted him on the lesser charge. He was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended, and he was placed on two years of probation.
