452
Opinion of the Court
was right in describing the way it was priced at Schweg-mann's market, where he commonly shopped.20
Similarly undispositive is the small Schwegmann's receipt on the front passenger floorboard of the LTD, the only physical evidence that bore a fingerprint identified as Kyles's. Kyles explained that Beanie had driven him to Schweg-mann's on Friday to buy cigarettes and transmission fluid, and he theorized that the slip must have fallen out of the bag when he removed the cigarettes. This explanation is consistent with the location of the slip when found and with its small size. The State cannot very well argue that the fingerprint ties Kyles to the killing without also explaining how the 2-inch-long register slip could have been the receipt for a week's worth of groceries, which Dye had gone to Schwegmann's to purchase. Id., at 181-182.21
20 Kyles testified that he believed the pet food to have been on sale because "they had a little sign there that said three for such and such, two for such and such at a cheaper price. It wasn't even over a dollar." Tr. 341 (Dec. 7, 1984). When asked about the sign, Kyles said it "wasn't big. . . [i]t was a little bitty piece of slip . . . on the shelf." Id., at 342. Subsequently, the prices were revealed as in fact being "[t]hree for 89 [cents]" and "two for 77 [cents]," id., at 343, which comported exactly with Kyles's earlier description. The director of advertising at Schwegmann's testified that the items purchased by Kyles had not been on sale, but also explained that the multiple pricing was thought to make the products "more attractive" to the customer. Id., at 396. The advertising director stated that store policy was to not have signs on the shelves, but he also admitted that salespeople sometimes disregarded the policy and put signs up anyway, and that he could not say for sure whether there were signs up on the day Kyles said he bought the pet food. Id., at 398-399. The dissent suggests, post, at 473, that Kyles must have been so "very poor" as to be unable to purchase the pet food. The total cost of the 15 cans of pet food found in Kyles's apartment would have been $5.67. See Tr. 188, 395 (Dec. 7, 1984). Rather than being "damning," post, at 472, the pet food evidence was thus equivocal and, in any event, was not the crux of the prosecution's case, as the State has conceded. See supra, at 451 and this page.
21 The State's counsel admitted at oral argument that its case depended on the facially implausible notion that Dye had not made her typical weekly grocery purchases on the day of the murder (if she had, the receipt
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