People v. Boggs

255 Cal. App. 2d 693, 63 Cal. Rptr. 430, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1330
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 6, 1967
DocketCrim. 12495
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 255 Cal. App. 2d 693 (People v. Boggs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Boggs, 255 Cal. App. 2d 693, 63 Cal. Rptr. 430, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1330 (Cal. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

MOSS, J.

A jury found defendants guilty of murder of one Gadaire in the first degree and fixed the penalty of Boggs at death and that of McKinney at life imprisonment. The court reduced the sentence of Boggs to life imprisonment. A third defendant, Elbert Gilhousen, was allowed to withdraw his plea of not guilty at the outset of the trial before the jury was impaneled, and at his request, was sentenced immediately. Defendants’ motions to sever their trials were denied.

Boggs contends that (1) an oral confession which he gave to the police was involuntary and the court therefore erred in receiving evidence on the subject, and (2) he was prejudiced by the deletion from his confession of all reference to McKinney’s part in the crime and, therefore, it was error to deny his motion to sever. McKinney contends that the evidence was insufficient to connect him with the crime. Both defendants contend that (1) the court committed prejudicial error in receiving in evidence certain photographs of the body of the victim and (2) the court erred in failing to declare a mistrial on its own motion after Gilhousen refused to testify.

Upon returning to work on Monday morning, June 7, 1965, the employees of Nappie’s Service Station discovered that the safe was open and that about $1,400 in cash and some credit cards and checks were missing. The keys were in the station. At 9:30 or 10 p.m. the night before, Gilhousen had appeared at the station and asked where Gadaire, the owner of the station, was because, Gilhousen said, he wanted to return a key to Gadaire. There was someone with Gilhousen at the time; the two men sat in a small foreign compact car. Another employee had seen Gilhousen drive past the station at 1 or 2 p.m. on June 6, 1965. At about 10:15 p.m. on June 6, Gilhousen went to the home of Danny Sadler, one of the managers of the station, and asked where he could find Gadaire, saying that he wanted to give Gadaire a house key. Sadler told Gilhousen he thought Gadaire was at home. Gilhousen had worked at the station three months earlier. Sadler had once seen Gilhousen and Boggs together at the station.

Sadler and another employee then went to Gadaire’s home where they found his dead body lying in the living room. His hands were bound and his mouth was gagged. His head was tied back at a sharp angle. There were numerous bruises about *693 the head and face. The jaw and ribs were broken. The injuries were the kind produced by a fist or blunt instrument. Large quantities of blood were on the floor under and near the body and on one of the walls. There was a round hole in one wall about 3 inches in diameter about 2 feet above the floor. Tools from the fireplace, two bottles and glass fragments were strewn about. An autopsy revealed the causes of death were primarily strangulation and a broken neck.

The Admissibility of Boggs’ Confession.

“It is the duty of a reviewing court to examine the uncontradicted facts in order to determine independently whether a confession was voluntary.” (People v. Trout, 54 Cal.2d 576, 583 [6 Cal.Rptr. 759, 354 P.2d 231, 80 A.L.R.2d 1418].) Evidence of the circumstances surrounding the confession of Boggs is partially in conflict. The evidence shows: The police left a message with the manager of the apartment house in which Boggs lived that they would like to be informed when Boggs returned home. Later Boggs telephoned in and the police asked him to come in voluntarily. At 9 :55 p.m. on June 7, 1965, Boggs came to the police station of his own accord accompanied by his wife. At this time Gilhousen had not yet made any statements connecting Gilhousen and Boggs with the death of Gadaire. Boggs was taken to an interrogation room by Sergeants Hallinen and White. Mrs. Boggs remained in the lobby with Sergeant Rowley.

Sergeant Hallinen advised Boggs that Gilhousen had said that Gilhousen and Boggs had been together on June 6, 1965, and asked Boggs about his activities on that day. Boggs related that he had ridden around in his car with Gilhousen, that they hadn’t done much, just looked around, that they had been to Boggs’ apartment during the day, and that they had eaten together at Boggs' apartment that evening. Boggs also told the officers that he and his wife had each left the apartment for a while that evening. After 10 minutes of conversation with Boggs, Sergeant Hallinen became suspicious of Boggs because of inconsistencies between his account of the day’s activities and that of Gilhousen and thereupon advised Boggs that he was a suspect in the case and explained to him his constitutional rights including his right to have an attorney at any time from then on. Boggs said he understood his rights. Sergeant Hallinen then asked Boggs many specific questions about his activities with Gilhousen the day before *694 (June 6). Boggs made no statements that implicated either himself or Gilhousen in the death of Gadaire. During this conversation the only persons present Avere Boggs and Sergeants Hallinen and White. At about 10:15 p.m. Sergeant Hallinen received a telephone call concerning the case and left. He returned about 1:30 a.m. During his absence, Sergeant Hallinen learned that the police had reeoArered clothes and money pertaining to the ease and obtained from Gilhousen information concerning his participation in the case from which could be inferred the participation of other people.

In the meantime, Mrs. Boggs had remained in the lobby with Sergeant Rowley for 30 to 45 minutes. He then took her to a coffee room where they had a cup of coffee and talked. She was taken to several other rooms in the station in which she waited for a while and then was taken to the room where her husband was. She remained in the room with her husband for several hours until Sergeant Hallinen returned. An officer stayed in the room with them.

When Sergeant Hallinen returned to the station he advised Boggs in the presence of Mrs. Boggs and Sergeant White that he had received additional information and physical evidence which led him to believe “that both he, Gilhousen, Mrs. Boggs, certain vromen and another person were involved in this case” and “it was my intention unless I learned otherwise that it Avould be necessary for me to hold all these people that I mentioned,” and “that would definitely mean booking.” Sergeant Hallinen admitted asking Boggs, “why he would let his wife get involved in this!” Boggs said his Avife was not implicated in any way, that she had no knowlof it and that he would like to talk about it. He kept asking Sergeant Plallinen to let Mrs. Boggs go.

At this point, having noticed that Mrs. Boggs seemed upset, Sergeant Hallinen sent her out of the room with a matron who was instructed to stay with her. Mrs. Boggs testified that she had been at the station for about two hours before she learned the purpose of their visit. Someone told her “it was about murder.” She said she was not too worried at that point, however, “because I didn’t know what they were thinking. ’ ’

The foregoing account of what took place after Sergeant Hallinen returned to the interrogation room is taken from the testimony of Sergeants Hallinen and White. Boggs and his *695 wife gave a different account.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Jimenez
California Court of Appeal, 2022
People v. Sandoval CA5
California Court of Appeal, 2014
People v. Wimberly
5 Cal. App. 4th 773 (California Court of Appeal, 1992)
State v. Sitting Crow
428 N.W.2d 268 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1988)
People v. Louie
158 Cal. App. Supp. 3d 28 (Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California, 1984)
People v. Haydel
524 P.2d 866 (California Supreme Court, 1974)
People v. Floyd
464 P.2d 64 (California Supreme Court, 1970)
People v. Gonsalves
275 Cal. App. 2d 724 (California Court of Appeal, 1969)
People v. Schwartzman
266 Cal. App. 2d 870 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
255 Cal. App. 2d 693, 63 Cal. Rptr. 430, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-boggs-calctapp-1967.