People v. Chapin

303 P.2d 365, 145 Cal. App. 2d 740, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1405
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 13, 1956
DocketCrim. 3206
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 303 P.2d 365 (People v. Chapin) 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. Chapin, 303 P.2d 365, 145 Cal. App. 2d 740, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1405 (Cal. Ct. App. 1956).

Opinion

BRAY, J.

Defendant appeals from a jury conviction of the crime of grand theft and from the order denying motion for new trial.

Questions Presented

1. Sufficiency of evidence.

2. Refusal to instruct on suppression of evidence.

3. Admission of statement of witness to police in defendant’s presence.

4. Alleged misconduct of assistant district attorney.

Facts

Paul Dudley occupied room 707 of the Essex Hotel. In a suitcase in the closet of that room he kept $44,700 in currency, consisting of five $1,000 bills, three $500 bills and the balance in $100 bills. On September 27th, about 1:30 a. m., Dudley left a bar where he had been since the previous afternoon. He was intoxicated. He hailed a cab driven by one Casner. Arriving at the hotel, Dudley discovered that he did not have sufficient money to pay the fare. The hotel clerk refusing to advance him any money, Dudley, Casner and the clerk went to Dudley’s room, where Dudley took a $100 bill from his suitcase and paid Casner. Dudley produced a bottle and asked “Where are the girls.” Casner suggested that the one Dudley had been with was probably at “Coffee Dan’s” and at Dudley’s request drove him there. Dudley refused to get out- of the cab and paid Casner with a $100 bill, letting him keep the change. Casner then took him back to the hotel. On the way back Casner saw defendant’s cab and signalled defendant to follow. Both cabs drove to the basement of a garage. Leaving Dudley in the cab, Casner went over to defendant and said, “I have a fare here who wants to have a little company. ’ ’ Defendant asked if Dudley had any money and Casner told him about the two $100 bills. They then got in the cab with Dudley. Defendant asked Dudley his hotel and room number and if he had a room key. Both drivers drank with Dudley. Casner then drove Dudley back to the hotel with the understanding that if defendant could get a girl" he was to bring her to Dudley’s room. In Dudley’s room *743 Casner noticed the suitcase. It was partly open, exposing ends of the bills. Casner reached into it and pulled out a slip of paper on which “30,000” was written. Dudley was apparently unconscious, so Casner helped himself to three $100 bills. Leaving the room Casner met defendant and told him the whole story and offered to give defendant one of the bills. Defendant refused it but did take $60 in small bills. Defendant asked Casner to contact Dudley and try to get him to come out. Casner phoned the hotel asking for room 707. The clerk told him he did not want to ring the room as he thought Dudley had passed out. At defendant’s suggestion Casner told the clerk that he had an appointment with Dudley at 4:30. The clerk reported that he rang the room but there was no answer. Casner and defendant separated and a few minutes later Casner saw defendant’s empty cab about a quarter of a block from the Essex Hotel.

About 5 a. m. Robertson, another cab driver, saw defendant and one Patterson in defendant’s private car. They motioned for him to stop. They told Robertson they had a millionaire that was on a party. Robertson joined them and they went to the Essex Hotel. Defendant let Robertson and Patterson out at the curb. The latter two registered at the hotel, getting a room on Dudley’s floor. Defendant was to see them later and “get on with the ball.” About noon Patterson and Robertson got tired of waiting and left the hotel. On the street they saw defendant sitting in his ear. He urged them not to leave as the “ball” was about to start. But, at defendant’s suggestion, Robertson and Patterson went to the Opera Club in Patterson’s car. After a while in came defendant with Dudley, who was intoxicated. Defendant and Dudley left together and then Patterson and Robertson went to the Essex Hotel to meet them. Arriving there they saw a car, apparently defendant’s, parked nearby. They went to their room in the hotel and when nothing happened they went home about 3 p. m. Casner saw defendant’s ear parked near the hotel at about 4 p. m.

About 11:30 p. m. Dudley awoke in his room to find both his suitcase and his typewriter gone. These had been found in the men’s lavatory at the end of the hall. The suitcase had been cut open. The money was gone.

Defendant denied that Casner told him about the money in Dudley’s room and that he had taken the money or ever been in Dudley’s room. He testified that Patterson gave him $3,500 to invest in a Christmas tree venture. Two days later *744 defendant and a Mr. Lafayette left ostensibly for Oregon to purchase Christmas trees. They stopped in Oakland at the home of one Newman. There defendant received a check for $1,000 made out to Ray Scott, the name he used in the tree negotiations. Defendant took Newman’s automobile, transferring to it a tool box and a tire, in which he admitted he had concealed $18,000. Lafayette and defendant arrived in Truekee a little past midnight. As it was too early to contact the man from whom defendant planned to buy trees, he suggested they go on to Reno, have breakfast and return later in the day. At Reno, after breakfast and driving around town, Lafayette gave defendant $10 to bet for him. Later defendant gave Lafayette two $100 bills to gamble with, telling him to make small bets only. Again, defendant gave him seven $100 bills. Lafayette noticed that defendant had a $1,000 bill. Before leaving the gambling hall defendant took the money Lafayette had and turned it into the cashier for safekeeping. Next morning they went to another gambling place. Defendant gave Lafayette some small bills to be changed into $50. About 10:30 defendant presented certain oily bills to the cashier. They later returned and defendant cashed some more oily bills. A special officer standing nearby, thinking that the bills might be counterfeit, took defendant’s name and address. The officer noticed that there were three $500 bills and some smaller ones, all of which defendant changed to $50’s. Defendant said that he had spilled oil on them when they were stored in the trunk. They did not gamble at this place. They then went to another gambling club. Here defendant slipped into Lafayette’s pocket about $4,300 wrapped in a napkin. Defendant said he was seeking a check from the cashier because he was warned he was going to be robbed. He stated that he did not turn in the money he had put in Lafayette’s pocket because it contained the $3,500 he had received from Patterson, and he was afraid it might be counterfeit.

Defendant was then arrested. He told the police that he had arrived in Reno with $7,000, and that the rest was winnings. Of the $7,000 he said about $4,000 had been accumulated by him since the first of the year and that the balance, “approximately $4500,” was probably money that the police were investigating at the time, but he was not at liberty to disclose from where it had come. He also told the police that he knew there was not as much money involved in the theft as they asserted there was, that he could not disclose who was involved in the theft, but that if when they got back to *745 San Francisco he was freed, “he could probably find out or recover the rest of the money through those people that were involved.” He further said that if he was unable to find the money, he would disclose who were the people involved in the case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
303 P.2d 365, 145 Cal. App. 2d 740, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chapin-calctapp-1956.