People v. Clouse

222 Cal. App. 2d 562, 35 Cal. Rptr. 272, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1700
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 22, 1963
DocketCrim. No. 9155
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 222 Cal. App. 2d 562 (People v. Clouse) 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. Clouse, 222 Cal. App. 2d 562, 35 Cal. Rptr. 272, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1700 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

FOX, P. J.

Appellant, Cecil Leroy Clouse, in an information filed by the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, was charged with the crime of burglary committed on or about January 3, 1963, in that he entered the office and building occupied by the Murphy Transportation Company with the intent to commit theft. The information also charged a prior felony committed in Oklahoma. Appellant admitted the prior felony and was found guilty of burglary in the second degree by a jury. Probation was denied and appellant was sentenced to the state prison. Appellant appeals from the judgment in propria persona.

On January 2, 1963, Mr. Inmon, operational manager of the Murphy Transportation Company, locked the offices and left everything in good order. Upon opening the door the following morning he found papers and records strewn on the floor and a window broken. The office was still locked, but the appellant was discovered sitting at an office desk with his head down on one hand and apparently asleep. Mr. Inmon then called the police and appellant was arrested. A number of blank checks and payroll checks had been removed from a bank book in a filing cabinet and had been placed on the desk where appellant was sitting. Appellant was discovered wearing a pair of gloves belonging to an employee of the company, and keys to an office desk were found in appellant’s possession.

After appellant was taken to the police station, at approximately 9:30 the same morning, Officer Guild of the Maywood Police Department spoke with appellant. At that time appellant freely and voluntarily stated that he had been drinking in a Los Angeles bar on the evening of January 2, and that [564]*564someone had given him a ride to the City of Maywood. Appellant also told Officer Guild that he had found a steel bar and used it to break a window of the Murphy Transportation Company; that he then climbed through the window into the office and discovered the checks, which he was planning on taking with him, and that he then sat down at the desk and fell sleep and was apprehended when he awoke.

Appellant testified on his own behalf, stating that he had been drinking in Los Angeles the previous evening for a number o£ hours, and that he did not remember anything which occurred after 1 a.m. of January 3, 1963. He did not recall being arrested, but did remember being awakened by the police.

Appellant recalled that he spoke with Officer Guild, testifying that he answered the questions which were put to him, but did not relate the circumstances which led him to be in the Murphy Transportation Company offices. He also stated that he was unable to recall anything which he told to Officer Guild because he was sick and had a “hang-over” from drinking.

On cross-examination appellant testified that he wrote a statement in his own handwriting for Officer Guild, but that he wrote it just so the officers would leave him alone. Appellant admitted that the statement was in his writing, and that he had signed both the written statement and the printed paragraph stating that he was doing so voluntarily. However, appellant also stated that he wrote only what he was told to by Detective Guild, and that the statements had been dictated to him. Appellant denied any memory of the events between 1 a.m. and the time of his arrest.

Appellant urges four grounds for reversal. First, that the judge made prejudicial statements during the trial. Second, that the confession admitted in evidence was not voluntary. Third, that no corpus delicti was established independent of the confession. And finally, that there was reversible error in permitting the district attorney to introduce the confession in evidence on his cross-examination of appellant after the prosecutor had failed to present it in the People’s case in chief. Examination of appellant’s contentions discloses no basis for a reversal.

The appellant contends that the trial judge improperly indicated to the jury that he believed the defendant to be guilty. This is based on a ruling the court made as to the admissibility of evidence and because of questions the court [565]*565asked the defendant concerning the gloves found in his possession. The ruling on the admissibility of evidence was obviously not an indication of the court’s belief in the defendant’s guilt. Nor were the court’s questions to the defendant improper. At most the questioning was intended to give the defendant an opportunity to explain how the gloves happened to be in his possession. “The court was, therefore, doing no more than it was justified in doing—giving defendant an opportunity to explain. ...” (People v. Buratti, 96 Cal.App.2d 417, 421 [215 P.2d 500].)

Appellant’s contention that the statement was involuntary is based on his feeling of ill health at the time he wrote and signed the statement, namely, that he had a hangover and only signed so that he would be left alone and could go to sleep. A confession or admission can be admitted in evidence only if it was voluntarily made, but where there is conflicting evidence as to whether the confession was voluntary or not, it is a question of fact to be determined by the trial judge. Here appellant admitted writing the statement, though he claimed he wrote only what was dictated. He also admitted signing a recital that the statement was voluntary. Officer Guild testified that the appellant’s statements were voluntary. The arresting officers testified that they noticed no signs of intoxication nor traces of alcohol on appellant’s breath. There was, therefore, substantial evidence that the statement was voluntary, and a finding to that effect by the trial court will not be overturned on appeal. (People v. Price, 175 Cal.App.2d 857 [1 Cal.Rptr. 57]; People v. Montano, 184 Cal.App.2d 199 [7 Cal.Rptr. 307]; People v. Mendoza, 122 Cal.App.2d 185 [264 P.2d 223]; People v. Cobb, 45 Cal.2d 158 [287 P.2d 752].) Nor would the fact that appellant actually had a hang-over make the statement involuntary. It would still be a question of fact for the trial court whether the appellant’s physical condition rendered him incapable of expressing his own free will. The state of his intoxication would then be a matter for the jury in determining what weight the confession was to be given. In People v. Cobb, supra, 45 Cal.2d 158, the defendant’s poor physical condition, including the possibility that he was under the influence of drugs and had received blood transfusions, did not make his confession involuntary but went only to the weight to be attached to it. (See also, People v. Mendoza, supra, 122 Cal.App.2d 185.)

Appellant correctly points out that extrajudicial [566]*566admissions or confessions can be used against a defendant only if the prosecution can prove the corpus delicti of the crime charged independently of such admissions or confession. (People v. Gem Hang, 131 Cal.App.2d 69, 71 [280 P.2d 28]; People v. Cullen, 37 Cal.2d 614, 624 [234 P.2d 1

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Bluebook (online)
222 Cal. App. 2d 562, 35 Cal. Rptr. 272, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1700, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-clouse-calctapp-1963.