People v. Deverich

227 P.2d 45, 102 Cal. App. 2d 215, 1951 Cal. App. LEXIS 1298
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 9, 1951
DocketCrim. No. 4544
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 227 P.2d 45 (People v. Deverich) 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. Deverich, 227 P.2d 45, 102 Cal. App. 2d 215, 1951 Cal. App. LEXIS 1298 (Cal. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinion

McCOMB, J.

From a judgment of guilty of (a) conspiracy to steal an automobile, and (b) grand theft, after trial before a jury, defendant appeals. There is also an appeal from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Facts: From the testimony of an admitted accomplice of defendant the record discloses that about the first of October, 1949, defendant stated to his accomplice, Mr. Sanders, that he was desirous of obtaining an automobile; later Sanders introduced defendant to A1 Gordon at which time defendant stated he was interested in getting a stolen automobile. He drew a map of roads leading to his house and garage and told Gordon that if he found anybody who would steal a car, the thief would know the way to his garage by use of the map.

On the evening of October 9, 1949, Sanders called for defendant at his home and they drove to Big Town Motors, a used ear lot at the corner of Fourth Street and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. On the used car lot there was a 1949 Cadillac for sale. There was a set of keys in the glove compartment of the ear and another set in the ignition. Defendant and Sanders talked with Mr. Prager, a salesman for the Big Town Motors business, relative to the 1949 Cadillac. Defendant entered the car through the door on the driver’s side and sat in it. Without looking at any other cars they left the lot, and as they were driving away defendant gave Sanders a set of keys and said they were the keys to the Cadillac they had just been looking at. Defendant said to give the keys to A1 Gordon.

After leaving defendant at his home, Sanders went to a show with Evelyn Phillips. After the show as they were [217]*217driving they noticed A1 Gordon in a gas station whereupon they stopped and Sanders told Gordon that they had a car in mind, where it was, and that he had the keys to it. Gordon then got into the automobile with Sanders and Phillips and they drove to the Big Town Motors lot where Sanders pointed out the car and then drove down the street a block and parked. Sanders then gave Gordon the beys to the Cadillac at which they had just been looking. Gordon went to the used car lot and drove the 1949 Cadillac to Franklin Avenue just above Cahuenga where he met Sanders who told him to park the Cadillac on a side street which he did.

The three then went to defendant’s home and Sanders told him that Gordon had the car. Defendant said, “Don’t bring the ear over here because I just got a phone call from my uncle and he told me that he had some information that I had been taking too many hot cars up north, and that I couldn’t have any more cars around my house that were hot like that.”

Defendant stated that he would go over and arrange with Mr. Scalvace to leave the ear at his house. Sanders, Gordon and Phillips drove back to the 1949 Cadillac where Gordon got into it and drove it to Scalvace’s house. There he met Sanders and defendant. Scalvace said he did not want to have anything to do with a stolen car. The car was then driven by Gordon to Sanders’ house and kept in his garage overnight.

The next day Sanders, accompanied by defendant, went to Mr. Roberts ’ place of business and asked if they could store a car in his place. Roberts said it was all right with him. The three then went to the Sanders garage where defendant told Sanders it would be best if he would take one of the license plates from his 1948 Cadillac and put it on the 1949 Cadillac, whereupon this was done. Defendant then drove the stolen car from Sanders’ house to Roberts’ home in Laurel Canyon. The car remained in the driveway of Roberts’ home for a week or 10 days.

The car was then taken to Gene’s Body Shop by Sanders where they talked to a man named Bob who was told by Sanders that he had purchased a car from a finance company and as he could not get into the shop, he asked Bob to take the car home with him, which Bob agreed to do.

Thereafter the car was put into the body shop, painted black, the chrome removed and the tires changed. While it was there defendant went in and looked at it.

[218]*218Subsequently defendant took the ear out of the shop and stated that he would handle the matter of getting the ear back to the rightful owner and that anybody connected with the case would have all charges dismissed, and he, defendant, would get $400 or $500 from the insurance company for returning the car.

Thereafter A1 Weiman, at Sanders’ request drove the car to Tracy, California, accompanied by Scalvace in the car with him, and Sanders and Phillips went in Sanders’ Ford. When the two groups reached Tracy, Sanders had a conversation with Otto Blevins, the father of Evelyn Phillips, in which Sanders asked if he could store the Cadillac for a week or two because he was having trouble getting title to the car. Blevins said he did not have a place to keep it, but that it could be put in the garage at a friend’s place. The Cadillac was driven to the garage of a Mr. Garavente by Weiman.

After the ear was in the garage Scalvace took a crowbar and obliterated the motor numbers. Thereafter the police found the car in the Garavente garage.

Question: Was the testimony of defendant’s admitted accomplice sufficiently corroborated to meet the requirements of section 1111 of the Penal Code?

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Related

People v. Jones
254 Cal. App. 2d 200 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Lawson
249 P.2d 850 (California Court of Appeal, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 P.2d 45, 102 Cal. App. 2d 215, 1951 Cal. App. LEXIS 1298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-deverich-calctapp-1951.