People v. Escobedo

250 Cal. App. 2d 417, 58 Cal. Rptr. 426, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 2121
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 25, 1967
DocketCrim. 12168
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 250 Cal. App. 2d 417 (People v. Escobedo) 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. Escobedo, 250 Cal. App. 2d 417, 58 Cal. Rptr. 426, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 2121 (Cal. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

*420 WOOD, P. J.

By indictment Raymond Escobedo was charged with the crime of murder in violation of section 187 of the Penal Code. In a jury trial he was found guilty of manslaughter in violation of section 192, subdivision 1, of the Penal Code. He was sentenced to state prison. He appeals from the judgment. His notice of appeal also states that he appeals from the verdict, the order denying his motion for a new trial, and the order denying probation. Since the verdict and the two orders last mentioned are not appealable, the purported appeals therefrom will be dismissed.

Appellant contends that the court erred in receiving in evidence the taped admissions or confessions, the broken knife, and the scabbard; that the deputy district attorneys were guilty of misconduct, and that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict.

On August 6, 1965, about midnight, David Ledesma and Castulo Hernandez (known as “Whedo”) were fighting in the front yard at the home of Charlene Triplett in Santa Maria, and at that time the defendant Escobedo was also in the yard. During the fight Ledesma was shot in the stomach. Miss Triplett testified that while those persons were in the yard she saw a knife in the hand of one of the persons, but she did not remember whose hand it was in; the blade of the knife was long and the handle was white; the knife was similar to the knife in evidence (Exhibits 4 and 5, being the handle and blade of a broken knife), but it is not the same knife; the knife that she saw that night was similar to a knife that she owned, but it was not the knife she owned; Escobedo was there with Ledesma, and they went away from her place in a blue and white automobile; after they left, she checked to see if the knife was in the dresser drawer where she kept it, but it was not there; the sheath in which she kept the knife was in the drawer but the knife was gone; Escobedo was one of many persons who had been in her house. She also testified that when she first talked with Officer Centeno she told him that she saw the knife in Escobedo’s hand.

On said August 6, about midnight, Jesse Santana and Fred Ruelas, who resided in Santa Maria, went in Santana’s automobile to the Tecate Cafe, in the area of Santa Maria known as Tiger Town, where they drank beer. The automobile was parked on the street near the front of the cafe. After they had heen in the cafe about an hour, they met Buenaventura Calderon (victim), whom Santana introduced to Ruelas. Calderon wanted “a ride home,” and after Santana offered *421 him a ride, he stayed with Santana and Huelas for a while in that cafe and then went with them to the La Perla Cafe which was across the street. Upon entering that cafe, Santana and Huelas went to the middle booth (of the three booths), sat there, and ordered beer. Calderon went toward the restroom at the back of the cafe, but returned about two minutes thereafter and sat in the booth and ordered beer. Santana sat at the side of the boothtable which was farther away from the cafe door. Huelas sat at the end of the table which was at the back of the booth. Calderon sat at the side of the table which was closer to the door, that is, his back was toward the door.

Defendant Escobedo had parked Ledesma’s blue and white Chevrolet automobile next to Santana’s automobile which was near the front of the Tecate Cafe (across the street from the La Perla Cafe). Ledesma, the person who had been shot in the stomach while fighting in the yard, was in the automobile which Escobedo had parked.

While Santana, Huelas, and Calderon were sitting in the booth at the La Perla Cafe, Escobedo entered the cafe and went to the booth, stood about two feet from Calderon, and told Santana that Santana’s uncle (Ledesma) had been shot, and he (Escobedo) asked Santana to go out and help him. Santana said, “I don’t want to go,” and that he did not want to get involved or want anything to do with it. Escobedo, after staying there a few seconds, turned around and went out the door. As he was going toward the door he called Santana a “culo” (a Spanish word meaning the “rear end of a person”).

Immediately after Escobedo left the cafe, Calderon pointed toward his shirt, told Santana to “look,” and said that he had a cut. Santana saw blood on the right side of Calderon’s shirt, and he told Calderon to go and get some help if he was hurt. Then Calderon got up and walked out the front door. While he was going toward the door and was passing a patron who was sitting at the bar near the door, he (Calderon) said, “Me chingaron.” There are several translations of those Spanish words—the acceptable translation for a particular occasion depends upon the circumstances under which the words are used. There was testimony that a literal translation of the words is a foul expression. It is not necessary to state that translation here, since a proper or idiomatic translation is “They hurt me,” and since the person who heard the word, as used by Calderon, understood them to mean that Calderon was hurt.

*422 A blood spot, about the size of a man’s hand, was on the booth seat where Calderon had been sitting, and there were drops of blood on the floor extending in a line from the booth seat to and through the front doorway—along the way Calderon had gone when he was leaving the cafe.

After Calderon left, Santana went out the front door, and then Santana went back to the booth and said to Huelas. “Let’s go.” They went out of the cafe and ran across the street to Santana’s automobile. While they were crossing the street, Calderon was standing on the sidewalk near the front of a store which was next to the La Perla Cafe. When Santana arrived at his automobile, he talked with Ledesma (his uncle) who was in Ledesma’s nearby automobile. Escobedo was then standing on the right-hand or passenger side of Ledesma’s automobile. Santana and Huelas entered Santana’s automobile and went to Santana’s house.

A few minutes after Calderon left the La Perla Cafe, someone from outside the cafe called to Mr. Gordillo, the patron to whom Calderon had spoken while he was leaving the cafe. Thereupon, the patron went outside and saw Calderon standing by the window of the store which was next door to the cafe. The patron saw that Calderon was bleeding from someplace in the chest, and that blood was all over him. When the patron asked what had happened, Calderon told him to call the ambulance or the police. After the patron had started into the cafe to make the call, he returned to Calderon, who at that time was lying on the sidewalk, and asked him who did it. Calderon said he did not know. Then the police came.

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Related

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102 Cal. App. 3d 436 (California Court of Appeal, 1980)
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56 Cal. App. 3d 876 (California Court of Appeal, 1976)
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268 Cal. App. 2d 28 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)
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260 Cal. App. 2d 852 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 Cal. App. 2d 417, 58 Cal. Rptr. 426, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 2121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-escobedo-calctapp-1967.