People v. Ewing

198 Cal. App. 2d 364, 18 Cal. Rptr. 9, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2549
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 21, 1961
DocketCrim. No. 1595
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 198 Cal. App. 2d 364 (People v. Ewing) 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. Ewing, 198 Cal. App. 2d 364, 18 Cal. Rptr. 9, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2549 (Cal. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

COUGHLIN, J.

The defendant, appellant herein, was charged with the offense of burglary, i.e., a violation of Penal Code, section 459, and with five previous felony convictions; admitted the previous convictions; pleaded not guilty to the burglary charge; was tried by a jury therefor; was convicted of burglary in the second degree; moved for a new trial, which was denied; and was sentenced to imprisonment in the state [366]*366prison. Judgment was pronounced on September 23, 1960; made no determination as to whether the sentence imposed should run concurrently or consecutively with any prior in-completed sentence; and on November 1, 1960, was amended nunc pro tunc so as to provide that the sentence thereby imposed should run consecutively with any previously imposed sentence.

The defendant appeals from the judgment contending that: (1) the evidence is not sufficient to sustain the verdict; (2) the court was biased against him; (3) he received only token representation from his counsel; (4) he was a victim of an unlawful search and seizure; (5) error was committed when the testimony of a witness was not read to the jury as requested; (6) the jury was improperly instructed; and (7) the court erred in amending the original judgment.

Under oft-repeated rules, when the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a verdict is challenged on appeal, the appellate court determines only whether there is any substantial evidence in the record, either direct or circumstantial, contradicted or uncontradicted, which justifies the conclusion reached (People v. Daugherty, 40 Cal.2d 876, 885 [256 P.2d 911] ; People v. Foster, 195 Cal.App.2d 651, 653 [15 Cal.Rptr. 891]) ; does not determine the credibility of the witnesses or the weight to be given their testimony, unless it is obviously false or inherently improbable (People v. Ashley, 42 Cal.2d 246, 266 [267 P.2d 271] ; People v. Jaquish, 170 Cal.App.2d 376 [338 P.2d 974]) ; and, in the absence of some legal impediment, will assume that the jury accepted that evidence which supports their verdict and rejected that evidence which would support a contrary verdict. (Thomas v. Hunt Mfg. Corp., 42 Cal.2d 734, 736 [269 P.2d 12]; People v. Newland, 15 Cal.2d 678, 681 [104 P.2d 778].) The evidence herein will be stated accordingly.

On Sunday morning, January 31, 1960, at about 8 :45 a. m., the owner of a radio and television business in Montclair drove up to the front of his store, which was closed for business; noticed a movement inside; walked to the corner of the building and observed that the door to the service entrance was ajar; simultaneously saw the defendant come out of this entrance with his hands wrapped in strips of white cloth, and called to hfm to stop. The defendant fled toward an open field. The owner returned to his ear; drove in search of the defendant; located him walking along an adjoining street, and followed him. When the owner came near the defendant, [367]*367the latter turned; ran in the opposite direction; crossed the street in front of the owner; and got into a Buick automobile driven by a person resembling a codefendant named Green, which simultaneously came on the scene. The owner followed the automobile; got the license number thereof; and reported the incident to the police.

Upon examination, it was discovered that a television set had been removed from the display window of the store in question, and had been placed near the side entrance; that a stereo set, in a case looking like a piece of luggage, which had been opened for display on a table in the show room, was found closed up and moved from its display location; and that the service entrance door had been forced open.

The store owner identified the defendant from a photograph furnished him by the police. Thereupon, the defendant was arrested, after he had been observed getting into the Buick automobile bearing the license number which the store owner obtained from the automobile that picked up the defendant on the day of the burglary. It developed that this automobile was registered to a person named Anthony Ewing. When questioned about this registration, the defendant at first said that the automobile was registered in his brother’s name, but later stated that this was not true; that he owned the ear and had registered it in the name of Anthony Ewing so that he could get around better.

The foregoing statement of the evidence fully supports the conclusion of the jury that a burglary had been committed and that the defendant was the person who had committed it. (People v. Garcia, 166 Cal.App.2d 141, 143-144 [333 P.2d 69] ; People v. Stone, 155 Cal.App.2d 259, 267 [318 P.2d 25] ; People v. Guarino, 132 Cal.App.2d 554, 559 [282 P.2d 538].) The fact that the television and stereo sets had been moved from their display position; that the person whom the owner saw leaving the building had his hands wrapped in white cloth, indicating an effort to prevent leaving any fingerprints; and the flight upon being detected, all support a finding that entry was made with intent to steal. The evidence which identified the defendant as the person leaving the building was clear and convincing. As a defense, he proposed an alibi, i.e., that he had driven some Air Force men to San Bernardino as an accommodation to them; that on his way back he got off the freeway at Montclair and intended to stop at a coffee shop but, as he was going to turn around in the street, he noticed a man in a sports car chasing another [368]*368man; that the man on foot got into his ear, stating that the man chasing him had a gun; that he, the defendant, sped away, avoided the sports car and let out the man he had picked up; and, thereupon, he went home. The jury was not required to, and did not accept this alibi. The only issue actually raised was one of identification. As noted, the evidence adequately establishes that the defendant was the person seen leaving the store in question; was pursued by the store owner; and was identified by the latter from photographs prior to the arrest.

The contention that the court was biased against the defendant is not documented in any manner; finds no support in the record; and is wholly without merit.

Likewise, the contention that the defendant received only token representation from his counsel is without merit. In substance, such a contention is based on a claim that the representation afforded resulted in a denial of the right to counsel and of due process of law. (See People v. Wein, 50 Cal.2d 383, 410 [326 P.2d 457]; Powell v. Alabama, 287 U. S. 45 [53 S.Ct. 55, 77 L.Ed. 158, 84 A.L.R. 527].) The defendant claims that at the time of

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 Cal. App. 2d 364, 18 Cal. Rptr. 9, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ewing-calctapp-1961.