People v. Foo

44 P. 453, 112 Cal. 17, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 642
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 24, 1896
DocketCrim. No. 79
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 44 P. 453 (People v. Foo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Foo, 44 P. 453, 112 Cal. 17, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 642 (Cal. 1896).

Opinion

Searls, C.

The defendant was informed against, with two others, viz., Lee Kim and Ah Young, for an assault with a deadly weapon upon one Hom Lock, alleged to have been committed at the county of Los Angeles, state of California, on the twelfth day of January, 1895.

The defendants demurred to the information upon the ground: “1. That said information does not substantially conform to the requirements of sections 950, 951, and 952 of the Penal Code of California; 2. That the facts stated in said information do not constitute a public offense.”

Their demurrer was overruled, whereupon they entered a plea of “not guilty.” The defendant, Louie Foo, was tried separately, and a verdict of “ guilty of an assault with a deadly weapon ” returned.

A motion for a new trial was made and overruled, and judgment of imprisonment for two years in the state prison at Folsom, California, was entered. Defendant appeals from the judgment, from the denial of a motion in arrest of judgment, and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The first point made by appellant is that the court erred in admitting in evidence certain cartridges offered by the prosecution. The point made here is that they were not sufficiently identified as the cartridges taken from a certain pistol presented by the witness, J. B. Robbins.

[20]*20There had been testimony introduced tending to show that defendant and several other parties, all Chinamen, upon a public street in what is called Chinatown, Los Angeles, had, by direction of defendant, fired a number of shots from pistols at the prosecuting witness, also a Chinaman; that defendant fired one or more of the shots; that immediately after the shooting defendant was seen running toward a wash-house where he was employed; that a few minutes later the witness, J. B. Bobbins, proceeded to the wash-house, found the defendant there and arrested him, and in the room where he was found a pistol was also found in one of the beds, which Bobbins, who was a police officer, took into his possession, examined and found, as he said, indications of it having been recently fired, such as powder marks and smell of powder, etc. Bobbins was recalled for the prosecution, when the following proceedings were had:

“Mr. Appel. You spoke about finding a pistol down on Macy street where you arrested the defendant, Louie Foo. I will ask you to look at that pistol and state whether that is the pistol? A. Yes, sir; that is the one I found down there.
“ Q. And you took the cartridges out of it? A. Yes, sir. (Paper containing cartridges shown witness.)
“ A. Yes, sir.
“Mr. Appel. We offer these in evidence.
“Mr. Cheney (for defendant). We object upon the ground that it is incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial, and not connected with this defendant.
“The Court. The objection is overruled.
“Mr. Cheney. Note an exception.”

The cartridges were afterward submitted to the jury, and their appearance, as being fresh and not covered with verdigris, commented upon as tending to show the pistol had been recently loaded.

There was testimony on the part of the defendant tending to show that the pistol belonged to Suey Ah Him, who kept the wash-house; that the bed in which [21]*21it was found was his, and that it had been loaded for several months.

The pistol and its contents, if properly identified, were clearly admissible in evidence, as tending in some degree to show that defendant might have taken, fired and reloaded it.

The answer, “ Yes, sir,” made by the witness, immediately after the expression of the record “ paper •containing cartridges shown witness ” would seem to indicate the probability that a question was in that connection put to the witness, which was not put down, but, if so, we are not at liberty to conjecture what it was, or to formulate a question to fit the case.

There is, it is true, an affidavit bound with the record and filed the day the motion for a new trial was filed, in which Robbins, the witness, says the question was put to him, “ Did you take these cartridges from the pistol? ” or, “ Are these the cartridges you took from the pistol? and that he answered yes,” etc.

This affidavit is not, however, marked or in any way identified as having been used on the motion, and is not embodied in the statement or contained in any bill of exceptions.

As was said in People v. Mahoney, 77 Cal. 532, it is a mere loose paper, and wants the authentication essential to constitute any portion of the record. (People v. Mahoney, supra; People v. Price, 17 Cal. 313; People v. Padillia, 42 Cal. 535.)

The question still remains, Was the objection offered by counsel for defendant sufficient to cover a want of identification of the cartridges as the one taken from the pistol? We think this question must be answered in the negative.

The general rule is, he who objects to the admission of evidence “ must specify the ground of his objection when the evidence is offered, and will be considered as having waived all objections not specified.” (People v. Manning, 48 Cal. 338.

Where the objection to the introduction of testimony [22]*22is, in general terras, that it is irrelevant, without stating the particular reason why it is irrelevant, and the objection could have been cured by the party offering the testimony if the reason for it had been given, the supreme court will not notice the objection. (Owen v. Frink, 24 Cal. 171.)

In Crocker v. Carpenter, 98 Cal. 418, it was held, where a general objection to the admission of evidence (that it was incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial) is overruled by the trial court, the party against whom the ruling is made cannot be permitted to urge in the appellate court a particular objection, which, if it had been openly urged in the trial court at the time of the ruling complained of, might have been easily cured. In Colton Land etc. Co. v. Schwartz, 99 Cal. 278, a like ruling was made. The reasons given in those cases are peculiarly applicable to the case at bar. Here, had the specific objection, viz., that the cartridges had not been sufficiently identified, been pointed out, no doubt the identification would have been made complete.

In People v. Frank, 28 Cal. 507, this court held that a general objection to testimony offered that it is irrelevant and inadmissible is not sufficient if the real ground of objection is that no proper foundation has been laid for its introduction. (See, also, People v. Eckman, 72 Cal. 583.) People v. Frank, 28 Cal. 507, is in point. The defendant was indicted for forgery.

At the trial, with the object of showing guilty knowledge, the prosecution introduced in evidence three other drafts, claimed to have been forged by defendant. As to one of them, “ Draft No. 9,” there was no preliminary proof connecting defendant with it, or that it was a forgery. The objection to its introduction in evidence was that it was “irrelevant and incompetent.” The objection was overruled and the exception noted.

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Bluebook (online)
44 P. 453, 112 Cal. 17, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-foo-cal-1896.