People v. Gosman

252 Cal. App. 2d 1004, 60 Cal. Rptr. 921, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1590
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 28, 1967
DocketCrim. 12860
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 252 Cal. App. 2d 1004 (People v. Gosman) 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. Gosman, 252 Cal. App. 2d 1004, 60 Cal. Rptr. 921, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1590 (Cal. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

WOOD, P. J.

In a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of murder of the second degree. He appeals from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a' new trial.

Appellant contends that the court erred (1) in refusing to give requested instructions' on manslaughter, and (2) in receiving evidence of statements made by defendant while he was in the custody of the police.

Jo Ann Pickrell was murdered by strangulation on December 21, 1965, between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. Her nude body was found in a vacant lot in the 1000 block of North Douglas Street in Los Angeles. There were “abrasions or scrape marks” on the body which indicated that the body had been dragged over a hard surface, and there were “drag marks” from the body to an alley. In the alley there were tire prints which, according to expert testimony, were the same design as the tire prints on a 1965 Lincoln Continental which had been stolen by the defendant about 6 p.m. on December 20, 1965.

*1006 Defendant and Jo Ann, who was a prostitute, came to Los Angeles on October 25, 1965, and lived together at various apartments thereafter. They went to bars at night in Los Angeles in order that Jo Ann might meet men and engage in acts of prostitution. Jo Ann earned between $20 and $50 a night, and she gave the money to defendant so that he would not have to work.

In December 1965 defendant met Ada Alegría. He went out with her several times and asked her to marry him. She said that she would marry him in March (1966), but he asked her to marry sooner, and suggested that they marry on January 3 (1966) which was his birthday. Ada did not know that defendant was living with ‘‘ another woman. ’ ’

About 6 p.m. on December 20, 1965, defendant stole a purple 1965 Lincoln Continental automobile from a parking lot in Los Angeles. He replaced the California license plates with a Utah license plate, and then went to the apartment where he lived with Jo Ann. About 9 p.m. he and Jo Ann went in the Continental to the Embassy Room (a bar), where he left Jo Ann. He then drove to the Copa De Oro Bar where he had a beer. He left there about 9 :30 p.m. and went to Ada’s house, and he and Ada returned to the Copa De Oro Bar. About 10 :30 p.m. he and Ada went in the Continental to her house.

About 15 minutes after defendant had left Jo Ann at the Embassy Room, she left there with a man. About 10 :30 p.m. Jo Ann arrived at the Cordova Bar and stayed there until 1 a.m., drinking with a Mexican man.

Prior to 1 a.m. defendant came into the Cordova Bar and tried to get Jo Ann to leave the bar because he did not like her keeping company with a Mexican and thought that she was drinking too much. Defendant and Jo Ann left the Cordova Bar at 1 a.m. At 7 a.m. while Mr. Chevarria was walking on the sidewalk, in the 1000 block of North Douglas Street, he saw Jo Ann’s body in the vacant lot.

Margaret Petrelli (called as a witness by the defendant) testified that she lives at 1008 North Douglas Street, which is across the street from the vacant lot where Jo Ann’s body was found; between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on December 21, she saw ‘ ‘ a large ear ’ ’ parked in the alley next to the lot; the car was parked there for awhile and she “watched it because it was parked with the lights on and it wasn’t moving ’'; she could not determine what ‘ ‘ make ’ ’ the car was; and she did not see anyone leave the ear.

*1007 Carlos Delgado (called by defendant) testified that he is a composer; he met defendant at the Copa De Oro Bar about 11 p.m. on December 20; they had a few drinks; they left the bar after 1a.m., when defendant took him to his (witness’) home; and they arrived there about twenty minutes later.

Defendant did not testify.

Appellant contends that the court erred in refusing to give requested instructions on manslaughter.

“Where the evidence in a murder ease is such as would warrant a conviction for manslaughter, it is error to refuse to instruct upon this issue [citation], but if the evidence does not warrant such a conviction, instructions thereon may be refused.” (People v. Bufarale, 193 Cal.App.2d 551, 560 [14 Cal.Rptr. 381].)

The evidence presented by defendant in the present ease tended to show a defense of alibi—that he was with Delgado when the murder was committed. He did not present any evidence that the killing had been without malice or that it resulted from a sudden quarrel or from heat of passion. (Pen. Code, § 192.) There was evidence that the victim had been strangled and that her nude body had been dragged into the vacant lot; that defendant, who had lived with the victim, was anxious to marry another woman; and that defendant on the evening of the killing had stolen the automobile from which the victim’s body had been dragged into the lot. The only evidence in any manner relating to a quarrel or to heat of passion was testimony by one of the prosecution’s witnesses (a landlord who had rented an apartment to defendant and Jo Ann in November 1965) that he had occasionally heard loud noises, which sounded like argument, coming from the apartment; and testimony by another of the prosecution’s witnesses (bartender at Cordova Bar) that when defendant came to the bar about 1 a.m. he tried to get Jo Ann to leave and tried to pick her up. Such evidence would not warrant conviction for manslaughter. The evidence is sufficient to support the verdict that defendant was guilty of murder in the second degree. (See People v. Bender, 27 Cal.2d 164, 178 [163 P.2d 8].) The court did not err in refusing to give instructions on manslaughter.

Appellant further contends that the court erred in receiving evidence of statements made by defendant while he was in custody of the police.

Defendant was arrested by a federal officer on December 21, 1965, on “a charge unrelated to” the murder. While he was *1008 in custody on that charge, and during the period between December 27, 1965, and January 4, 1966, Police Officer Alexander, who was investigating the murder of Jo Ann, had several conversations with defendant. According to the officer, “the investigation at this point was still a general inquiry into an unsolved crime”; defendant appeared to be trying to give him leads to find the ‘ ‘ killer ”; he was affording defendant a chance to explain where he had been on the night of the killing; defendant gave.him the names of persons and places which he (officer) “checked out”; defendant gave him the name of defendant’s attorney on December 28, and said that he,.would take a lie-detector test if his attorney agreed; he (officer) telephoned the attorney, who said it was all right for defendant to take the lie-detector test; and defendant did not become a suspect until January 5, 1965, because he had a “story” which the officer “checked out.” During the conversations (between December 27 and January 4) defendant, who was not advised of his constitutional rights, made statements in substance as follows: Defendant and Jo Ann came to Los Angeles in October 1965. They lived at 919 South Albany, and then moved to 723 South Columbia, and then to 1336 Shatto Street. Jo Ann was a prostitute.

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Related

United States v. Cullinan
396 F. Supp. 516 (N.D. Illinois, 1975)
People v. Coffinbarger
254 Cal. App. 2d 383 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
252 Cal. App. 2d 1004, 60 Cal. Rptr. 921, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gosman-calctapp-1967.