People v. Hall

272 Cal. App. 2d 278, 77 Cal. Rptr. 41, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2270
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 24, 1969
DocketCrim. No. 583
StatusPublished

This text of 272 Cal. App. 2d 278 (People v. Hall) 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. Hall, 272 Cal. App. 2d 278, 77 Cal. Rptr. 41, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2270 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

CONLEY, P. J.

The defendant was accused of two felonies ; count I charged violation of section 459 of the Penal Code (burglary), and count II the breach of Penal Code section 664 (attempted burglary). The appellant also admitted three prior felony convictions, one in Arkansas on or about the 8th day of September, 1952 (forgery) ; the second in Oklahoma on or about the 5th day of July, 1956 (forgery) ; the third in Fresno County, on or about the 23d day of July, 1963 (robbery).

The information was joint in form, charging Larry Hall in the same accusatory document as Glenn Adrian Carr; Carr was accused of the same two felonies and also with nine prior convictions. The ninth prior conviction of Carr for burglary was alleged to have resulted in a term in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at MeAlester, Oklahoma. This term of imprison[280]*280ment began while Hall was .possibly being detained in the same penitentiary as the result of his second prior conviction on July 5,1956.

Carr’s trial was disposed of apart from the instant case. The jury in the instant case was unable to agree as to Hall’s guilt on the first count but it was unanimous on the second count, that is to say, attempted burglary of the Babalu Cafe located at 715 “G” Street in Fresno. It must be remembered that the entire record of evidence involving the alleged burglary under the first count of the Dona Maria Cafe at 1342 Tulare Street and the alleged attempted burglary of the Babalu Cafe under the second count was before the jury; while the charge made in the first count was later dismissed, it is quite proper to reflect that all of the evidence in the case could have been considered legitimately by the jury with respect to the conviction under the second count.

The appellant makes two contentions on this appeal: in the first place, it is claimed that the evidence was insufficient to establish guilt, and, secondly, it is urged that the prosecution committed prejudicial error in cross-examination of the appellant concerning prior felony convictions in that the People allegedly extended inquiry to include matters beyond the proper scope of impeachment.

It was never contended by the prosecution that this appellant physically burglarized the Dona Maria Cafe or physically attempted to burglarize the Babalu Cafe. The theory of the prosecution was that the defendant, Larry Hall, was guilty as a principal, because he aided and abetted the activist burglar and participated in those crimes as a stand-by and lookout man for Carr. (People v. McClure, 133 Cal.App.2d 631, 633 [284 P.2d 887]; People v. Bonilla, 124 Cal.App. 212, 214 [12 P.2d 64]; Pen. Code, §§ 31, 971.)

It is our duty to inquire only whether there is substantial evidence to justify the guilty verdict. It is not the burden of an appellate court to require proof of a defendant’s guilt beyond all reasonable doubt; that is the duty of the jury in the trial court. If the record on appeal shows by substantial evidence: (1) that Carr attempted a burglary of the Babalu Cafe, and (2) that the appellant aided and abetted, advised and encouraged the felony, it is our duty to sustain the conviction. (People v. Eskew, 206 Cal.App.2d 205, 207 [23 Cal.Rptr. 466]; People v. Villa, 156 Cal.App.2d 128, 134 [318 P.2d 828]; People v. Perryman, 250 Cal.App.2d 813, 819-820 [58 Cal.Rptr. 921]; People v. Sawyer, 256 Cal.App.2d [281]*28166, 76 [63 Cal.Rptr. 749]; People v. Belenger, 222 Cal.App.2d 159, 163-167 [34 Cal.Rptr. 918].)

There can he no question but that Carr physically attempted to effectuate a burglary at the Babalu Cafe. In the body of his car, when arrested, he had a crowbar and the evidence was that the front door of the cafe had been pried open with the result that the wood was damaged and the lock forced off. In dead of night, Carr was seen by nearby illumination some four times at the doorway of this restaurant, standing part of the time in a position sideways to the door; he was easily alarmed by a passerby and would retreat to his automobile, parked in the vicinity of the cafe, when he became alerted to detection, but would shortly afterwards return to the doorway.

Tony Avila, a night watchman for the Del Monte Corporation, as part of his duties drove around this West Fresno area during the night; he testified that on December 5, 1967, he saw the codefendant, Glenn Adrian Carr, at the Babalu door; Avila drove around the block, and again noticed that this man whom he knew had returned to the restaurant door; again, Carr became alarmed and quickly got into his ear and left. Avila followed him for about a half block and then went back to his night-watchman’s job, but he saw Carr’s automobile pass by again and stop across the street from the Babalu with his automobile lights on. Then, as the night watchman was sitting in his own car by the post office located nearby, he saw Carr coming from across the street at the cafe to his parked automobile. All this time Avila observed that another man was in the Carr vehicle; he did not know who the other man was, and his only identification was that he wore a hat which Hall still wore at the time of his later arrest. Avila followed the Carr vehicle to Kern Street, up to “H” and down to Ventura, then back to “G.” Carr’s automobile was a 1959 Ford, two-tone pink and ivory. After following and observing Carr drive away, Avila went back to the Babalu; he saw that the door was open, confirmed the fact by closer observation, and then told a police officer about it. About that time the Carr vehicle passed again and Avila informed a policeman that it was the car he had seen; soon afterward, officers took Avila down to the mall to identify the ear which had been stopped there by them. Both occupants of the Carr vehicle were arrested.

The owner of the Babalu Cafe, Mr. Guzman, was called by the police to come down to his cafe, and he did so at about 3 [282]*282o’clock in the morning; he found that the door had been pried open and the lock broken he checked everything in the cafe and saw that it was in order and that there was nothing missing.

We also believe that it has been shown by inference that Larry Hall was a lookout for Carr, and that he thus aided and abetted, advised and encouraged his felonious activities on the night of the alleged crimes. In the first place, Hall conceded time after time on the stand that he was with Carr during the whole night after 9 o’clock; the record shows that he admitted to Officer Del Real that he and Carr were together from approximately 8 p.m. The jury was entitled to accept part of the statements made by Hall and equally entittled to reject other portions of his testimony. If we keep in mind that the appellant admitted that he was with Carr all night, and if other portions of the evidence show that Carr was guilty of the felonies of which he was accused, the logical result follows that Hall knew of all of the activities of his friend Carr on that night, and that he was not the innocent which he claimed he was in other parts of his testimony.

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Related

People v. Villa
318 P.2d 828 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
People v. Howard
334 P.2d 105 (California Court of Appeal, 1958)
People v. McClure
284 P.2d 887 (California Court of Appeal, 1955)
People v. Eskew
206 Cal. App. 2d 205 (California Court of Appeal, 1962)
People v. Belenger
222 Cal. App. 2d 159 (California Court of Appeal, 1963)
People v. Perryman
250 Cal. App. 2d 813 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Sawyer
256 Cal. App. 2d 66 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Ford
200 P.2d 867 (California Court of Appeal, 1948)
People v. Bonilla
12 P.2d 64 (California Court of Appeal, 1932)

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Bluebook (online)
272 Cal. App. 2d 278, 77 Cal. Rptr. 41, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hall-calctapp-1969.