People v. John

149 Cal. App. 3d 798, 197 Cal. Rptr. 340, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 2480
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 13, 1983
DocketCrim. 23420
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 149 Cal. App. 3d 798 (People v. John) 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. John, 149 Cal. App. 3d 798, 197 Cal. Rptr. 340, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 2480 (Cal. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

Opinion

BALLACHEY, J. *

Freddie John appeals from his convictions by a jury of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), 1 second degree burglary (§ 459), and kidnaping for purposes of robbery (§ 209, subd. (b)). The jury also found that a principal in the offense, Peter Garcia, a/k/a Peter Chavez, was personally armed with a firearm in the commission of the offenses within the meaning of section 12022, subdivision (a). On September 15, 1981, appellant was sentenced to state prison for life with the possibility of parole for the kidnaping for the purpose of robbery. He was sentenced to a concurrent upper term of five years for the robbery plus a one-year enhancement for the arming allegation. The burglary count was ordered “merge[d] into the sentence which is imposed” on the robbery count. Appellant was given the appropriate credits.

On May 21, 1981, the victim, Sean Clyne, lived in a pool house situated amidst a cluster of buildings on an eight-acre plot owned by his parents. Clyne was 24 years old. Other buildings in the cluster were the “main house” where his parents lived and some rental units. All of these buildings shared the same address. Although Sean lived in the “separate,” “detached” pool house, he appears to have been allowed to enter the “main house” at any time and could utilize any of its facilities. The buildings were spread over different levels and were connected by a system of driveways, *802 stairs and open air causeways. Clyne appears to have been left in charge of the entire Clyne family premises during the course of the events described here.

At 11 a.m. on May 21, 1981, Clyne encountered Peter Chavez, a/k/a Peter Garcia, on one of these driveways. Chavez stated that he was having car trouble; Clyne offered him the use of a phone. The two walked to the pool house and Chavez used the phone. Eventually, Clyne “heard a click” and Chavez stated, “Be cool, man, this is a robbery” or “[t]his is a robbery.” Clyne turned to face Chavez and saw that Chavez had pointed a handgun at him. Chavez stood about five feet away from him. Chavez told Clyne “to keep my hands above my head, don’t look at him or face away from him and then he wanted to know basic comings and goings of people on the property.” After giving the requested information, Clyne described his subsequent contact with Chavez as follows: “We walked out of the pool house with me ahead, up the stairs . . . along the driveway and we started to go up the upper driveway, [f] At about halfway up the upper driveway, we stopped and he had me wait at a point somewhere along here where he could see me while he was up here on the road. ... [1] I thought for a moment there I could have gotten away at this point when I was along this retaining wall and he was up here, because he wasn’t looking at me all the time. He had the gun pointed at me but his attention was drawn to the—his partner that he was calling to. ... [f] From there he went further up the hill to about this point where the driveway meets the road . . . and that’s about the point where he stopped, [f] At that location he was signalling to someone up the road . . . [w]ith his hand or whistling. . . . [f] Well, once his attention was back on me, when we start[ed] going back down the hill, we—he and I marched into the pool house again. ... [1] Back down the driveway and down the stairs and down these stairs back into the pool house.”

Clyne estimated that they traversed 150 yards. It is unclear from the record whether such figure refers to the one-way or round-trip distance between the driveway and the pool house.

Chavez asked Clyne some additional questions and eventually Clyne heard another person enter the room. That person was identified by other witnesses as appellant. 2

*803 Chavez “gave [appellant] an order, command, whatever, to tie . . . up” Clyne. Appellant tied Clyne’s hands behind his back. Clyne was also blindfolded. Chavez tried to “calm . . . down” Clyne by reassuring him that “all they wanted was money and jewelry.” Clyne asked Chavez not to steal his gold watch which he had placed either on the table or on a small cabinet near a window in plain view. Clyne later found the watch missing.

After about a minute the blindfold was removed and Clyne was taken from the pool house through the “open air causeway” and through two sets of sliding doors into the “master bedroom” of the main house. As they approached the sliding glass doors, Clyne could see from the reflection that two persons were behind him. He estimated the distance traveled as 210 to 230 feet, plus two sets of stairs of 10 steps each.

The State Public Defender has calculated that Clyne was moved a total distance of 465 feet; a distance “. . . at least for sports aficionados . . . [which] approximates the distance from the center field wall to the backstop behind home plate on a typical major league baseball field.”

Clyne testified that once inside the master bedroom, “I was blindfolded and my feet were tied together. I was told to lie still on the couch, at which point I could hear them rifling through drawers. ... It was obviously two people . . . .” Clyne then heard his mother’s car arrive. The room became quiet and Clyne managed to get the blindfold off, hobble to the phone and call the sheriff’s department with his tongue.

Clyne also testified that Chavez, who was not in court, “did ‘almost all’ of the talking, and that there was” no “force or weapon shown” before he “got to the pool house” with Chavez.

The sheriff found Clyne’s gold watch in appellant’s pocket. A neighbor of the Clynes who had observed appellant on her property discovered a distinctive box in the area where she had first seen him. The box was identified as belonging to Sean Clyne’s father. It had contained a silver dollar and was given to him by General Electric Company. It had been kept in Mr. Clyne’s desk in the main house but was missing after the incident on May 21. Other items missing from the main house were a gold necklace, a pair of gold earrings, two rings, and a gold bracelet. Neither the coin nor the other items were found on appellant.

An AMC Hornet was found parked at the Clyne property. It did not belong to anyone known by the Clynes. Keys found in appellant’s pocket fit both the passenger door and ignition. 3

*804 Appellant did not testify. Courtland Blooze, an automobile mechanic and teacher, was the only witness for the defense. He also qualified as an expert witness regarding AMC cars. He testified that appellant was a student in his class and was training to be an auto mechanic. Blooze also testified that appellant had “occasion to use keys to other people’s cars” and in the past he had retained keys to automobiles after working on them.” Blooze further testified that in his opinion 40 percent of all AMC keys would operate a 1974 Hornet.

A. The Kidnaping Conviction

The parties agree that CALJIC No. 9.23, which was given at the trial in this case, accurately states the elements which must be proved in order to establish a violation of section 209.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
149 Cal. App. 3d 798, 197 Cal. Rptr. 340, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 2480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-john-calctapp-1983.