People v. Johnson

207 P. 257, 57 Cal. App. 271, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 346
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 7, 1922
DocketCrim. No. 593.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 207 P. 257 (People v. Johnson) 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. Johnson, 207 P. 257, 57 Cal. App. 271, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 346 (Cal. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinion

BURNETT, J.

The defendant was convicted of assault with intent to commit robbery and the appeal is from the judgment and the order denying his motion for a new trial.

The first point made is that the information states no offense against the defendant, or at least no offense of which the superior court has jurisdiction. The particular criticism is that there is no allegation of the intent with which the “assault” was made. The charging part of the information, as certified by the clerk, is as follows:

“That said Orville Johnson on the 16th day of April, A. D. 1921, at the said county of Napa, and before the filing of this information did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, violently and forcibly make an assault upon the person of one H. R. Hill with the felonious then and thereby to steal, take and carry away from the person, possession and immediate presence of said H. R. Hill, the goods and personal property of the said H. R. Hill, and to accomplish the said stealing, taking and carrying away by means of force then and there used upon and against the said H. R. Hill by the said defendant, and by then and there putting the said H. R. Hill in fear.”

The omission of the word “intent” was probably an inadvertence in the preparation of the transcript as in the reporter’s transcript certified by the trial judge the word appears. But, be that as it may, it is quite apparent that if the intent with which the assault was made was not directly expressed it was clearly implied by the use of the terms which were employed. To charge that a defendant made an assault to steal, take, and carry away certain goods necessarily carries the implication that his purpose or intent in making the assault was to steal, etc. If it were stated that A went to Washington to see the President it would not be open to dispute that his purpose in going to the capital was to see Mr. Harding.

It is also suggested that the information was defective in omitting from the definition of robbery the element “against his will,” as contained in section 211 of the Penal *274 Code. The terms “force and fear,” however, entirely cover this consideration. (People v. Riley, 75 Cal. 98 [16 Pac. 544]; People v. Ah Sing, 95 Cal. 654 [30 Pac. 796].)

Moreover, after trial, wherein the evidence was sufficient to establish every element of the offense of assault with intent to commit robbery and wherein the hearing proceeded as though the allegations of the information were complete, in contemplation of section 4% of article VI of the state constitution, the cause should not be reversed on account of any such alleged defect. (People v. Bonfanti, 40 Cal. App. 614 [181 Pac. 80].)

The next asserted error relates to the action of the court in giving this instruction: “The defendant is charged with assault with intent to rob. This charge includes the smaller offense of simple assault and he may be found guilty of either of said offenses.” This instruction must be considered in connection with the entire charge and, as thus viewed, it is not to be condemned. The court thereby did not attempt to define fully the crime with which the defendant was charged, but the offense was characterized in general terms to indicate that it embraced two separate offenses. Standing alone, it possibly might be subject to the criticism that it invaded the province of the jury in suggesting that they should convict the defendant of one or the other of these offenses, but it was immediately followed by these plain directions: “If you find to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed an assault on H. R. Hill with the intent of robbing said Hill, as charged in the information, you should find defendant guilty of assault with intent to rob.

“If you entertain a reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s intent in the matter, but find to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt that he assaulted said Hill, as charged in the information, you should find defendant guilty of assault.
“And if you entertain a reasonable doubt as to whether defendant assaulted said Hill you should find the defendant not guilty.”

And in the beginning of the charge the court stated: “I instruct you that in considering this case you must not act upon any outside influences or reports, if any have come to your notice. If the defendant is guilty such guilt must be *275 determined by you from the evidence which has been introduced before you at this trial, and upon that evidence alone you must be guided in rendering your verdict.”

Again: “I instruct you that the law raises no presumption whatever against the defendant, but on the contrary, every presumption of the law is in favor of his innocence; and in order to convict him of the crime alleged in the information, or of any lesser crime which may be included in it, every material fact necessary to constitute such crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt; and if you entertain any reasonable doubt upon any single fact or element necessary to constitute the crime, it is your duty to give the defendant the benefit of such doubt and acquit him. ’ ’

Considering these instructions together the jury could not fail to understand that, unless convinced by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant, they could not convict him of any crime.

After the trial was completed and the record on appeal was certified the trial court permitted, on motion of the district attorney, the record to be corrected by having added to the information the following averment: “That the defendant, before the commission of the offense charged in this information, was in a general court-martial of the United States army convicted of a felony.” It is not questioned that this was a part of the information as filed by the district attorney, but, when the cause was called for trial, on motion of the people and by consent of the defendant that part was withdrawn and it was not read to the jury. If the record is to show a complete history of the trial and proceedings it is entirely proper for it to exhibit the information as it was filed. That a portion of it was afterward stricken out or withdrawn is no reason why the actual condition at the time it was filed with the clerk may not be shown. Moreover, if the action of the court in correcting the record was irregular, of course; it is entirely without prejudice as far as this appeal is concerned. It has no effect upon the judgment and does not concern at all the merits of the verdict of conviction.

Complaint is made of the action of the court in permitting the district attorney to read what purported to be a statement of appellant made to the officers after his *276 arrest. It seems that on direct examination he was interrogated about the statement and the record shows the following on cross-examination:

“Q. Was the reporter present in the sheriff’s office when you made your statement there? A. Sir?
“Q. Was the reporter present in the sheriff’s office when you made your statement? A. Statement to you?
“Q. Yes, sir. A.

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Related

People v. Baker
183 Cal. App. 2d 615 (California Court of Appeal, 1960)
In Re Duel
296 P. 91 (California Court of Appeal, 1931)
People v. Spagnoli
208 P. 185 (California Court of Appeal, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
207 P. 257, 57 Cal. App. 271, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-johnson-calctapp-1922.