People v. Johnson

203 Cal. App. 2d 624, 21 Cal. Rptr. 650, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2404
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 16, 1962
DocketCrim. 4
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 203 Cal. App. 2d 624 (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, 203 Cal. App. 2d 624, 21 Cal. Rptr. 650, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2404 (Cal. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

CONLEY, P. J.

The defendant, Nathaniel Richard Johnson, was charged with the crime of burglary; the information alleged that on or about February 11, 1961, he wilfully and unlawfully entered Fox’s Drug Store in Selma, California, with the intent to commit theft therein. The information also charged five prior convictions; (1) possession of burglary tools on June 20, 1946, in the State of Arkansas, for which he served a term in the Arkansas State Prison; (2) attempted burglary on October 24, 1949, in the State of Kansas, for which he served a term in the Kansas State Penitentiary; (8) possession of explosives on October 24, 1949, in the State of Kansas, for which he served a term in the Kansas State Penitentiary; (4) burglary on June 28, 1954, in the State of Oregon, for which he served a term in the Oregon State Penitentiary; (5) burglary not in a dwelling on October 21, 1957, in the State of Oregon, for which he served a term in the Oregon State Penitentiary. The defendant entered a plea of not guilty to the crime charged, but admitted the five prior convictions. He was tried before a jury and found guilty of burglary in the second degree. The court sentenced him to the California State Prison for the term prescribed by law, and he appeals.

At 11:32 p. m. on February 11, 1961, a burglar alarm sounded in the Selma police headquarters; it was activated from Fox’s Drug Store. Officers Slavens and Bilyeu immediately went to the store front and, finding the door locked, telephoned to one of the owners, Mr. Clyde Fox, requesting that he bring his keys. While waiting for the owner to arrive, Officer Bilyeu, through the glass front of the store, observed two men crawling on the floor at the rear of the store toward the stock room. One of the men wore a peculiar small hat and a jacket of distinctive type, and, as the evidence showed, Officer Bilyeu later identified the defendant hy means of this clothing as one of the men who had been in the store.

WThen Mr. Fox arrived, the two officers entered his place of business with drawn pistols and moved toward the back of the room. They found no one, but they did see that a hole had *626 been cut in the wall between the store and the stock room, apparently so that the burglars would not trip up the alarm. The policemen further found a number of burglar tools in the stock room, including a sledge hammer and a crowbar; the dial of the safe had been broken off. A narcotics cabinet in the drug store had been opened, and part of the contents, consisting of pills and bottles, had been strewn on the floor. The burglars had entered the stock room through a hole which they had cut in the roof. Later, it developed that the burglars had reached the roof of the drug store by prying open the front doors of a deserted theater which was one door from the Pox Drug Store entrance and by climbing to the roof of the theater and walking across the intervening space.

Clyde Pox, who had meanwhile remained outside of his store, suddenly noted two men about 25 yards down the street, who had apparently emerged from the theater building. He called to the men; they looked at him and started running; they crossed the street and disappeared in the vicinity of an oil station diagonally opposite the drug store. Mr. Pox called the two officers from the store; Sergeant Slavens ran to an alleyway across the street, and soon one of the men approached him, running and breathing heavily. When he saw Sergeant Slavens he shouted, “Don’t shoot, I am not armed.’’ Slavens took him prisoner and brought him back to the drug store. He made him lie down in the street and handcuffed him. Mr. Pox and Officer Bilyeu each then identified the clothing worn by the prisoner as apparently being the clothing of the man seen by Officer Bilyeu inside the drug store and of one of the men who ran away when Mr. Pox called to him.

Investigation by other officers of the police department showed that the theater door had been pried open with the crowbar found in the stock room of the drug store, that a box of hypodermic needles taken from the store had been dropped in the lobby of the theater, and that the heel of one of the shoes worn by the defendant fitted heel marks found and photographed in the thick dust of the theater lobby.

The defendant did not take the stand, but in his brief he claims that on the clay of the crime he came from Texas to Selma to collect a debt and that he was walking along the alley at the time of his arrest in search of lodging. This story does not check with the testimony of Officer Slavens that the defendant was running and not walking, that he was breathing heavily, and that as soon as he saw Slavens he requested him not to shoot, saying that he was unarmed. The *627 identification of the defendant’s clothing was positively made by two witnesses, and the expert testimony relative to the heel marks in the theater lobby is wholly inconsistent with any theory of innocence. A careful and complete examination of the whole record in the ease convinces us that the defendant was guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.

Appellant suggests that his constitutional rights were not accorded him in the matter of proper representation by attorneys. On the contrary, we conclude that the defendant received adequate and complete protection in the matter of counsel, both at the trial and on the appeal. At the trial he was represented by an experienced attorney appointed by the court. On appeal this court appointed Mr. Floyd S. Hill, of the Fresno bar, to represent him. After due consideration of the record and all the possible points on appeal, Mr. Hill filed with this court an eight-page report in which he analyzed the facts of the case and concluded as follows: "Counsel has reviewed the record of Appellant, in its entirety. After due and careful consideration, counsel cannot in good faith and in fairness to the Appellant, find any meritorious ground upon which to base an argument on this appeal. ’ ’

In the circumstances, the court ordered Mr. Hill relieved of further duty but granted the defendant an opportunity to file briefs. The briefs filed by defendant are most creditable in form and represent a presentation of all possible points favorable to him. This court has carefully read and considered the briefs and the entire record; the defendant has had a fair trial and a complete consideration of his appeal.

The defendant contends that the court erred in admitting evidence of accusatory statements made in his presence after his detention, As already noted, Officer Slavens arrested the defendant when he was running down an alley near the scene of the crime; he took him to the front of the drug store where he was made to lie down upon the street and was handcuffed with his hands behind him. Mr. Fox was standing nearby within 3 or 4 feet of the defendant. The witness Slavens testified as follows:

"Q. Did Mr. Fox say anything as you approached ?
I c "A. Mr. Fox stated that the clothing that the suspect wore appeared to be the same as the clothing of the one of the two men that walked and later ran from him after he called to them.
*628 “Q. Did the defendant say anything at that time? A. No, sir.
“Q. Did the defendant make any response whatsoever to
the statement ? A.

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Related

People v. Graham
455 P.2d 153 (California Supreme Court, 1969)
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365 F.2d 752 (Ninth Circuit, 1966)
People v. Phillips
414 P.2d 353 (California Supreme Court, 1966)
People v. Baldwin
223 Cal. App. 2d 720 (California Court of Appeal, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
203 Cal. App. 2d 624, 21 Cal. Rptr. 650, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-johnson-calctapp-1962.