People v. Malone

72 Cal. App. 3d 649, 138 Cal. Rptr. 397, 1977 Cal. App. LEXIS 1753
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 11, 1977
DocketCrim. 29973
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 72 Cal. App. 3d 649 (People v. Malone) 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. Malone, 72 Cal. App. 3d 649, 138 Cal. Rptr. 397, 1977 Cal. App. LEXIS 1753 (Cal. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

Opinion

KINGSLEY, J.

Defendant was charged: (count I) with oral copulation with Janice Trent, in violation of subdivision (c) of section 288a of the *652 Penal Code; (count II) with robbery of Janice Trent, in violation of section 211 of the Penal Code; (count III) with kidnaping Janice Trent, in violation of section 207 of the Penal Code; (count IV) with kidnaping Renae Staton, in violation of section 207 of the Penal Code; and (count V) with false imprisonment of Renae Staton, in violation of section 236 of the Penal Code. The information was amended to plead two prior convictions and defendant admitted them. After a jury trial, he was found guilty as follows: (count I) guilty as charged; (count II) guilty of robbery in the first degree, done with great bodily injury within the meaning of section 213 of the Penal Code; (count III) guilty as charged; (count IV) guilty of attempted kidnaping. 1 He was sentenced to state prison in the manner hereinafter discussed.

Counts I, II and III

The three counts all encompass a single episode involving Janice Trent. Ms. Trent was an off-duty prostitute; according to her testimony, on the evening of March 12, 1976, defendant picked her up in his automobile, pointed “a gun” at her, drove her to a drive-in where he compelled her to have oral copulation with him. During the trip and during the drive-in incident, defendant hit Ms. Trent several times, tied her hands with a cord and burned her back with his cigarette. After leaving the drive-in, defendant drove to a drive-in restaurant where they had soft drinks. As they left the restaurant, defendant ordered Ms. Trent to give him $5 from her purse; she complied.

Although defendant produced alibi testimony as to the night in question, the jury accepted Ms. Trent’s testimony, which was supported by corroboration of her descriptions of the defendant (including tattoos) and by the discovery by the police of the gun used. On this appeal, defendant does not attack the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdicts on counts I and III; he attacks the degree of the robbery involved in count II and the finding as to section 213 of the Penal Code. He also alleges, with reference to all four counts on which he was convicted, prejudicial error by the prosecuting attorney and the court.

Counts IV and V

These two counts involve an incident on April 1, 1976. On that afternoon, Renae Staton, a prostitute, was picked up by defendant. According to her testimony, after driving a short distance, defendant *653 produced a gun. She became frightened and jumped from the car. Defendant admitted the pick-up but claimed he had only offered her a ride, became disgusted when she solicited him for acts of prostitution and ordered her from the car. He denied threatening her with a gun. Defendant does not attack the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict on count IV; he does attack the sentence thereon imposed.

I

During his direct examination, defendant testified that he gave consent to the police to search his car and his house. The search disclosed, in his car, the gun allegedly used by defendant. Search of the house followed. Defendant testified as follows:

“Q. Now, at sometime did you tell the police to discontinue their search?
“A. No, never, except when they—before they began the search I told them, ‘Maybe I should have a lawyer present.’
“And they said if I signed this I could call a lawyer.
“Q. All right. What happened?
“A. They went on and on and on and on until about 10 o’clock; and, you know, I finally told them, T would like to have,’ you know, ‘a lawyer present. I don’t know what the heck is going on.’
“And at that time another detective had come, a Mr. Hodell, and they had a conference over in the corner. And then they decided to stop the search. And at that time I was put in the car and taken into town.” On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked defendant several questions in an attempt to discover at what point the search of the house had stopped. After several questions along that line, and not too informative answers, defense counsel objected: “Just a second. It has been asked and answered several times.” The trial judge interjected, and the following colloquy resulted: “The Court: Let’s get it straight one more time.
“The Witness: I asked if I would be able to call an attorney if I agreed to sign this form. The officers told me, ‘Yes.’ I signed the form. I went along with the search of the car and the house and everything else. And it went on and on, and they had already recovered everything they *654 wanted to recover, as far as I knew, Mr. Green. But I said, ‘May I call an attorney?’ And then we left.
“Q. After you asked for an attorney the search was stopped; is that true?
“A. After the second time I asked, yes, sir.
“Q. Okay.
“The Court: Tell us when you first asked to talk to a lawyer.
“The Witness: When we were outside, Your Honor. When we were still outside and they took my keys and so forth, they asked me to sign this. They wrote it out. They said, ‘Will you consent to a search?’
“I said—when they told me what I was arrested for, I said, ‘Certainly. I have nothing to hide.’
“So they asked me to sign this. I said, ‘I’ll sign this, but I think I should have a lawyer present.’
“And they said, ‘If you sign this, you can have one. We don’t object to that.’
“The Court: All right.
“The Witness: So I signed that. Then they searched the car.
“The Court: Wait a minute. You signed it. Did you then said, T want to call a lawyer now’?
“The Witness: Yes, I did.”

It is contended that the cross-examination, and the judge’s questioning, improperly emphasized defendant’s constitutional right to refuse a warrantless search. We do not, on the record before us, reach that issue. The only objection to the cross-examination was the one above quoted; there was no objection on the ground now urged, either to the prosecutor’s questions or to those of the judge. No request to strike, or for an admonition, was ever made. Under those circumstances, there is no action of the trial court before us for review.

*655 II

The People’s theory was that the “gun” found in defendant’s car was the one used in both episodes. A police expert testified that that gun was an “air gun.” The trial court gave to the jury CALJIC No. 9.13. 2

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Bluebook (online)
72 Cal. App. 3d 649, 138 Cal. Rptr. 397, 1977 Cal. App. LEXIS 1753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-malone-calctapp-1977.