People v. McKerney

257 Cal. App. 2d 64, 64 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1754
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 15, 1967
DocketCrim. 2908
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 257 Cal. App. 2d 64 (People v. McKerney) 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. McKerney, 257 Cal. App. 2d 64, 64 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1754 (Cal. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

*66 COUGHLIN, J.

—Defendant was charged by information with the offenses of assault with intent to commit rape, a violation of Penal Code, section 220, and indecent exposure, a violation of Penal Code, section 314, subdivision 1; was found guilty by a jury; and appealed from the conviction, seeking a reversal upon the grounds (1) the court erred in refusing to give a cautionary instruction; and (2) the court did not have jurisdiction to try the indecent exposure offense, a misdemeanor.

Defendant requested but the court refused to give the cautionary instruction customarily given in sex offense cases. (CALJIC [Rev. Ed.] 510.) Although recital in such an instruction of the reason why the testimony of the prosecutrix should be examined with caution may depend upon the circumstances of the case, a refusal to give an instruction appropriate to the circumstances, whether or not requested by the defendant, is error. (People v. Putnam, 20 Cal.2d 885, 890 [129 P.2d 367].) One of the generally applicable reasons for the instruction is because “cases involving sex crimes generally arouse passion and prejudice in the minds of decent people, including jurors” (People v. McGhee, 123 Cal.App. 2d 542, 544 [266 P.2d 874]) ; “to the mind of the average citizen or juror, the mere fact that a person has been accused of the commission of such an offense seems to constitute sufficient evidence to warrant a verdict of ‘guilty’ ” (People v. Putnam, supra, 20 Cal.2d 885, 891) ; and the consequent need for a cautionary instruction to insure a proper consideration of the evidence by the jury. (Ibid.) The failure to give an appropriate instruction in the case at bench was error. (People v. Merriam, 66 Cal.2d 390, 394-395 [58 Cal.Rptr. 1, 426 P.2d 161] ; People v. Nye, 38 Cal.2d 34, 39-40 [237 P.2d 1] ; People v. Putnam, supra, 20 Cal.2d 885, 891 ; People v. Sutton, 224 Cal.App.2d 708, 710-711 [37 Cal.Rptr. 23]; People v. House, 157 Cal.App.2d 151, 156 [320 P.2d 542].) However, the error does not require a reversal unless it is reasonably probable a different result would have been reached if the instruction had been given. (People v. Wein, 50 Cal.2d 383, 406 [326 P.2d 457]; People v. Nye, supra, 38 Cal.2d 34, 40; People v. Sutton, supra, 224 Cal.App.2d 708, 711.) A determination of this issue is dependent upon the circumstances in the case. (People v. Nye, supra, 38 Cal.2d 34, 40; People v. House, supra, 157 Cal.App.2d 151, 157.)

The offenses in the case at bench occurred at about 8 :30 in the evening when the prosecutrix, a 17-year-old girl, en *67 tered the front yard of her home. She saw an unclothed man on the ground in some bushes adjoining the sidewalk, shining a flashlight upon himself. There was a red rim around the flashlight. The man came out of the bushes and grabbed her. He was completely naked. A struggle ensued. The manner of the attack and the condition of the girl’s clothing thereafter support a finding the assault was with intent to commit rape. The girl screamed. The man released her and ran toward the back of the house. She followed and saw him jump the back fence; get into a light colored 1962 or 1963 Ford Falcon automobile, which was parked in an alley; pull something over his head; and drive away. A neighbor, alerted by the screaming, ran into the alley; saw a naked man get into a Ford Falcon; and observed the driver as he passed by. The victim’s brother also heard the screaming; came out of the house; and saw the automobile going down the alley. The police were notified. In a matter of minutes, within a short distance from the scene, an officer in a patrol car received a radio message relating the offense and describing the suspect as a person driving toward University Avenue in a 1962 white Ford Falcon automobile. The officer saw such an automobile being driven easterly on University Avenue at 35 to 40 miles per hour in a 25 mile zone, cutting in and out of traffic; caused the automobile to stop; and asked the driver to step out of the car. Defendant was the driver. The window on the driver’s side of the automobile was down. The officer noted defendant’s forehead was completely covered with what appeared to be perspiration. When defendant stepped out of the automobile he was wearing pants and a sweatshirt, but he did not have on shoes, sox or a belt; picked them off the floor in front of the seat; and put them on. Defendant also picked up and put on a wrist watch. Later the officer took from the car, attached by a magnet to the dash board, a flashlight with a red rim. When asked where he was coming from defendant told the officer he had been playing pool at a pool hall; later said he was not playing pool but had stopped at the pool hall, looked in but did not enter because he saw no one there whom he recognized. He also told the officer that previously on the same evening he had gone to visit a man at a boat, but the man was not on the boat, and he left.

Defendant was arrested. Thereafter, individual photographs of defendant and several other men were submitted to the victim for identification of the person who had assaulted *68 her. She selected the photographs of two men, including that of defendant, as those resembling the person in question.

At the trial the victim testified defendant resembled the man who had assaulted her. On cross-examination she was interrogated extensively concerning the physical features of the man who had committed the assault. Also on cross-examination she testified when she selected the two photographs there was a doubt in her mind whether defendant was the assailant.

The neighbor who saw a naked man get into the white Falcon testified defendant resembled the person driving the automobile as it passed him in the alley.

Defendant testified, in explanation of the fact he was not wearing shoes, sox or belt at the time the officer stopped him, that he left home shortly after taking a shower and dressing in accord with his usual habit of putting on his shorts, pants and sweatshirt, and throwing his shoes, sox, belt and wrist watch into the ear. In explanation of the fact he was perspiring when stopped, he testified he had had the heater on and his car windows up while driving.

The primary issue in the case was one of identity. No motive of private vengeance or purpose for fabrication appears. The victim had the opportunity to observe her assailant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
257 Cal. App. 2d 64, 64 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1967 Cal. App. LEXIS 1754, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mckerney-calctapp-1967.