People v. Molarius

213 Cal. App. 2d 10, 28 Cal. Rptr. 541, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 2687
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 14, 1963
DocketCrim. 4201
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 213 Cal. App. 2d 10 (People v. Molarius) 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. Molarius, 213 Cal. App. 2d 10, 28 Cal. Rptr. 541, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 2687 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

KAUFMAN, P. J.

Defendant, Frank Martin Molarius, Jr., appeals from a judgment rendered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of burglary in the second degree (Pen. Code, § 459), and from the order denying his motion for a new trial. The contentions on appeal are that certain evidence used at the trial was obtained by an unlawful search and seizure, and that the identification evidence adduced at the trial does not sufficiently support the verdict.

We turn first to the appeal from the order denying the motion for a new trial. This appeal must be dismissed since it is an appeal from a nonappealable order under section 1237 of the Penal Code, as amended by Stats. 1961, chapter 850. (People v. Simons, 208 Cal.App.2d 83 [25 Cal.Rptr. 57].)

The record reveals the following facts: On December 19, 1961, the general store in Bradley, California, was burglarized. On that date, about 2 a.m., Mrs. Aliene Harrington, who lived next door to the store, was awakened by loud popping noises. She got up, went to the window, looked into the alleyway between her home and the store, and saw a man walk down the alley between her home and the store. She remained at the window for a few moments and observed a second man, who was in the shadows at the rear of the store, enter the store with the first one. Mrs. Harrington immediately called Mrs. Sims, the wife of the owner of the store. Mrs. Harrington’s son, Samuel, overheard the call, got up and went to the window with his mother, and saw a man running towards the front of the building.

Mr. Sims immediately put on his clothes, got a shotgun and drove around the side of the store. After noticing that the *13 sliding door had been opened and that a car was parked about 300 feet from the rear of the store, he went to get Mr. Hedges from the Shell station nearby. When they returned a little after 2 a.m., Hedges went to the front and Sims around to the back. Sims discovered that the padlock on the back gate and the cyclone fence had been broken and that the postmaster’s dogs in the backyard were eating large scrap bones, whereas they normally were fed only dog food mix. Pie then heard someone shout and saw two men run out of the back of the store and up the alley. He followed them down the alley and found a screwdriver. Mr. Sims then examined the ear and trailer parked at the rear of the store. A small dog was in the ear and some boxes and a pushcart in the trailer. Sims then entered the store from the front with Mr. Hedges. Sims saw a strange crowbar. Nothing was missing from the store.

Sims called the sheriff’s office about 2:15 a.m. The deputy sheriffs arrived about 2:45 a.m. and investigated the car and trailer parked near the rear of the store. The car was a 1952 Plymouth, bearing California license number AME 186; the trailer, a Nationwide rental trailer, bearing Colorado license number JX 2586. They noticed there were bones around the vehicles like the bone scraps which the dogs in back of the store were eating. The deputies noticed that the vehicles were parked in an isolated area with the keys in the ignition. A small dog was tied with a rope in the front seat. No occupants were about, and there was no visible registration card.

Upon cheeking with Sacramento, the officers learned that the ear was registered to one Betty Fowler, whom they were not able to contact for several hours. The officers returned to the automobile the following morning and noted that the keys were still in the ignition and the dog in the front seat. They also observed a man’s toilet article kit, a small zipper bag, on the front seat. They then proceeded to search the automobile. The toilet article kit contained six bottles of medicine prescribed for Frank Molarious. The officers found a pair of bolt cutters between the back and front seats. These cutters had been used to cut the padlock on the cyclone fence. In the trailer, they found a two-wheeled lift truck, a carpenter’s apron containing several chisels and punches, and a sledge hammer. The rental contract from a trailer rental company in Sacramento indicated that the trailer had been rented by Frank M. Molarious and indicated the number of *14 the driver’s license of the person renting. A certified copy of the driver’s license issued to Francis Martin Molarius was also placed in evidence.

The first contention on appeal is that the search of the car and trailer was an unreasonable search. Appellant argues that a search and seizure of articles is justified only when there is a lawful arrest. However, it is well established that a valid search may be made in the absence of either an unlawful arrest or a valid search warrant (People v. Garrison, 189 Cal.App.2d 549 [11 Cal.Rptr. 398]; People v. Brajevich, 174 Cal.App.2d 438 [344 P.2d 815] ; Carroll v. United States, 267 U. S. 132 [45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543, 39 A.L.R. 790]). As we indicated in People v. Simons, 208 Cal. App.2d 83, 86 [25 Cal.Rptr. 57], under circumstances such as these, the burden rests on the prosecution to show proper justification. The determinative question is whether, in the absence of a warrant or arrest, the search was a reasonable one (People v. Brown, 45 Cal.2d 640 [290 P.2d 528]). Then, the primary question is whether the officers have reasonable cause to believe that an automobile contains stolen property or contraband. Each case must stand to some extent on its own feet under the general direction of “reasonable grounds for belief” (People v. Brajevich, supra, p. 443). In considering the question of reasonableness, the court looks to the facts and circumstances presented to the officers when they were called upon to act.

We think that when the above rules are applied to the instant case, there can be no question that the search was a reasonable one under the circumstances. The officers were presented with the fact of a burglary about 2 a.m. Two witnesses saw two men running towards the car and the trailer which were parked in an isolated area at the rear of the burglarized store. The bones scattered by the door of the car were the same as those used to placate the dogs at the rear of the burglarized store. The keys were in the ignition and visible from the outside of the car. An unattended dog was tied in the front seat. No registration slip was visible and the registered owner was unavailable. The officers did not proceed to search the car until the vehicle had been sitting there unattended for six to seven hours with the key still in the ignition and the dog still in the front seat. We think that under these circumstances, the officers could reasonably believe that the burglars had arrived in the auto and abandoned it in their haste to escape.

*15 Appellant next contends that the search was unreasonable because nothing had been taken from the store. However, the gravamen of burglary is entry with the requisite intent (Pen. Code, § 459; People v. Beem, 192 Cal.App.2d 207 [13 Cal.Rptr. 238]).

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Bluebook (online)
213 Cal. App. 2d 10, 28 Cal. Rptr. 541, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 2687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-molarius-calctapp-1963.