People v. Peccole

268 P. 473, 92 Cal. App. 470, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 909
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 9, 1928
DocketDocket No. 1022.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 268 P. 473 (People v. Peccole) 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. Peccole, 268 P. 473, 92 Cal. App. 470, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 909 (Cal. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

HART, Acting P. J.

The defendant was accused by an information filed in the superior court of Calaveras County of the crime of assault with intent to commit murder (Pen. Code, sec. 217), and was convicted of the crime of assault with a deadly weapon. (Pen. Code, see. 245.) He brings his case to this court on an appeal from the judgment of conviction and also from an order denying a motion for a new trial made by him.

It is not claimed by the accused- that there is not disclosed by the record evidence sufficient to uphold the verdict. His contention is that the court erred to the serious prejudice of his rights by allowing and disallowing certain testimony and, further, by certain asserted misconduct of the district - attorney in the presentation of the case of the People to the jury; that such errors and such misconduct were of sufficient gravity to require this court to order a *473 reversal, notwithstanding that the verdict stands supported hy sufficient evidence.

The facts will be stated herein mainly in narrative form and, with the exception of such reference to the testimony of the defendant and a witness introduced by him as may be deemed necessary, will be taken from the testimony presented by the People to support the charge. The witnesses upon whose testimony the verdict was in the main evidently founded were B. L. Blackburn, Mrs. Edna G. Blackburn, Mrs. Dorothy Hayes, and William Azevedo, the prosecuting witness. The Blackburns mentioned were husband and wife.

The crime charged in the information was committed in the early evening of December 7, 1927, at a “road-house” or public resort situated approximately a mile from the town of Campo Seco, in Calaveras County. The party alleged to have been assaulted is one William Azevedo, who, at the time the assault was committed, was in possession of and managing said public resort, which, for brevity, will hereinafter be referred to as “the resort” or “the premises.” These premises were owned by one Nick Ponzetto. It was through the defendant that Azevedo met Ponzetto and leased from the latter the premises. The house consisted of a large front room, in which customers, when desiring so to do, engaged in the pastime of dancing, and in which also “soft” drinks (and as is to be inferred “drinks” not so “soft”) were dispensed, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a small dining-room. The premises were situated a short distance back from a public road and were divided from the road by a fence with a gate of sufficient width to admit of the entrance of the ordinary automobile into the premises from the road. This road extended from Campo Seco to and beyond the premises.

Near the hour of 11 o’clock P. M. of December 6, 1927— the day immediately preceding that on which the assault is alleged to have been committed—the defendant, accompanied by his wife, one Giannotti, and Nick Ponzetto, made his appearance at the resort, having gone there from Campo Seco in his (defendant’s) automobile. Present at the resort at that time were the Blackburns, Mrs. Hayes, and Azevedo. There is no testimony that, up to the time that defendant and his party arrived at the resort, there were *474 any but the most amiable and cordial relations existing between the defendant and Azevedo, or any cause for any other character of personal relations between them. However, immediately upon the appearance at the resort of the defendant, his wife, Giannotti, and Ponzetto, all the parties began drinking, and, after a few hours thus spent, Mrs. Peccole began to show evidence of being intoxicated. The defendant, observing her condition, took hold of her and started to the point where their automobile was parked on the premises, near and inside of the fence above spoken of. It appears that the other members of the party, including Azevedo, followed the defendant and his wife, going to the spot near which the automobile stood. Mrs. Peccole got into the car and the defendant, probably enraged because of her intoxicated condition, immediately began beating her about the face and body. Azevedo thereupon rushed to the car, and, placing his hand on the shoulder of defendant, exclaimed, “Por - sake, cut that out.” While Azevedo and the defendant were engaged in this altercation, Mrs. Peccole jumped from the car and started to walk “up the road,” whereupon defendant started after her, and, upon overtaking her, struck her a blow which knocked her to the ground and thereafter struck her several times about her body. Azevedo, observing this, or hearing the sounds of the blows, rushed to the point on the road where the defendant and his wife then were, and, declaring that he would not “stand for any man beating a woman,” took hold of defendant and a fight between them ensued. Defendant struck at Azevedo several times, and the latter dealt the former several blows with his fists, finally knocking him (defendant) to the ground. Defendant received several minor injuries about his face and head. The fighting having ceased, the defendant returned to and got into his car, and overtook his wife, who was walking on the road towards Campo Seco. She entered the ear and the two then started in the direction of Campo Seco. Before getting into his car (Mrs. Hayes’ testimony), the defendant declared that he intended to procure a weapon and return to the premises and “shoot and kill” Azevedo, to whom the threat was immediately communicated by Mrs. Hayes.

On the following day (the 7th of December) between the hours of 5:45 and 6:30 P. M., Mrs. Blackburn, who, with *475 her husband, at the times concerned herein, was residing at the resort, was in the kitchen of the house, and from there, looking through the kitchen door to the outside, she observed a party, whom at first she did not recognize. When the automobile arrived at the point near the gate to the fence, she saw the driver get out of the car, and, leaving the car, with the motor still running, start toward the house. As the party was approaching the house and on reaching a point sufficiently near thereto to enable her to recognize him as the defendant (darkness then coming on) she closed the kitchen door, and then in a tone of voice loud enough to be heard by Azevedo, warned the latter of the defendant’s presence. The defendant was let into the kitchen by Mrs. Blackburn and immediately asked her, “Where is my friend?” explaining to Mrs. Blackburn, upon inquiry by her as to the party he was thus referring to, that he meant Azevedo. At that moment of time Azevedo was in the “front roojn,” or the “dance hall” part of the building. Upon being told by Mrs. Blackburn that the defendant was at the house, Azevedo stepped from the “front room” to his bedroom and procured from under the mattress of the bed his pistol. He opened his shirt and placed and concealed the weapon in the bosom thereof and thereupon stepped from the bedroom to the door between the dining-room and the kitchen. Azevedo, proceeding in the direction of the point in the kitchen where the defendant was standing with his hands in the pockets of his trousers, addressed the latter in a friendly way, saying “Hello, Pete.” Without replying to that salutation or saying a word, and immediately, the defendant drew a revolver from the right front pocket of his trousers (Mrs. Blackburn’s testimony) and fired in the direction of Azevedo, who testified that in his opinion the bullet missed hitting his person by approximately an inch.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Miller
211 Cal. App. 2d 569 (California Court of Appeal, 1963)
Peterson v. Peterson
262 P.2d 613 (California Court of Appeal, 1953)
People v. Gould
243 P.2d 809 (California Court of Appeal, 1952)
People v. Showers
202 P.2d 814 (California Court of Appeal, 1949)
State v. Erwin
120 P.2d 285 (Utah Supreme Court, 1941)
State v. Elijah
289 N.W. 575 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1940)
People v. Bill
35 P.2d 645 (California Court of Appeal, 1934)
Pontecorvo v. Clark
272 P. 591 (California Court of Appeal, 1928)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
268 P. 473, 92 Cal. App. 470, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-peccole-calctapp-1928.