People v. Rosenbrock

257 Cal. App. 2d 647, 65 Cal. Rptr. 99, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 2491
California Court of Appeal·Decided January 8, 1968·No. Crim. No. 13698·Published

Opinion

STEPHENS, J.

After a preliminary hearing, defendant was charged by information with violation of section 459 of the Penal Code (burglary). A prior violation of section 470 of the Penal Code (forgery) was also alleged. Defendant denied the prior and pleaded not guilty. Trial by jury was waived, and the matter was submitted on the testimony in the first 33 pages of the transcript of the preliminary hearing, subject to the right of either side to put on additional testimony. After testimony by the complaining witness and the defendant, the court found the defendant guilty of burglary in the second degree. No disposition was made on the prior. A motion for a new trial and probation were denied. Defendant was sentenced to the state prison for the term prescribed by law. Defendant appeals from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Facts

The defendant arrived at the home of a friend, Pease, in Studio City about noon on February 4, 1966. He had met Pease about one and a half years previously, while both were incarcerated in a county penal institution. During the course of their friendship, Pease had come into good financial times. Pease testified that although he was unemployed, he and his wife enjoyed a $1,500 a month income from the wife’s stocks. Defendant apparently had not been so fortunate, and Pease had come to the aid of defendant from time to time by loaning him funds. Defendant remained with Pease throughout [649] the course of the afternoon and early evening. Part of the day was spent at Pease’s apartment, and part of it elsewhere. During the course of the day, the two did a bit of drinking. Defendant represented to Pease that a third party owed him money, and he used the telephone many times in apparent efforts to reach the debtor during the day. It was hoped that by collecting this debt defendant could in turn pay back part of what he owed Pease. Defendant was not successful in his phone calls, and Pease wrote the phone number on the cover of a magazine so that he could phone on behalf of the defendant.

Pease’s wife was also home during the day. She was engaged in doing some washing, and went in and out of the apartment from time to time. She had placed her house key in a dish on a coffee table in the living room for her ease of access thereto, near the location of the phone and magazine. The Peases had deposited in various piggy banks substantial amounts of change which they saved in the expressed hope that a vasectomy previously performed on Pease could be repaired so that the couple might have children. Two piggy banks were in the bedroom closet, and one in the living room. They contained at least $1,500 in coin. The evidence was that when they counted that amount, they stopped counting, though more had been deposited. About $2,000 in cash, and at least that much in jewelry were also in the bedroom. Defendant was one of the few people who knew about the piggy banks. He did not know about the $2,000 and jewelry. Nobody else was in the apartment during the period in question except a TV repairman, who was there from about 5:30 to 6:30. This workman was in the constant company of Pease.

At about 7 p.m., defendant and Mr. and Mrs. Pease prepared to leave the apartment. The intent was that the defendant was to drive them to a local bar where, after a drink, Mrs. Pease was to shop and return home to complete preparation for dinner. As they started to leave, Mr. Pease inquired as to whether his wife had her house key. She said no, it was missing from the bowl on the table. After an unsuccessful search for the key, they left, Mrs. Pease being given Mr. Pease’s key so she could get back in. On the way to the bar, defendant stated he intended to drive to Torrance and get his money from the person. he had been trying to reach by phone; that he would give some of it to his family, and bring some back to Pease; that he would meet Pease at the bar in [650] about two hours. The three separated at the location of the bar, and defendant drove off.

At about 8:30 to 8 :45 p.m., Mrs. Pease returned home. She noted her house key had been returned to the bowl on the table and that the three banks and a pillowcase were missing. She also noted that the portion of the magazine cover on which the phone number had been written had been torn off. Mrs. Pease phoned her husband, and he came home. The defendant did not return to the bar as had been planned, nor did he come back that evening to the Peases’ residence.

In addition to the above facts, it was established that for a short period of time the defendant had been left alone in the living room while Pease changed clothes, preparatory to leaving at 7 p.m. Also, Mrs. Pease testified that while searching for her missing key before leaving at 7 p.m., she certainly would have seen the torn magazine had it then been torn, and that therefore it had not been torn as of the time of their leaving. Mir. Pease tended to confirm this conclusion, but was not entirely clear on the subject.

The defendant testified that he did not take the key, and had not returned to the Pease residence after dropping them off at the bar. He stated he had torn the phone number from the magazine, but had done so prior to their all leaving at 7 p.m. He testified that he lived at a motel on Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, not far from the Pease residence, and had proceeded there after leaving the Peases. His rent was stated to have been paid in small change and in an amount of some $28; that he had used the change from his child’s piggy bank to make the payment. He stated that he then moved his family, with the use of a trailer, to a place in Compton and had not contacted Pease after the day in question.

Contentions

Defendant contends: (1) that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict; and (2) that he was deprived of the right to cross-examine Mrs. Pease.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

By its very nature, burglary is the type of crime that only rarely is committed in front of eyewitnesses. As a consequence, it often is necessary to prove the crime circumstantially. This is, of course, permissible. And it need not be repeated that on appeal we do not reweigh the evidence as a trier of fact. Our duty in analyzing the sufficiency of the evidence is to determine if there is substantial evidence to sup[651] port the verdict. (People v. White, 218 Cal.App.2d 267, 274-275 [32 Cal.Rptr. 322].) On review of the evidence herein, we find the requisite support.

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People v. Rosenbrock, 257 Cal. App. 2d 647, 65 Cal. Rptr. 99, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 2491 (Cal. Ct. App. 1968).

257 Cal. App. 2d 647 (People v. Rosenbrock) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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