People v. Stevens

345 P.2d 582, 175 Cal. App. 2d 123, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1308
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 1959
DocketCrim. 1261
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 345 P.2d 582 (People v. Stevens) 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. Stevens, 345 P.2d 582, 175 Cal. App. 2d 123, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1308 (Cal. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

SHEPARD, J.

Defendant was tried and convicted of five counts of felony; one of grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487); one of attempted grand theft (also Pen. Code, § 487); and three of forgery (Pen. Code, §470).

A fair reading of the record, consistent with the jury’s verdict of guilty on all five counts, discloses the following to *125 be the facts: On or about the 16th of April, 1958, defendant arrived in Bakersfield where he obtained the name of Charles Adams from the local telephone directory. He will hereinafter be referred to as Adams. Defendant placed a call to Mrs. Adams and, representing himself to be a Mr. Harris of the local credit bureau, requested and obtained personal and economic history concerning the Adamses. Inasmuch as the Adamses had applied for credit in Bakersfield, Mrs. Adams thought the call legitimate and supplied the information requested.

Shortly thereafter, defendant rented a house in Bakersfield using the name and history of Adams. On the following day (April 17th) defendant went to the Valley Furniture Company (Count II) and, again using the history and name of Adams, forged the name of Adams to a conditional sales contract, thus fraudulently obtaining possession of a four-piece bedroom set priced at $255.47, on which was made a $25 down payment. Defendant’s forgery of Adams’ name to both the credit application form and conditional sales contract was witnessed by a Valley Furniture Company bookkeeper.

Defendant then went to Booth’s radio and appliance store where he ordered a stove and refrigerator, again forging the name and using the history of Adams. These articles were never delivered. It was the inquiry from this store to the real Adams that ultimately revealed defendant’s deceptions. This forgery was never charged. From Booth’s, defendant went to the McMahan Furniture Store (Count I) where he selected a freezer, cooler, and dinette set of a total value of $720.42 minus a down payment of $20. Again, defendant forged the name of Adams to a credit application and conditional sales contract and obtained delivery of the goods above described, also forging Adams’ name to the delivery receipt.

Upon leaving McMahan’s, defendant then went to the Weatherby Store (Count III) where he attempted to obtain a couch, coffee table, step table, portable cooler, and washer-dryer combination for a total of $873.64. In the presence of a Weatherby employee defendant gave the history of Adams and thereupon forged the name of Adams to a conditional sales contract. The fraud was discovered before these goods could be delivered.

On the following day (April 18th), shortly after noon, defendant went to the Montgomery Ward Store (Count V) where he negotiated a purchase of a sofa and chair for a total of $325.70 minus a $10 down payment. Here again he used *126 the history and forged the name of Adams. The record is not clear as to whether the goods were actually delivered. Immediately thereafter, defendant negotiated the purchase of electric appliances from the Davis Furniture Company (Count IV), again using the history and forging the name of Adams for a total of $368 less a $32 down payment. These articles were to he delivered on April 19th but apparently were not actually delivered. As hereinbefore noted, during the course of defendant’s negotiations with Booth’s on the 17th, that store found it necessary to contact Adams at his place of business with respect to the goods purchased. Of course, when this occurred, defendant’s deception was discovered. When defendant was apprehended by the police, he identified himself as Charles D. Adams and this fiction was unwittingly maintained by employees of some of the furniture companies where he had made purchases because they knew him only through his fraudulent purchases. It was not until defendant had been taken to the Bakersfield Police Station, where he failed to either identify or recognize the true Adams, that he gave his real name. At this time defendant admitted to the police officers that he had neither permission nor authority from Adams to sign his name to any credit application or sales ticket or contract.

Appellant’s first contention is that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdicts. With regard to this, “The test on appeal is whether there is substantial evidence to support the conclusion of the trier of fact. It is not whether guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt.” (People v. Daugherty (1953), 40 Cal.2d 876, 885 [4] [256 P.2d 911].) Defendant’s testimony claiming authority from Adams merely presented a conflict of evidence with the jury as the arbiter thereof.

. Specifically, appellant contends that the prosecution failed to prove beyond the reasonable doubt required that there was a specific intent to defraud. With respect to the grand theft count, the evidence shows that appellant signed a false purchaser’s statement applying for credit as well as a conditional sales contract for $562.90 worth of property belonging to the McMahan Furniture Company, and that appellant accepted delivery of these goods in fact as evidenced by a signed delivery slip. With respect to the attempted grand theft count, appellant did the same as the foregoing, except this time to Weatherby’s Department Store, and except that he-did not receive delivery of the goods by the *127 time of his arrest. Considering that appellant both signed a false credit application and sales slip but also ordered the merchandise to be delivered on a given day (April 18th); the fact that the merchandise was not actually delivered is immaterial since no further positive act remained for appellant to complete for his fraudulent scheme to be consummated. Thus, all the elements of attempt were present, as the crime of theft would have been consummated unless interrupted by circumstances outside of the control of appellant. (People v. Buffum (1953), 40 Cal.2d 709, 718 [9] [256 P.2d 317]; and see generally 14 California Jurisprudence 2d, Criminal Law, section 27, page 211.)

As far as the three counts of forgery are concerned, in all three instances the evidence shows that appellant signed a credit application and sales slip or conditional sales contract using a name he knew neither to be his own nor authorized by the person with that name. In this regard, the jury was entitled to believe the evidence that appellant was unable to either identify or recognize the true Adams, and thus falsified when he said that Adams had authorized him to use Adams’ name. In addition, the record discloses that defendant used several aliases and the jury was entitled to weigh this fact along with all the other circumstances of the case as shown by the evidence. Specific intent may be proved by circumstantial evidence. “The intent with which the act is done is manifested by the circumstances under which it was committed. (Pen. Code, § 21.) ’’ (People v. Hobbs, 109 Cal.App.2d 189, 192 [3] [240 P.2d 411]; People v. Jones, 42 Cal.2d 219, 223 [4] [266 P.2d 38].)

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Bluebook (online)
345 P.2d 582, 175 Cal. App. 2d 123, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-stevens-calctapp-1959.