People v. Szczechowicz

199 Cal. App. 2d 571, 18 Cal. Rptr. 882, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2869
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 29, 1962
DocketCrim. No. 1498
StatusPublished

This text of 199 Cal. App. 2d 571 (People v. Szczechowicz) 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. Szczechowicz, 199 Cal. App. 2d 571, 18 Cal. Rptr. 882, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2869 (Cal. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

SHEPARD, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of two counts of armed robbery and from an order denying motion for new trial.

Pacts

By an information filed January 17, 1961, appellant and Henry Leonard Wolfenden were charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of kidnapping committed against Robert E. Montoney and Vernita Montoney December 22, 1960, in San Diego County.

The facts shown by the record before us are substantially as follows: At about 1 o ’clock p. m. on December 22, 1960, Robert E. Montoney and his wife, Vernita, while on a trip [573]*573to Tucson, Arizona, driving a red 1958 Chevrolet auto, were resting at Guatay rest camp in Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County. They went to sleep in their car. Appellant, in his 1954 turquoise blue Oldsmobile, with Wolfenden and Dolores Ann Dawson, stopped at the same place about a half hour or more later, a few feet from Montoney’s car. Bobby Lee Barrett, Forest Service patrolman, saw and talked to the appellant’s party at the rest camp and was told by them that they were from the Oldsmobile only and that some one else was asleep in the red Chevrolet. Barrett then left. At about 2 p. m. Montoney was awakened by Wolfenden with a 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun and forced to drive with his wife about 100-150 feet to the rest rooms. There, Montoney and his wife, under threat of the gun, were forced to lay their wallets and purse on the hood of their auto and go to the restrooms, about 20 feet away. Montoney’s wallet contained three $20 bills. At the rest room Montoney turned and saw Wolfenden going at a fast walk to the road, carrying a purse and the shotgun. At the road Wolfenden was met by a turquoise blue car which drove up fast, stopped abruptly, picked up Wolfenden and “took off” fast. Montoney found the wallet and purse were gone and drove after the car in which Wolfenden left. He found a telephone and called the Highway Patrol. Officer Dart stopped the appellant’s car near Flynn Springs. Appellant was driving with Wolfenden and Dawson as passengers. Officers Everett and Whalen then joined Dart.

With appellant’s permission the officers searched the car. Officer Everett found the barrel of the shotgun under the front passenger seat. He asked appellant if he owned it. Appellant said he knew nothing about it. Asked where the rest of the gun was, he gave the same reply. Further search by Officer Dart revealed the stock and firing mechanism of the gun, loaded with 4 cartridges, hidden under the dash, over the radio. A caliber .351 rifle was in the car’s trunk. None of appellant’s party claimed ownership of the rifle at that time. A search revealed a $20 bill in appellant’s wallet. Appellant said he brought this $20 bill with him from Anaheim. Later Dawson produced a $20 bill to the officers and another $20 bill was found hidden in her shoe. Shortly after the original arrest, appellant told the officers that Wolfenden had gone rabbit hunting with the shotgun while appellant and Dawson remained in the car. Barrett arrived and identified appellant’s party as the persons he had seen at the rest camp. Shortly thereafter, the officers took appellant back over the [574]*574road to the scene of the robbery activity. Appellant told the officers Wolfenden started rabbit hunting; that after he and Dawson had waited a short time Wolfenden reappeared, running toward them on Highway 80, signalling, and that they picked him up. Some time later, on the same trip, appellant stated that when Wolfenden reappeared, he was carrying a billfold, a purse and the shotgun; that he handed a $20 bill to appellant. That as they proceeded west on Highway 80 Wolfenden threw out the purse and billfold, attempted to tear up his shirt and threw it out also. The officers found the shirt about 100 yards from the forestry station between Guatay rest camp and Flynn Springs, but did not find the billfold or purse.

Appellant on the witness stand told the story substantially as the officers ultimately pieced it out from repeated questioning of Wolfenden, Dawson and appellant. However, he added that before he was stopped by Officer Dart he was stopped by another officer, of the Highway Patrol; that appellant got out of the ear, walked to the back with the officer and opened the trunk to allow the officer to look in the trunk; that the officer allowed him to proceed and he was stopped about two miles further on by the sheriff’s deputies with the results already noted. He also stated that when he was first stopped by the sheriff’s deputies, he walked with one of the deputies to a position in front of the sheriff’s car, which was in front of the appellant’s car, while Wolfenden and Dawson remained seated in appellant’s car. Thus he was out of the hearing of Wolfenden. He claimed that the reason he did not tell either the first highway patrol officer or the deputy sheriff of the prior events was fear for the safety of Dawson. Appellant claims he knew nothing of Wolfenden’s intentions prior to the robbery and that he is the innocent victim of circumstance. On trial, Wolfenden admitted his guilt but denied knowledge of the robbery by appellant.

Sufficiency of Evidence

The appellant now contends that the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to support the verdict and judgment of guilt. With this we cannot agree. As was said in People v. Redrick, 55 Cal.2d 282, 289 [4-5] [10 Cal.Rptr. 823, 359 P.2d 255], “The credence and ultimate weight to be given the evidence of the various particular circumstances are of course for the trier of fact, and ‘It is the trier of fact, not the appellate court, that must be convinced of a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If the circum[575]*575stances reasonably justify the trier of fact’s findings, the opinion of the reviewing court that the circumstances might also be reasonably reconciled with a contrary finding does not warrant a reversal of the judgment.’ ”

Under the circumstances here present, the basic facts as told by defendant from the witness stand were, standing alone, more than suspicious. He claims he never knew of the existence of the sawed-off shotgun until after the robbery. He was evidently familiar with guns for he owned the .351 caliber rifle and practiced with it. He was told by Barrett that he must not target practice within the close proximity of the rest camp because of danger to the people there. Yet he drove only 200 yards away from the camp, near a house, where Wolfenden received the keys from appellant, opened the trunk, removed what he wanted and departed toward the west-—the direction of the rest camp. Appellant claims he was concerned about gasoline supply and also about time to get back to Santa Ana, Orange County. Four unlikely circumstances already appear. He must have known that target practice that close to habitation (either rest camp or house) was dangerous with a .351 rifle. He does not explain how the ear keys got back to appellant after Wolfenden opened the trunk. Wolfenden must have returned them to appellant, for appellant later drove the car to the camp to pick up Wolfenden. It is unlikely that he would not have looked and had some parting word on where Wolfenden would go and where or when they would meet. This was the quiet of back country hills. Appellant says he and Dawson were later worried for fear some one had been shot. But no mention is made of a shot being fired.

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

Related

People v. Smyre
330 P.2d 489 (California Court of Appeal, 1958)
People v. Armendariz
297 P.2d 79 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. Redrick
359 P.2d 255 (California Supreme Court, 1961)
People v. Witzel
318 P.2d 136 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
People v. Knowles
217 P.2d 1 (California Supreme Court, 1950)
People v. Smith
224 P.2d 719 (California Supreme Court, 1950)
People v. Osslo
323 P.2d 397 (California Supreme Court, 1958)
People v. Sorrentino
303 P.2d 859 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. Beaulieu
301 P.2d 304 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. O'Keefe
291 P.2d 982 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)
People v. Grimes
343 P.2d 146 (California Court of Appeal, 1959)
People v. Goldstein
322 P.2d 253 (California Court of Appeal, 1958)
People v. Jaggers
8 P.2d 206 (California Court of Appeal, 1932)
People v. Miller
14 P.2d 342 (California Court of Appeal, 1932)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 Cal. App. 2d 571, 18 Cal. Rptr. 882, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-szczechowicz-calctapp-1962.