People v. Taylor

218 Cal. App. 2d 321, 32 Cal. Rptr. 384, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1780
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 15, 1963
DocketCrim. 8757
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 218 Cal. App. 2d 321 (People v. Taylor) 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. Taylor, 218 Cal. App. 2d 321, 32 Cal. Rptr. 384, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1780 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

FILES, J.

Defendant, who is now in the state prison, has taken this appeal from an order of the superior court denying his "motion to vacate a void judgment. ’ ’

The record shows that defendant was orginally charged by an information containing two counts. The first charged *323 grand theft of an automobile in violation of Penal Code, section 487, subdivision 3, and the second count charged that he did unlawfully take an automobile in violation of section 10851 of the Vehicle Code. The public defender was appointed to represent him. Upon arraignment defendant pleaded not guilty to both counts. When the case was called for trial on October 31, 1961, defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty to count II and pleaded guilty thereto. The court ordered a probation officer’s report and continued the case to November 22, 1961. On that day the court denied probation and sentenced defendant to the state prison for the term prescribed by law for the felony to which he had pleaded guilty. Count I was dismissed.

The minutes of November 22 indicate that later in the day defendant’s motion (in propria persona) to restore the ease to the calendar was granted. Defendant then made a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty, which motion was denied. No appeal was taken at that time.

Thereafter defendant filed his “Motion to Vacate a Void Judgment, ’' which was accompanied by a verified statement of facts and six additional documents, each called “Motion for Writ of Subpoena,’’ whereby he requested the court to issue subpoenas for the attendance of defendant, the deputy district attorney who had prosecuted him, the superior court judge who had sentenced him, a deputy probation officer, the deputy public defender who had appeared for him, and the public defender together with his records of all cases handled by the said deputy. The date when these motions were filed does not appear in the record, but each was dated June 21, 1962, which is also the date of the verification.

On July 11, 1962, the superior court made a minute order denying the motion to vacate the judgment, from which order this appeal has been taken.

Upon defendant’s request, this court appointed counsel to represent him here. Appointed counsel filed a brief stating in substance that he knows of no grounds upon which the order could be reversed. Defendant promptly wrote to the court repudiating the appointed counsel. Defendant himself has furnished the court with a brief and a supplement to his brief stating his views of the law.

For such comfort as it may bring to defendant, we state that we do not consider the brief filed by counsel as binding upon defendant or as limiting our consideration of this appeal, We hqve carefully reviewed the record and have con *324 sidered all of the contentions made by defendant, both in his motion and in his briefs, and have considered the authorities which he has cited in support of his position.

Defendant does not contend that the judgment is void on its face. His motion asserted that the judgment was void by reason of facts not appearing on the record. This motion was in the nature of a petition for a writ of coram nobis. (See People v. Thomas, 52 Cal.2d 521, 527 [342 P.2d 889]; In re Paiva, 31 Cal.2d 503 [190 P.2d 604].) For the purpose of this appeal we assume that the defendant’s contention that his plea of guilty was induced by fraud is an issue which may be raised by such a motion. (See People v. Gilbert, 25 Cal.2d 422 [154 P.2d 657].)

The motion was denied by a judge who was not the judge who had. sentenced defendant. It does not appear that anyone received any advance notice of the hearing of the motion, or that there was any hearing other than the court’s consideration of the moving papers and the clerk’s file. The question presented here, therefore, - is whether the moving papers stated facts sufficient to require the superior court to do more than deny the motion summarily.

After a person has been adjudged guilty of a crime, his position is quite different from that of an accused before judgment. The presumption of innocence ends with the judgment, and if a defendant would set the conviction aside he has the burden of alleging and proving the facts which entitle him to such relief. (People v. Shorts, 32 Cal.2d 502, 508 [197 P.2d 330].) It is entirely appropriate, therefore, that the trial court examine the papers filed by the convicted man and determine in the first instance whether he has stated any facts which, if proved, would entitle him to relief. (People v. Reid, 195 Cal. 249, 254 [232 P. 457, 36 A.L.R. 1435]; People v. Hodge, 147 Cal.App.2d 591 [305 P.2d 957]; People v. .Gennaitte, 127 Cal.App.2d 544 [274 P.2d 169].)

The factual matters alleged by the defendant are, in sub-, stance, these:

(1) That defendant informed his counsel of four witnesses in Sacramento who could testify that defendant was in Sacramento at the time the offense was supposed to have been committed in Los Angeles. A', few. days prior to. the date- of trial counsel informed defendant “that he had no; way to contact any of Petitioner’s witnesses, and could not subpoena them for the trial. ” •*
*325 (2) Defendant was ‘‘threatened and intimidated” by his counsel that imless he pleaded guilty the district attorney would “file numerous prior felony convictions” against him. Defendant did not state directly that he had suffered prior convictions which could have been alleged by an amendment to the information, but he supplied the fact indirectly when he stated, “Judge Whyte [the judge who sentenced defendant] had Petitioner’s record before him and well knew that Petitioner would have been charged with severed priors had not a deal been made. ’ ’
(3) On the date the jury trial was to begin, defendant’s counsel made certain representations concerning the sentence. Defendant’s statement of facts is as follows; “At this time Mr. Jensen [attorney for defendant] again told Petitioner [defendant] that if he would plead Guilty to the lesser charge (10851 Y.C.) the Deputy District Attorney would agree to a short jail term. Petitioner then informed Mr. Jensen that if the Judge would agree to a jail sentence, Petitioner would plead Guilty to 10851 Y.C. Mr. Jensen thereupon left the detention cell and returned about one (1) hour later and informed Petitioner that he and the Deputy District Attorney had both talked to Judge Whyte in his chambers, and that the judge had agreed to consider a jail sentence.

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Bluebook (online)
218 Cal. App. 2d 321, 32 Cal. Rptr. 384, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-taylor-calctapp-1963.