People v. Thomas

267 Cal. App. 2d 698, 73 Cal. Rptr. 590, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 1442
California Court of Appeal·Decided November 27, 1968·No. Crim. 6488·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinions

AGEE, J.

Defendant appeals following jury conviction of pimping (Pen. Code, § 266h), statutory rape (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. 1), and furnishing marijuana to a minor (Health & Saf. Code, §11532).

Testimony of Prosecutrix

On September 23, 1966 Shirley, the prosecutrix, was living in Los Angeles with her family and was a junior at Manual Arts High School. On the evening of that day she went to a bar named the “Clown Club” and then went car riding with some friends. These friends were prostitutes, named Rita and Tangle. The three stayed at a motel that night.

At that time Shirley was a ward of the juvenile court in Los Angeles. She was then 16% years of age.

During the first week with Rita and Tangle in Los Angeles, Shirley made enough money as a prostitute to allow her to accompany them and “Jake,” their pimp, to San Francisco by plane. Upon arrival there, the three girls resumed the practice of prostitution. However, Rita and Tangle had “worked” in San Franeiscco before and also had their own pimp. Shirley explained her need for a pimp, testifying that “it’s different in San Francisco [than in Los Angeles] . . . you need a man in order to work on the streets. ’ ’

Two days after her arrival in San Francisco, Shirley was introduced to appellant by a prostitute whom she had previously met. As the result of the conversation which ensued, [701] Shirley moved into appellant’s apartment which was located at 111 Mason Street, San Francisco.

Shirley testified that she and appellant had sexual intercourse : “Q. How many times altogether did you have intercourse with the defendant ? A. I wouldn’t say over ten. ’ ’

On their first day together, appellant supplied Shirley with a marijuana cigarette which she smoked in his presence. Shirley had smoked marijuana before. Appellant supplied her with marijuana cigarettes on a number of occasions thereafter.

With reference to the pimping charge, Shirley testified: “Q. . . . during the time that you were with the defendant, approximately three weeks altogether, do you know approximately how much money, or can you estimate approximately how much money, that you had given the defendant as earnings from your prostitution ? A. I would say probably a thousand, all together. Q. How much did you earn averagely a day when you worked as you indicated about three days a week? A. TJh-huh, I never made under $60, you know, a day.”

Reference to additional testimony given by Shirley will be made as the various points raised by appellant on appeal are discussed.

Arrest of Appellant and Finding of Marijuana

Officer Nelson of the San Francisco Police Department testified that on December 16, 1966, about 9:30 a.m., he went to the premises at 111 Mason Street in response to a report from the manager, Mrs. King, that there were narcotics hidden under a flower pot on the roof.

While he was in the lobby with Mrs. King and her husband, a woman known as a prostitute entered. In response to Mrs. King’s questions, she stated that she was going to room 404. King told Nelson that this was the room in which a young female Negro had been staying and that she might be a runaway.

Nelson thereupon went up to room 404 and knocked on the door. He was invited to come in and, upon entering, found Marie Sincata, a white prostitute, and Shirley. Nelson asked Shirley to step out into the hall. In response to his questioning, she stated that she was 16 years of age and a runaway from Los Angeles.

Shirley then fully related her relationship with appellant to Officer Nelson. She also told him that appellant kept his cache of marijuana, from which he had been supplying her, outside [702] of Ms room (then number 612) under the stairway carpet in the outside hallway. She described the specific spot as being at the third step on the stairway outside of room 612.

Nelson took Shirley to the Hall of Justice and then returned to 111 Mason Street. He found appellant in room 612 and placed him under arrest for pimping and statutory rape.

. Penal Code section 836, subdivision 3, provides that a peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person when “he has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a felony, whether or not a felony has in fact been committed. ’ ’

With the information obtained from Mr. and Mrs. King, Marie Sincata and Shirley, we think that Officer Nelson had reasonable cause to make said arrest.

As to the search, Nelson went to the location indicated by Shirley and found a tinfoil container, the contents of which were zig-zag cigarette papers and vegetable- material later proven by expert testimony to contain marijuana.

There can be no question as to the legality of this search. It was made in a common hallway and the manager had given Officer Nelson permission to search the premises for narcotics.

The failure of appellant’s trial counsel to object to the admission in evidence of the marijuana found in the hallway and the arrest of appellant is understandable. Such an objection would not have been valid.

Appellant’s contention that the failure to object to the arrest or to the search showed incompetency on the part of his trial counsel is without merit. The waiver of these objections did not prejudice appellant.

Trial Court’s Refusal to Order Psychiatric Examination of Shirley

After the close of the evidence but before final arguments to the jury, appellant’s counsel moved that Shirley be ordered to submit to a psychiatric examination in order to test her veracity, citing Ballard v. Superior Court (1966) 64 Cal.2d 159 [49 Cal.Rptr. 302, 410 P.2d 838, 18 A.L.R.3d 1416], in support of the motion. The motion was denied.

In Ballard, the court also denied a similar motion, stating: “Rather than formulate a fixed rule in this matter we believe that discretion should repose in the trial judge to order a psychiatric examination of the complaining witness in a ease involving a sex violation if the defendant presents a compel[703] ling reason for such an examination.” (64 Cal.2d, at p. 176; see also, People v. Morales (1967) 254 Cal.App.2d 194, 196-197 [61 Cal.Rptr. 764].)

In the instant ease, the trial court said, in denying the motion: “My observation of this Shirley . . . , she's a very brilliant, clear-thinking, bad girl. There is no question in my mind that there is any mental derangement as far as what she is saying here. ... I can’t imagine what any examination would produce. ’ ’

We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court in denying the motion for a psychiatric examination of the prosecutrix.

Corroboration of Shirley’s Testimony

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People v. Thomas, 267 Cal. App. 2d 698, 73 Cal. Rptr. 590, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 1442 (Cal. Ct. App. 1968).

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