People v. Whitehurst

245 P.2d 509, 112 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 995
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1952
DocketCrim. 4766
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 245 P.2d 509 (People v. Whitehurst) 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. Whitehurst, 245 P.2d 509, 112 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 995 (Cal. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

VALLÉE, J.

Defendant was charged in four counts with (1) a violation of section 288 of the Penal Code, lewd and lascivious act on the body of a child 10 years of age (Count I); (2) a violation of section 288(a), copulation of the sexual organ of the same child (Count II); (3) a violation of section 286, sodomy on the same child (Count III); a violation of section 207, kidnaping the child (Count IV). He was convicted by the court, sitting without a jury, of the offense charged in Count I, and acquitted of the offenses charged in Counts II, III and IV. He was found not to be a sexual psychopath. Imposition of sentence was suspended and probation granted. He appeals from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Nancy, the complaining witness, testified to facts constituting the act charged in Count I. No purpose would be *143 served in relating her testimony in detail. She testified that defendant committed lascivious acts on her body which could not have been done for any purpose other than gratifying the lust and passions of defendant.

Shortly after 7 o’clock in the evening of April 13, 1951, defendant induced Nancy, who was returning home from an errand, to enter his automobile by telling her he was a juvenile officer, it was late for her to be out, he would have to talk to her folks and would drive her home. It was dark. Defendant drove past Nancy’s street and continued on. As he drove he committed lascivious acts. He raised the windows, removed her undergarments, stopped the car on three occasions, and each time committed other acts. He then drove to a point near Nancy’s home, gave her a dime and two nickels, told her not to tell her mother, let her out, and she went home. When Nancy entered the house tears were streaming down her face, her eyes were red, her face flushed, she was upset and nervous, and appeared to be frightened. She told her mother she had something awful to tell her; that a man had picked her up and “took” her away and “did bad things” to her. Her mother telephoned the police immediately. The police arrived in four or five minutes, and Nancy told them what had happened. Defendant was apprehended by the police within about a half hour.

A physician examined Nancy about 9 :30 that evening at the request of the investigating officers. Called by defendant, he testified that Nancy was calm and rather relaxed for one of her age undergoing an examination; she was still in childhood; there were no signs of trauma; there was no evidence of dampness, wetness, irritating discharge, mucous, spermatazoa, or semen; there were no stains on her clothing. There was an irritated and reddened appearance caused by inflammation. There was no evidence of rape.

The only ground urged for reversal is that the testimony of the child, Nancy, was “so inherently improbable and incredible that it amounted to no evidence at all.”

The requirement that the State must prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is applicable in, and primarily the concern of, the trial court. A reviewing court will not hold unsupported the trial court’s finding of guilt merely because it might reasonable draw different inferences from those the trial court reasonably drew, or might not be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant. (People v. Kerr, 37 Cal.2d 11, 15 [229 P.2d *144 777]; People v. Tollack, 105 Cal.App.2d 169, 172 [233 P.2d 121].) It is the trier of the fact which must be persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant. (People v. Smith, 35 Cal.App.2d 73, 76 [94 P.2d 633].)

A reviewing court cannot reject testimony of a witness that has been believed by the trier of the fact unless it is.a physical impossibility that it be true, or its falsity is apparent without resorting to inferences or deductions. (People v. Huston, 21 Cal.2d 690, 693 [134 P.2d 758].) In order to say that testimony is inherently improbable it must appear that what was related or described could not have occurred. (People v. Klinkenberg, 90 Cal.App.2d 608, 627 [204 P.2d 47, 613]; People v. Thomas, 103 Cal.App.2d 669, 672 [229 P.2d 836].) Testimony which merely dis- • closes unusual circumstances is not inherently improbable. (Kidroski v. Anderson, 39 Cal.App.2d 602, 605 [103 P.2d 1000].) Testimony which is subject to justifiable suspicion does not justify reversal of a judgment. (People v. Huston, 21 Cal.2d 690, 693 [134 P.2d 758].) The effect of claimed inconsistencies and statements said to be inherently improbable and incredible, the resolution of them, the credibility of the child, and the weight to be given her testimony, were for the trial judge, not for this court. (People v. Amy, 100 Cal.App.2d 126-127 [223 P.2d 69].) The trier of fact may believe and accept a portion of the testimony of a witness, and disbelieve the remainder or have a reasonable doubt as to its effect. On appeal that portion which supports the judgment must be accepted, not that portion which would defeat, or tend to defeat, the judgment. (People v. Thomas, 103 Cal.App.2d 669, 672 [229 P.2d 836].) Unless it clearly appears that upon no hypothesis whatever is there sufficient substantial evidence to support a finding of the trier of fact, it cannot be set aside on appeal. (People v. Newland, 15 Cal.2d 678, 681 [104 P.2d 778].) Our function is to determine whether the evidence, if believed, is of sufficient character to justify conviction.

Defendant argues that because the trial' judge acquitted him on Counts II, III and IV he necessarily disbelieved the testimony of Nancy with respect to those charges and that, having disbelieved her with respect thereto, he could not reasonably believe her testimony with respect to the lewd and lascivious conduct; that “the time element, the route taken, the medical testimony, the lack of complaint by the girl as *145 to alleged occurrences, her conduct and demonstrated inconsistencies in her statement all conclusively establish the inherent improbability and falseness of her story.” In view of the principles of law we have stated, the contention of defendant is not tenable.

The fact that defendant was acquitted of the offenses charged in Counts II, III and IV is not conclusive on the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction of the offense charged in Count I.

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Bluebook (online)
245 P.2d 509, 112 Cal. App. 2d 140, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-whitehurst-calctapp-1952.