People v. Winthrop

50 P. 390, 118 Cal. 85, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 738
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 10, 1897
DocketCrim. No. 290
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 50 P. 390 (People v. Winthrop) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Winthrop, 50 P. 390, 118 Cal. 85, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 738 (Cal. 1897).

Opinion

VAN FLEET, J.

Defendant was convicted of robbery and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying bis application for a new trial, urging numerous errors in tbe rulings of tbe trial court.

1. It is first strongly contended that tbe court violated defendant’s rights in compelling him to go to trial with unseemly baste, and without sufficient time to adequately prepare for bis defense.

Tbe bill of exceptions shows that the indictment was filed August 7, 1896, and defendant arraigned thereunder on August 14th; that after certain proceedings of a more or less dilatory nature bis plea was entered, and tbe case subsequently, on August 21st, came up to be finally set for trial. At this time defendant asked for at least thirty days in which to prepare for trial, making a very general showing that be could not reasonably prepare earlier; but this request was denied, and tbe ease was set down to be tried on September 1st. No exception was taken to tbe action of tbe court in thus refusing defendant’s request for a longer time in which to prepare for trial, and on September 1st, when tbe case was called, defendant, as stated in tbe bill of exceptions, “went to trial without at that time making any objection to doing so; be did not at that time claim that be was then unprepared for trial, and be did not then apply for a further continuance of the case; he bad had in all some seventeen days of time.”

It will thus be seen that tbe record wholly fails to disclose a case violative of defendant’s right to a reasonable opportunity to prepare for bis trial. We cannot say as matter of law that a period of seventeen days was not sufficient time, under tbe circumstances surrounding him, for such purpose; and tbe record fails to show that it was not such as a mat[88]*88ter of fact. Indeed, there is nothing in the record which in any way indicates that the defendant was not fully ready for trial on September 1st; to the contrary, the fact that he at that time went -to trial without objection gives rise to the conclusive presumption here that he was ready. Nor was there anything arising in the course of the trial which points to the conclusion that defendant was prejudiced by the action of the court in then proceeding with the trial. TJnder such circumstances no error is shown. The language quoted and relied upon by appellant from People v. Fredericks, 106 Cal. 554, on this subject, had reference to the particular circumstances of that case; it does not announce a rule of conduct for other cases, and has no proper application to the facts before us.

2. It is next objected that the court erred in denying defendant’s challenge for cause to each of the jurors McMillan and Fogg. Under the doctrine of the very recent and well-considered case of People v. Durrant, 116 Cal. 179, it is unnecessary to consider the question mooted by counsel, whether the examination of these jurors disclosed a state of mind on the part of either or both which would render the ruling of the court in disallowing the challenges erroneous, since it appears from the record that when the jury was completed the defendant yet had three peremptory challenges unexhausted. It was held in that case, after mature consideration, that where challenges for actual bias are made by the defendant and denied, and the defendant fails thereupon to exercise his right to challenge the jurors peremptorily, but accepts them, and it appears that when the jury was completed the defendant had more than sufficient unused peremptory challenges to have enabled him to remove the obnoxious jurors, the ruling of the court in disallowing the challenge for cause will not be reviewed here, because, even if erroneous, it will be regarded as without prejudice. This is put upon the manifestly sound ethical principle that a defendant should not be heard to complain of an error the injurious effects of which he has suffered, if at all, only by reason of his acquiescence in or failure to avoid it when he had the means and opportunity to do so.

3. The robbery occurred in the city of San Francisco on August 3, 1896, under circumstances substantially these: The victim, James Campbell, a stranger in the city, a man of advanced [89]*89years, was induced by defendant, under the false pretense and representation that he was taking him to make a friendly call at defendant’s home, to accompany the latter to a small and somewhat isolated cottage in the extreme western and thinly settled portion of the city, where, after being introduced into the house, he was violently assaulted by defendant and a confederate, knocked down, bound hand and foot, a considerable sum of money and some other valuables taken from his person, and then kept bound and confined for more than two days, under repeated threats of torture and death, in an effort to induce him to sign papers intended to authorize the payment of twenty thousand dollars to defendant.

The theory of the prosecution was that the robbery was the result of a deliberate and previously concocted scheme and plan of the defendant to entice Campbell to the house where the robbery occurred for the purpose of robbing him and extorting a large sum of money from him as the price of his liberty. In accordance with this theory the prosecution was permitted, against defendant’s objections, to introduce evidence tending to show that Campbell, whose home was in the Hawaiian Islands, had, while stopping at the Occidental Hotel in the city of San Francisco during the months of June and July, 1896, attracted the attention of defendant, who was about the hotel lobby; that defendant made inquiries about him, and learning that he was a very wealthy man from Honolulu, expressed a desire to get acquainted with him; that prior to the robbery he, on several occasions, approached one Urquhart, an acquaintance of his, of whom he had made inquiries about Campbell, with a proposition that they go in together and “kidnap” Campbell and force him to give up money, suggesting that a house or other suitable place could be rented where they could take him and force him by torture to make a check, or by other means give up money, and that he thought fifty thousand dollars could be realized. Itwas shown that on the thirty-first day of July, while Campbell was stopping temporarily at the Hotel Vendóme in the city of San Jose, defendant appeared there, and, approaching Mr. Campbell, introduced him-, self under a false name, and, engaging him in conversation, commenced making inquiries about the Hawaiian Islands, stating in substance that he had a large amount of money to invest, and had about concluded to invest in the islands. He stated that the only [90]*90difficulty lay in bis wife’s state of health,which made her afraid of the sea and the climate, and he finally solicited Campbell to call on his wife in San Francisco and talk with her about the climate, etc. Campbell expressed doubts about having time to do so, telling defendant that he would be in San Francisco on August 3d, but would sail for the islands the day after, and would be very busy, but that if he found time would go with defendant to see his wife; that on August 3d, Campbell having returned to San Francisco, the defendant again came to him at the Occidental Hotel, about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and repeated the request that Campbell go out to his home to see his wife, but at this time Campbell refused for wrant of time.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 P. 390, 118 Cal. 85, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-winthrop-cal-1897.