People v. Wooley

59 P.2d 1065, 15 Cal. App. 2d 669, 1936 Cal. App. LEXIS 119
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 29, 1936
DocketCrim. 1496
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 59 P.2d 1065 (People v. Wooley) 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. Wooley, 59 P.2d 1065, 15 Cal. App. 2d 669, 1936 Cal. App. LEXIS 119 (Cal. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

PLUMMER, J.

The defendant was convicted of an offense specified in section 285 of the Penal Code. His motion for new trial having been denied, this appeal is prosecuted from the order denying the motion for new trial, and from the judgment following the verdict of conviction. The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict is not questioned. There is presented for our consideration certain alleged errors committed by the trial court hearing the action, and misconduct on the part of the district attorney, which we will consider in the following order:

At about 9 :47 P. M., after the jury had been deliberating upon the case between four and five hours, the jury was brought into court and the following took place: “The Court: Mr. Weniger, I don’t want you to tell me how the jury stands for one side or the other, but could you tell me what proportion are their votes? Don’t tell me whether it is one side or the other. Foreman: I don’t understand how you want me to state it. The Court: In taking the vote on two possible verdicts. Mr. Foreman: You mean guilty or not guilty? The Court: I don’t want you to say how many for guilty, or how many for not guilty. I would like to know what proportion there are, whether fairly, evenly divided or not. Foreman: The proportion are for guilty. The Court: No, I don’t want you to tell me that. It is so many for guilty, and so many for not guilty; there are so many on one side and so many on the other. What are the proportions? Foreman: Ten to two. The Court: Ten to two. I think under the circumstances the jury should stay over night and consider further, if you do not think you will reach a verdict this evening. Foreman: We were figuring on taking another vote right away; we might possibly do it. The Court: Suppose you take another vote and find out if you are still the same.” The jury was then returned to the jury room for further deliberation, and in a short time returned with a verdict of guilty.

The contention of the appellant is that the foregoing constituted prejudicial misconduct on the part of the trial *672 court, and that the judge of the court gave the jury the impression that he favored conviction.

In the recent case of People v. Von Badenthal, 8 Cal. App. (2d) 404 [48 Pac. (2d) 82], it is held no error on the part of the court to ascertain how the jury may be numerically divided. Such information is a proper means of assisting the court in determining whether there is a reasonable probability of the jury agreeing upon a verdict, and the advisability of keeping them out for further deliberation. This question was before this court in the case of People v. Talkington, 8 Cal. App. (2d) 75 [47 Pac. (2d) 368], In that case this court had occasion to review a large number of decisions having to do with inquiries made by the court, of jurors, as to how they were numerically divided. In the TalMngton case this court used the following language: “While a number of eases might be cited to the effect that reversible error was not committed when the trial court simply asked as to the numerical division of the jury, the great weight of authority is to the effect, however, that reversible error is committed if the trial court, in addition to asking the numerical division of the jury, also asks as to how they have voted with reference to the guilt or innocence of the defendant.” (Citing Brasfield v. United States, 272 U. S. 448 [47 Sup. Ct. 135, 71 L. Ed. 345]; Burton v. United States, 196 U. S. 283 [25 Sup. Ct. 243, 49 L. Ed. 482].) So long as the inquiry by the court is directed simply to the numerical division of the jury, no error is committed. The fact that the foreman of a jury may misapprehend the language of the court, may not be able to understand the English language sufficiently to give an answer as to the numerical division of the jury, and discloses that a majority of the jury may be either for or against conviction, no error is committed by the court. Jurors as a rule are not learned in the use of legal language, and often, when the trial judge inquires as to the numerical division, the thought comes to the juror that he should answer so many for conviction and so many for acquittal. That is the action of the juror or of the foreman of the jury, and is in no sense an influence exercised by the trial judge. In the instant case the language of the court appears to be absolutely unobjectionable. That the foreman of the jury did use language from which the court might conclude that a large proportion of the jury favored eonvic *673 tion, does not constitute any prejudicial conduct on the part of the trial court, or reversible error.

In the case of People v. Piscitella, 90 Cal. App. 528 [266 Pac. 349], the foreman of the jury, in response to a question asked by the court, answered: “eleven to one for conviction”. The jury was sent back for further deliberation, and it was held that the court had not committed any prejudicial error. So far as the record shows, no objection was interposed by appellant’s counsel to any remarks on the part of the court. In the absence of an assignment of misconduct, or request for an admonition to disregard the remarks of the court, it is too late now to raise such an objection upon appeal. (People v. Moreno, 111 Cal. App. 52 [295 Pac. 50]; People v. Weeks, 104 Cal. App. 708 [286 Pac. 514] ; 8 Cal. Jur. 510, sec. 522.) Even though the language of the court had been objected to, and further admonition to the jury requested, we do not find anything in the language of the court as set forth herein, prejudicial to the rights of the defendant.

No threat was made in this case, as in the Talkington case, that the jury would be kept out until they reached a verdict. The length of time that a jury should be held for deliberation is ordinarily a matter within the discretion of the trial court. Keeping a jury out for a reasonable length of time cannot be regarded as either improper or as an attempt to coerce a jury in reaching a verdict. (People v. Selby, 76 Cal. App. 715 [245 Pac. 792]; People v. Lee, 34 Cal. App. 702 [168 Pac. 694].) In the instant case the jury had not announced that they could not agree, and they had only been out for five hours, and were about to take another vote when called into the court room. Even in cases where the court has stated to the jury that they should stay out over night, it has been held that such a statement does not amount to coercion. (People v. Roach, 129 Cal. 33 [61 Pac. 574] ; People v. Marshall, 99 Cal. App. 224 [278 Pac. 258]; People v. Haacke, 34 Cal. App. 516 [168 Pac. 382].) In this last case the court advised the jury that it would be present until shortly after 9 :00 P. M., and if they had reached a verdict, would discharge the jury that night. Held, not coercion. This court in that case said it was not unusual for a court to tell a jury at what time of night he was going home, so that the jury might know when the court would be available, etc.

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Bluebook (online)
59 P.2d 1065, 15 Cal. App. 2d 669, 1936 Cal. App. LEXIS 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wooley-calctapp-1936.