Velasquez v. People

426 P.2d 708, 162 Colo. 266
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMarch 27, 1967
DocketNo. 21593
StatusPublished

This text of 426 P.2d 708 (Velasquez v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Velasquez v. People, 426 P.2d 708, 162 Colo. 266 (Colo. 1967).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Moore.

Plaintiffs in error will be referred to as the defendants or by name. They were jointly charged in an information containing six counts. A Motion to Dismiss and to Strike Certain Counts was filed by one of the defendants and thereafter the district attorney withdrew counts two, four, five and six of the information leaving only the counts charging defendants with having committed the crimes of assault to murder and assault to rob.

Upon entry of defendants’ pleas of not guilty the case was tried to a jury. Verdicts were returned finding the defendant Velasquez guilty of assault to murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault to rob. The defendant Castro was found guilty of assault to rob and assault with a deadly weapon.

Each of the defendants filed motions in the alternative, for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict, for arrest of judgment or for a new trial. At the hearing on these motions the district attorney joined [268]*268with the defendants in moving to set aside the guilty verdicts of assault to murder and assault with a deadly weapon. These verdicts were set aside, leaving only the guilty verdicts on the charge of assault to rob. As to these verdicts the motions of the defendants were denied, and judgment entered thereon. The defendants were sentenced to the state penitentiary for not less than twelve nor more than fourteen years.

Before discussing the question submitted for determination, we deem it advisable to include a statement of facts as set forth in the brief of the Attorney General which is fully supported by the record. We quote the following:

“The People’s case in chief revealed that on December 19, 1963, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the victim, Herbert Daniel Brown, was behind the counter in his grocery store waiting on two girls, when he saw two men come into the store. Each wore a ‘vinyl-type’ jacket and a matching ‘hunter’ hat. They stood there for a few moments, looking around, when suddenly, one of them came around the counter, pulled out a gun and said, ‘This is a stick-up.’

“Danny Brown was equipped for such emergencies. He carried a .38 stubnosed revolver in a belt holster under his apron, and when the robber started firing at him, he shot back. Although Brown was shot between two fingers and in the shoulder, he wounded the gunman and continued firing at the bandits as they fled the store.

“Brown was taken to the hospital. While there he was shown eight or nine pictures for identification purposes. He selected the picture of defendant Velasquez as the gunman, although the picture showed a clean-shaven man and the gunman wore a mustache. Brown later identified Velasquez in a police lineup and again at the trial.

“Although Danny Brown could not identify the other participant in the crime, Fred Bergamo could and did. [269]*269Bergamo, who was parked on the corner by Danny’s Market, heard what sounded like a shot and saw two men come running out of the grocery store. He got a good, look at the defendant Castro and identified him both at the police line-up and at the trial.

“Larry Bennington and his girl friend, Jacquelyn Lang, were just leaving Danny’s Market as the holdup occurred, and each of them identified both defendants as the men who fled from the store after the shots were fired. Larry Bennington said that the two men drove away in a 1955 or 1957 white and green Oldsmobile. Another witness similarly described the get-away car. Both witnesses thought that People’s Exhibit F looked like a picture of this car.

“Manuel G. Sena confirmed that People’s Exhibit F was indeed a picture of the car in which the defendants had fled the scene of the crime. Mr. Sena testified that he had known both defendants for many years and that on December 19, 1963, he had loaned them his wife’s automobile, a 1956 white and green Oldsmobile. The two defendants took the automobile at 1:45 or 2:00 P.M. and Mr. Sena did not see them again until nearly 4:00 that afternoon. At that time, Castro came in through the back door at Manuel Sena’s home and said that Velasquez was hurt.

“Mr. Sena found Velasquez in the garage, bleeding from wounds on his right shoulder and on his fingers. He took Velasquez from the garage to the basement, where he tried to attend to his wounds. There was blood all over the back seats and upholstery of the car. Both defendants said that the grocer, Danny Brown, had shot Velasquez. The defendants left the Sena home about 6:00 P.M. but Castro returned about 3:00 A.M. the next morning.

“Detective Sergeant Charles J. Kennedy, of the Denver Police Department, arrived at Manuel Sena’s home about 3:15 or 3:30 in the morning of December 20th. He found blood-stained bedding in the kitchen and [270]*270blood stains and particles of flesh on the back mat of the Sena’s 1956 Oldsmobile. While Sergeant Kennedy was conducting his investigation at the Sena residence, John Jack Castro appeared at the door and knocked. Kennedy immediately placed Castro under arrest.

“Somewhat later the same morning, Velasquez was arrested and was ■ treated at Denver General Hospital for bullet wounds in the right shoulder and left index finger. Officer C. D. Brannan of the Denver Police visited with Velasquez at the hospital and noted that he was wearing a mustache.

“The defense then proceeded with its case. Three witnesses were called on behalf of both defendants. The testimony of two of these was intended to controvert the People’s evidence of a subsequent fight between the defendants and Manuel Sena, during which the defendants attempted to dissuade the Senas from giving testimony at this trial.

“Although neither of the defendants testified in his own behalf, there was evidence that Castro denied participation in the crime, claiming to have spent that afternoon downtown, ‘in and out of bars on Curtis and Larimer’ and the evening in a movie. He claimed that his arrival at the Manuel Sena residence at 3:00 in the morning of December 20 was mere coincidence; he was in fact looking for a former girl friend named Gloria Jacques.

“Velasquez’ defense was that he was shot by Gillie Roy Garcia between 4:00 and 4:30 P.M. on December 19, 1963, when the two confronted each other in an alley near 7th and Champa Streets. Garcia fired three times at Velasquez and was ‘pretty sure’ he hit him because he saw him staggering. According to Garcia, the shooting resulted from a misunderstanding between him and Velasquez over one Nathan Avalos, a friend of Velasquez, whom Garcia was accused of shooting.

“Velasquez’ only other witness was his girl friend, [271]*271Dolores Cordova, whose testimony was not inconsistent with the People’s case. * * *”

As grounds for reversal of the judgment, argument is presented under four captions as follows:

“I. The Court erred in its instructions to the jury, particularly Instructions Nos. 9, 10 and 11.

“II. The court erred in submitting to the jury forms of verdicts permitting both defendants to be convicted of all three crimes.

“III. The verdicts of the jury were inconsistent and the Court erred in failing to grant the motion for judgment of acquittal made after the verdicts were returned.

“IV. The Court erred in failing to give the tendered instructions of defendants.”

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Burns v. People
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Smaldone v. People
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Carr v. People
63 P.2d 1221 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1936)
Bunch v. People
285 P. 766 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1930)
Moynahan v. People
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Bluebook (online)
426 P.2d 708, 162 Colo. 266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/velasquez-v-people-colo-1967.