Majority
Headnote
Criminal Law—Murder—Support op Verdict.—Held, that the evidence is clear and convincing that the defendant charged with murder was justly convicted of murder in the first degree; that the defendant may consider himself fortunate that the jury fixed the penalty at life imprisonment, instead of leaving the severer penalty to be imposed by the court; that there is no pretense of excuse or justification for the homicide; and that the case for the people rested upon the dying declaration of the deceased, the testimony of eye-witnesses to the shooting, and the defendant’s attempt to escape from jail after his arrest.The evidence is clear and convincing that defendant was justly convicted of murder in the first degree. Indeed, he may consider himself fortunate that the jury fixed the punishment at life imprisonment instead of leaving the severer penalty to be imposed by the court. There is no pretense of excuse or justification for the homicide, and the showing in behalf of defendant was meager and inconsequential, directed to the contention that he was somewhat under the influence of liquor,.together with certain circumstances related by two or three witnesses tending to create a suspicion that a party not arrested may have committed the crime. The defendant did not take the witness-stand, and, as far as the record shows, offered no explanation of the affair and made no denial of the charge, except what is implied in his plea of “not guilty.”
The ease for the people rested upon the dying declaration of the deceased, the testimony of eye-witnesses to the shooting, and the defendant’s attempt to escape from jail after his arrest.
The said dying declaration was in writing, signed by the deceased, and in the following language: “Long Bar, California, 30th, 1908. Being in the fear of death and believing I am about to die, I make the following statement: That I was shot at by De Carlo Antonino and Raphael Petruzo and hit in the abdomen by a bullet from a revolver. This occurred at a point on the river trail near Long Bar, Plumas county, California, on November 29th, 1908, about 6:60 p. m., Peter Sunajko was coming to my assistance and was shot in the back.”
The members of the said Austrian party related, in somewhat broken English, the incidents of the homicide, from which it appears that they passed the party of Italians on the trail, greeting the latter in a friendly manner. Shortly afterward some shots were fired from the rear but without effect, and then, in the language of one of the witnesses: “After that two shots come, them two fellows, Raphael Petruzo and Spenelli. They come with a gun right in the hand. I say to Shorty,‘Where you going to, boys?’ I call Spenelli Shorty. He never tell me nothing, just pass me. They shoot Sam Radich right there by me, that man was in the lead. All these men were there at the time the shooting took place. These two had two revolvers in their hands. They were using them. They were shooting men with the revolvers.”
Another one testified: “I saw these two fellows [pointing to Spenelli and Petruzo] shoot. Antonio Spenelli and Raphael Petruzo both had guns in their hands. None of these Austrian boys did anything at the time of the shooting. When Spenelli had the gun, he was in the middle and shoot Sam Radich. Petruzo was going along the front shooting too.”
The dying declaration was admitted in evidence without objection, but prior to its introduction, Dr. A. S. Bradshaw tes
It is, of course, well settled that a witness is incompetent to testify to a declaration made by a party when it is necessary to have it translated before it can be understood by the witness. It is clearly hearsay, as the witness necessarily testifies to what the interpreter declares that the other party said. (People v. Ah Yute, 56 Cal. 119 ; People v. John, 137
The same suggestions will apply to the ruling in relation to the similar testimony of the witness Cleveland, who prepared the said written dying declaration. It is true, that one Marcus testified in regard to the identification that “then he [Officer Smith] bring them three together after this, they point them out. Sam Radieh pointed these two men out here [pointing to Spenelli and De Carlo]. I don’t know whether they gave their names at the time they were pointed
It can hardly be seriously contended that the court committed error in sustaining the district attorney’s objection to a question asked of the witness Petrino as to a conversation he had with one Mangano. The question was: “Did he say anything to you about any shooting the night before?” It is true that “the facts, circumstances or declarations which grow out of the principal fact in question which are contemporaneous with it and serve to illustrate, qualify or explain it constitute the res gestae (Gillam v. Sigman, 29 Cal. 638 ),” and for that reason are admissible, but the term “res gestae” is not so comprehensive as to include declarations made upon the day following and many hours after the homicide.
The court gave this instruction tdHhe jury: “You are instructed that if you believe upon the evidence to a moral certainty and beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was present, aiding and abetting in the commission of an unlawful act, and that in the commission of said unlawful act Sam Radich was killed, then it will be your duty to bring in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree.” Abstractly considered, this is manifestly an erroneous statement of the law. Subdivision 2 of section 192 of the Penal Code provides that a person is guilty of involuntary manslaughter where death results, “in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony,” and the aider and abetter can be guilty of no greater offense than the principal. Indeed, the instruction is accurate only as applied to certain felonies. (Pen. Code, sec. 189.) But this instruction, as others, must be considered in view of the undisputed evidence in the case. (People v. Finer, 11 Cal. App. 542 , [ 105 Pac. 780 ] ; People v. Whalen, 154 Cal. 475 , [ 98 Pac. 194 ].) The only unlawful act of which there is a particle of evidence is the deliberate attempt to take the life of Radich and his associates, unless it may be held that there is some evidence of an attempt to perpetrate robbery, and this latter contingency would bring
In People v. Whalen, 154 Cal. 474 , [ 98 Pac. 194 ], the supreme court, referring to a certain instruction, said: “Upon the other proposition, it may be conceded that if the instruction is taken alone, without reference to the facts of the case or the crime involved, and as an abstract proposition, it would be erroneous. . . . But an instruction may be incorrect as an abstract or general proposition and yet not erroneous when considered in connection with the particular case and the facts to which it relates.” Here the unlawful act to which the court referred is pointed out in another instruction given at the request of defendant: “You are instructed that every defendant on a trial for homicide is to be 'judged according to his own intent, and where he is charged as an aider and abetter, he is to be tried according to the intent with which he may have participated. It must therefore be proved to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt that the person charged as an aider and abetter, of his malice aforethought was present, aiding and abetting his principal in the act of taking the life of the deceased. Unless you are convinced to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt that there existed in the mind of the defendant the intent to unlawfully take the life of Sam Radich, you cannot convict, him of murder.”
There is no error in the following instruction: “If you are satisfied to a moral certainty and beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime of murder has been committed, and there is
There was evidence that after the arrest and .while the defendant was in the county jail he made an attempt to escape. The jury were instructed that if they found this to be true from the evidence, “that fact of itself is not evidence of guilt, but it is a circumstance that the jury may well consider in determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant.” The particular objection is to the use of the word “well,” but it is apparent that if the jury should consider it at all, they might well consider it. It cannot be said that it is an instruction as to a matter of fact or that it contains anything indicating a purpose to throw “the influence of the court into the balance against the defendant.” A similar instruction was approved in the case of People v. Strong, 46 Cal. 302 , and People v. Welsh, 63 Cal. 167 . The instruction is probably more favorable to defendant than he could ex
In view of the facts and circumstances of the ease, the jury could not have been misled by the following instruction: “You are instructed that every person is presumed to intend what his acts indicate his intention to have been; and if you find, from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant fired a loaded pistol at the deceased and killed him, the law presumes that the defendant intended to kill the deceased, and unless it is shown by the evidence that his intention was other than his acts indicated, the law will not hold him guiltless.” A similar instruction was approved in People v. Langton, 67 Cal. 427 , [ 7 Pac. 843 ], and People v. Bushton, 80 Cal. 162 , [ 22 Pac. 127 ], It was, however, condemned in People v. Newcomer, 118 Cal. 263 , [ 50 Pac. 405 ] , People v. Solani, 2 Cal. App. 225 , [ 83 Pac. 281 ], and People v. Grill, 3 Gal. App. 514, [ 86 Pac. 613 ], But in the first two of these the defendant claimed self-defense, and there was evidence in support of it. Hence, while there was no controversy as to the intention to kill, it was error to instruct the jury that guilt would follow from such intention.
In the Grill case the defense was based upon the claim of accidental homicide, and the defendant so testified. Under the peculiar facts it was held that the presumption that a person intends the natural consequences of his act must give way to the presumption of innocence. It is worthy of note, however, that in the Newcomer case the court declared its indorsement of the position that an intention to kill would be inferred from “the shooting of the deceased with a pistol,” and in the Solani case it is said: 11 The shooting with a pistol would naturally indicate intent to kill, and would be sufficient proof of such intent if there was no other proof tending to show that he did not intend to kill.” Here, as we have seen, the concluding portion of the said instruction which was the subject of animadversion in the cases cited by appellant is entirely without prejudice in view of the evidence and other instructions. (See People v. Besold, 154 Cal. 363 , [ 97 Pac. 871 ].)
The court refused the following instruction requested by defendant: “You are instructed that if a person is killed by
Complaint is made of the action of the court in refusing some other instructions, but the principles embodied therein, as far as they were correct and pertinent, were covered by the instructions given.
It may not be amiss, in conclusion, to repeat the suggestion, which has been given substantially in other opinions of appellate courts, that if the district attorney in every criminal trial would carefully prepare and formulate the various principles of the law involved in the evidence presented on behalf of the people, scrupulously adopting the form of statement that has been approved by the supreme court in its latest utterances, and the trial court would adopt this, together with whatever pertinent and correct instructions may be requested by defendant, as its charge to the jury, only supplying what may seem necessary in the interest of justice, the probability of a reversal of a righteous verdict would be greatly reduced.
The judgment and order are affirmed.
* Hart, J., and Chipman, P. J., concurred.
Cases cited
- People v. Ah Yute 56 Cal. 119 p. 574
- People v. Samario 84 Cal. 484 p. 575
- People v. Williams 133 Cal. 165 p. 576
- People v. Piner 11 Cal. App. 542 p. 577
- People v. Durrant 116 Cal. 179 p. 579
- People v. Strong 46 Cal. 302 p. 579
- People v. Welsh 63 Cal. 167 p. 579
- People v. Langton 67 Cal. 427 p. 580
- People v. Newcomer 118 Cal. 263 p. 580
- People v. Solani 2 Cal. App. 225 p. 580
- People v. Besold 154 Cal. 363 p. 580
- People v. Woody 45 Cal. 289 p. 581