People v. Burness

Defendant, upon trial by jury, was found guilty of the crime of receiving stolen property. His motion for new trial was denied and from this ruling, as well as from the judgment pronounced on the verdict, he appeals. Three points are urged: (1) that the information does not state a public offense; (2) that defendant was convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice; and (3) that the trial court erred, to the prejudice of the defendant, in admitting over objection evidence tending to show a separate offense. Neither of the first two points is tenable but the third one presents an error which requires a new trial.

Material Facts

For all of the evidence tending directly to establish the commission of the offense and defendant’s connection therewith the plaintiff relies on the testimony of admitted thieves. The witness Boyle testified that prior to his arrest (some months before defendant’s trial) he had been regularly engaged in stealing automobiles and disposing of the parts and accessories; that he had stolen a “few hundred;” that on the night of February 27, 1941, he stole a 1941 Chevrolet coupe (identified by stipulation as the property of one Melvin L. Williams). On the same night he removed from that car five green-painted wheels, together with their mounted U. S. Royal tires and tubes, and, by prearrangement with one Estes, placed such wheels and tires “in a garage in the 1700 block on Magnolia in the alley.” He stated that in or about the month of February, 1941, and on one or more other occasions he had accompanied Estes to defendant’s place of business, denominated the Broken Drum Wrecking Company, located on San Fernando Boulevard in Los Angeles County. While there, on the first occasion, he heard Estes ask defendant “how many tires he wanted the next time and whether he

The witness Estes testified in substance that he had been engaged for about twenty months in either stealing automobiles or in receiving and disposing of the parts and accessories of stolen cars. He said that he had made “twelve to fifteen hundred” sales of his “merchandise” and of that number that thirty-five or forty had been transactions with the defendant. He stated that his first deal with defendant w.as in June or July, 1939, concerning which time, speaking of tires and wheels, he testified, “I told him what I had and he asked me how hot they were and I said ‘they are hot from two or three days back’ and he said ‘All right, bring them out and I will take a look at them. ’ ’ ’ From then on, he said,' until the witness’ arrest in March, 1941, he saw the defendant “every week or ten days” and on each occasion either sold or delivered merchandise to him or collected for it or discussed proposed deals. He testified specifically that on the morning of February 28, 1941, he took from the “garage in the 1700 block Magnolia Street” five Chevrolet wheels with tires and tubes, and sold and delivered them to the defendant; that the wheels were painted green and the tires were U. S. Royal Cords, size 16-600; that the defendant paid him $25 for the merchandise. He described the transaction as follows: “I got out and went in and seen him. He said ‘What have you got this time?’ And I said ‘Tires and wheels.’ ... He said ‘Bring them in’ and then he said ‘Put them in that tire shed right there. ’ . . . He says ‘I guess you want $5.00 each for these the same as yesterday?’ And I said ‘Yes, sir.’ ... He gave me $10.00 . . . said he would give me the rest of the money in about a week or ten days.”

Sufficiency of the Pleading

As to the first point, defendant contends that the information is insufficient in that it does not describe with adequate particularity the property alleged to have been unlawfully received by defendant. The pleading certainly is not a model to be commended and by the expenditure of a slight amount of legal skill and care could have been substantially improved, but its imperfection lies in the uncertainty of its

Vendob op Stolen Pbopebtt Is Not Accomplice op Vendee

In support of point two defendant urges that the witness Estes was an accomplice of defendant and that his testimony was not corroborated within the requirements of section 1111 of the Penal Code that “A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless it be corroborated by such other evidence as shall tend to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense; and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense or the circumstances thereof. An accomplice is hereby defined as one who is liable to prosecution for the identical offense charged against the defendant on trial in the cause in which the testimony of the accomplice is given.” The definition of accomplice in the last sentence of the section quoted shows that defendant’s position on this point is untenable. While the witness Estes may be regarded either as an accomplice of Boyle in stealing the automobile or as himself becoming guilty of receiving stolen property in his receipt thereof from Boyle, such offenses were complete before he contacted the defendant as to this particular property. By purchasing and receiving such property from Estes the defendant became guilty of an offense separate and distinct from that committed by Estes when the latter received it from Boyle. Under no construction of the evidence can the defendant’s purchase and receipt

Error in Receiving Irrelevant Evidence With Prejudicial Implications

Defendant’s third point requires a further statement of facts. As a witness in his own behalf he testified that he had been in the automobile wrecking business for sixteen years; that he had never had in his possession any of the tires or wheels described by the plaintiff’s witnesses; that he had never purchased anything from the witness Estes and that he had never known or even seen either Estes or Boyle until they appeared as witnesses against him. He stated particularly that he had been absent from his place of business during the months of June, July and August in the years 1939 and 1940. He also testified, “I never had any tires on my place except what came off automobiles that I bought, and I didn’t pay much attention what make they were or what condition they were. I just go out and buy the automobile. If it has new tires on it why I am lucky.” On cross-examination the defendant stated, “I used to buy wheels from the wheel dealers. What year they were and what make they were I couldn’t tell you ... I had lots of Chevrolet wheels ... no 1940 or 1941 models. ’ ’

At this stage of the proceedings the deputy district attor

The admission of the foregoing testimony relative to the Zephyr wheels was clearly error. Certainly it cannot be justified as impeachment. A witness may not be impeached on an immaterial or collateral matter (27 Cal. Jur. 107, 152; People v. Chin Mook Sow, (1877) 51 Cal. 597 , 600; People v. Worthington, (1894) 105 Cal. 166 , 171 [ 38 Pac. 689 ] ; People v. Cole, (1900) 127 Cal. 545 , 550 [ 59 Pac. 984 ] ; People v. Smith, (1922) 189 Cal. 31 , 35 [ 207 Pac. 518 ] ; People v. Westcott, (1927) 86 Cal. App. 298 , 305 [ 260 Pac. 901 ].) It is not

The judgment and the order denying a new trial are reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial.

Shinn, J., and Wood (Parker), J., concurred.

A petition for a rehearing was denied July 14, 1942, and respondent’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied July 29, 1942.