People v. Jackson

Decision Date02 April 1963
Docket NumberCr. 7147
Citation59 Cal.2d 375,379 P.2d 937,29 Cal.Rptr. 505
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
Parties, 379 P.2d 937 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Lawrence Akin JACKSON, Defendant and Appellant.

Allan Brotsky, San Francisco, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for defendant and appellant.

Stanley Mosk, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Jack E. Goertzen, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

GIBSON, Chief Justice.

Defendant, who was indicted for the murder of Doris Keyes, entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found him guilty of murder of the first degree. He withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and, upon the trial of the penalty issue, his punishment was fixed at death. His motion for a new trial was denied, and the appeal is before us automatically under subdivision (b) of section 1239 of the Penal Code.

The evidence is clearly sufficient to sustain the finding of guilt, and defendant makes no claim of error with respect to that issue. His contentions relate to asserted errors occurring during the penalty trial.

Mrs. Keyes, who lived alone in an apartment in Hollywood, was seen alive and well on the afternoon of September 14, 1961. Two days later her body was found in a dead-end canyon in Cherry Valley near Beaumont. Her skirt was pulled up over her hips, and her underclothing was ripped. A stocking was wrapped tightly around her throat. There was blood on her body and clothing, her skull was fractured, and one of her fingers and several fingernails were broken. A pathologist who performed the autopsy was of the opinion that death was due mainly to a hemorrhage in the head resulting from a physical injury. He was also of the opinion that Mrs. Keyes had been subjected to sexual intercourse by force when she was dead or almost dead.

Defendant was taken into custody near Cherry Valley Canyon at 4:00 a. m. on September 17 by police who had been watching the area. There were scratches on his face, and his right hand was swollen and cut. Later, upon being questioned by the sheriff, defendant said that after reading an advertisement which Mrs. Keyes had placed in a newspaper for a secretarial job, he telephoned her and said he was in the construction business in the Beaumont-Cherry Valley area and needed a secretary. He said he made an appointment to see her and on September 15 drove her to Cherry Valley, where he got out of the car, made a 'grab' for her throat, and then 'blacked out.' He told his mother and aunt when they visited him after his arrest that he had killed a woman near Beaumont on September 15 and had returned to the area on September 17 to see if it 'really did happen.'

Defendant grew up in an unhealthy emotional environment. His parents were divorced when he was very young, and he subsequently lived with his aunt and uncle except for short periods when he stayed with his mother. A doctor testified that he gave defendant a neuropsychiatric examination in October 1961 and concluded that there was no evidence of mental disease or psychosis present but that defendant revealed a pattern of sexual psychopathy since late adolescence.

It was shown that defendant had served two prison sentences, one imposed in 1946 for assault with intent to commit great bodily harm and one imposed in 1952 for conduct which was in a number of respects similar to that involved here. With regard to the latter offense he testified in the present case that he had contacted a Mrs. Minor through an employment agency and represented that he was a construction worker and needed an assistant, that he 'took her out for the purpose of sex' and put his arm around her neck when she resisted his advances, that she lost consciousness for a brief time, and that he attempted to rape her and left her on the edge of a river bed. He served nearly nine years for that offense and while in prison participated in group counseling and group psychotherapy. He was released only a few days before he killed Mrs. Keyes.

Defendant testified that on several other occasions he contacted women through newspaper advertisements or employment agencies concerning nonexistent jobs because he wanted to meet girls 'for sexual purposes.' One of these women testified that after she had placed a newspaper advertisement for a secretarial position defendant telephoned her and said he was in the construction business. He met her with a car and drove to an isolated area, and after he struck and choked her she consented to have sexual intercourse with him. There was also evidence that in three other instances defendant, by pressing his hands around their throats, forced girls to have sexual intercourse with him.

The jury was instructed, among other things, that it could consider the consequences of the two possible sentences (death or life imprisonment) in determining the punishment defendant should receive, that a prisoner twice convicted of a felony could be pardoned or have his sentence reduced by the Governor if a majority of the Supreme Court so recommended, and that a prisoner serving a life sentence could be paroled but not until he served at least seven years. The direction concerning the possibility of parole was not qualified by reference to matters as to which there was uncontradicted testimony, namely, that under the policy of the Adult Authority, a person convicted of first degree murder who had two prior convictions of felonies of a violent nature would be required to serve at least ten years and that the average time served by persons paroled after convictions of first degree murder was about 12 years.

The giving of an instruction as to the possibility of parole after service of the statutory minimum period of seven years (Pen.Code, § 3046) has been held proper where there was no evidence as to Adult Authority practices. (People v. Friend, 47 Cal.2d 749, 754-755, 306 P.2d 463.) The instruction has also been upheld where there was such evidence and the court instructed the jury as to both the statutory minimum and the practices of the Authority. (People v. Love, 56 Cal.2d 720, 726-727, 16 Cal.Rptr. 777, 17 Cal.Rptr. 481, 366 P.2d 33, 809.) No case has been found which would support the giving of the statutory-minimum instruction without qualification where, as here, there is evidence of Adult Authority policies and practices under which a convict would serve more than that minimum.

It was error to instruct as to the possibility of parole without a qualification based on the practices of the Adult Authority. However, the principal consideration with respect to parole was not whether defendant might be released in seven years as distinguished from 10 or 12 years but whether in the event of a life sentence defendant would at any time become eligible for parole. In arguing to the jury defense counsel did not rely on the difference between seven years on the one hand and...

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  • People v. Simms
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • August 6, 1970
    ...principles of law commonly or closely and openly connected with the facts of the case before the court (People v. Jackson, 59 Cal.2d 375, 380, 29 Cal.Rptr. 505, 379 P.2d 937; People v. Wade, 53 Cal.2d 322, 334, 1 Cal.Rptr. 683, 348 P.2d 116; People v. Warren, 16 Cal.2d 103, 116--117, 104 P.......
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    • August 20, 1969
    ......Wade, 53 Cal.2d 322, 334, 1 Cal.Rptr. 683, 348 P.2d 116, and cases cited.) Instructions must be given sua sponte as long as the instruction is 'vital to a proper consideration of the evidence by the jury.' (People v. Putnam, 20 Cal.2d 885, 890, 129 P.2d 367, 370; see also People v. Jackson, 59 Cal.2d 375, 380, 29 Cal.Rptr. 505, 379 P.2d 937.) That rule is particularly applicable here because the holding that a limiting instruction will prevent the error is new law and therefore no request or objection can be required. (People v. Kitchens, 46 Cal.2d 260, 263, 294 P.2d 17; People v. ......
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    ...... (See People v. Jackson (1963) 59 A.C. 391, 395-396, 29 Cal.Rptr. 505, 379 P.2d 937; People [60 Cal.2d 657] v. Warren (1940) 16 Cal.2d 103, 116-117, 104 P.2d 1024.) .         Defendant's plea of not guilty remained before the court; all matter in controversy under that plea continued as live issues before the ......
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    • United States State Supreme Court (California)
    • July 25, 1967
    ...A judgment convicting defendant of first degree murder and sentencing him to death was affirmed on appeal. (People v. Jackson (1963) 59 Cal.2d 375, 29 Cal.Rptr. 505, 379 P.2d 937.) Thereafter, because of errors condemned in People v. Morse (1964) 60 Cal.2d 631, 36 Cal.Rptr. 201, 388 P.2d 33......
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