Gorum v. People
| Decision Date | 13 January 1958 |
| Docket Number | No. 18226,18226 |
| Citation | 320 P.2d 340,137 Colo. 1 |
| Parties | Sam GORUM, Plaintiff in Error, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Robertson & Danks, Denver, for plaintiff in error.
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Hickey, Deputy Atty. Gen., John W. Patterson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.
Plaintiff in error, together with two others, was charged in the trial court with grand larceny of three reamers which were used in connection with oil drilling operations. One of his codefendants was acquitted, the other entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to prison. The latter appeared against the defendant as a witness in the instant case. Upon trial the jury returned a verdict of guilty against defendant and after motion for a new trial was overruled he was sentenced to a term in the state penitentiary. He brings the case here for review on writ of error.
It is only fair to state that present counsel did not represent defendant in the trial court.
Six separate assignments of error are urged by counsel for defendant. We have considered each of them and deem it only necessary to refer to three; the others are not discussed as we consider them without merit.
The assignments which remain are:
1. That the trial court erred in permitting the district attorney to endorse the name of Early Zion as a witness for the people prior to the trial.
2. That the trial court erred in permitting the district attorney to amend prior to the trial the information under which defendant was charged by changing the allegation of the ownership of the stolen property, and again during the course of the trial by adding additional persons as owners of the property allegedly stolen.
3. That the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of the witness Lovell as to transactions claimed to be of a similar character.
With reference to assignment No. 1 suffice it to say that granting leave for the endorsement of witnesses on a criminal information is discretionary with the trial court, and in the absence of a request for a continuance or a showing of surprise does not constitute reversible error. Roll v. People, 132 Colo. 1, 284 P.2d 665; Grandbouche v. People, 104 Colo. 175, 89 P.2d 577; Kloberdanz v. People, 95 Colo. 30, 31 P.2d 1111; Baker v. People, 72 Colo. 207, 210 P. 323; Stone v. People, 71 Colo. 162, 204 P. 897; Wickham v. People, 41 Colo. 345, 93 P. 478. Nowhere in the record nor in the motion for a new trial does it appear that defendant's counsel claimed surprise or demanded a continuance of the trial because of the addition of the name of witness Zion.
With reference to assignment No. 2 it is admitted that no objection was made to the amendments requested immediately before the trial, although objection was made to the amendment during the course of the trial. As we view this record none of the amendments prejudiced the substantial rights of the defendant; they had to do with a leasehold interest in the reamers which had been testified to at the trial and which constituted a special ownership sufficient to support a charge of larceny, together with a variance of one-quarter of one inch in the description of one of the reamers. We do not regard these amendments as...
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People v. Steele
...1014 (1976); Reed v. People, 171 Colo. 421, 467 P.2d 809 (1970); Peppers v. People, 166 Colo. 93, 441 P.2d 668 (1968); Gorum v. People, 137 Colo. 1, 320 P.2d 340 (1958). Furthermore, we have previously deemed the defendant's failure to make a timely request for a continuance to be a waiver ......
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People v. Sepeda, 27880
...the defendant makes a timely request for a continuance which is denied by the trial court. Reed v. People, supra; Gorum v. People, 137 Colo. 1, 320 P.2d 340 (1958); Askew v. People, 23 Colo. 446, 48 P. 524 There, as here, defendant failed to move for a continuance. Moreover, defendant has f......
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People v. Renfrow, 26948
...1014 (1976); Reed v. People, 171 Colo. 421, 467 P.2d 809 (1970); Peppers v. People, 166 Colo. 93, 441 P.2d 668 (1968); Gorum v. People, 137 Colo. 1, 320 P.2d 340 (1958). Absent such a request, this claim of procedural error was waived. People v. Bailey, The defendant's next assignment of er......
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Reed v. People
...of a request for a continuance or a showing of surprise, we have held that such endorsements are not grounds for reversal. Gorum v. People, 137 Colo. 1, 320 P.2d 340. This rationale applies with equal force to the situation involved in this assignment of The evidence on behalf of the People......