Harvill, In re

• Decision Date: 06 March 1959
• Citation: 335 P.2d 1016,168 Cal.App.2d 490
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: In re Roger Joseph HARVILL, a Minor. Civ. 5946.

Page 1016

335 P.2d 1016

168 Cal.App.2d 490

In re Roger Joseph HARVILL, a Minor.

Civ. 5946.

District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, California.

March 6, 1959.

Brumer & Hopson, Beverly Hills, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., and John M. Huntington, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

MUSSELL, Justice.

Appellant Roger Joseph Harvill, a minor, was charged with a violation of section 601.5 of the Vehicle Code, which provides in part: '(a) No person shall engage in any motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition of speed on a highway and no person shall aid or abet in any such motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition on any highway.'

A hearing was had before a referee appointed by the juvenile court who found that the charge was true and recommended to the Judge of the juvenile court that Harvill's operator's license be suspended for a period of three months and that he pay partial court costs amounting to the sum of $25. The findings and recommendation of the referee were approved by the Judge of the juvenile court and declared to be the order of said court. Harvill appeals from this order, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to warrant the findings and that there was no proof of corpus delicti at the hearing before the referee.

Four witnesses were sworn and testified in substance as follows:

Frank H. Bennett, a traffic officer with the Corona Police Department, testified that on the morning of January 26, 1958, while at Fuller and East 6th Street in the city of Corona, he heard a loud noise * * * muffler sound * * * 'they revved up'; that he pulled out and saw appellant's car and a black Buick comming from the west 'at what I would estimate between 50 and 55 miles an hour'; that the vehicles were running 'neck and neck' and appellant's car was a little bit ahead; that the cars were traveling easterly and the speed limit was 35 miles per hour for cars traveling in this direction; that when these cars passed him, he took after them; that appellant turned into a parking lot and he (Bennett) followed the Buick; that when he returned to the parking lot appellant was gone; that later appellant 'came in' and was given a ticket for a violation of section 601.5 of the Vehicle Code.

Harvill testified that he was 17 years old at the time the citation was issued to him; that on the morning of January 26 he was coming home from church and Ruben Hernandez (who was driving the Buick) was traveling east on 6th Street; that he pulled up beside Hernandez and 'revved up' his engine and they continued 'down the road and I went past Fuller and there saw officer Bennett and I pulled into the parking lot.'

Hortensia Hernandez, who was riding in the Buick, testified that when they came to the intersection of Fuller and 6th Streets the appellant came up to them and 'revved up'; that they were traveling at about 30 to 35 miles per hour.

Ruben Hernandez testified that he did not think that appellant made any motion or indication that he wished to engage in a speed contest or race because he (Hernandez) did not have a racing car; that appellant was traveling a little faster than the Buick.

Kenneth Taten, who was riding with appellant, testified they were coming home from church when they saw a car that 'had some girls in it' and he mentioned something to appellant about seeing the girls in the car and said, 'Look at the chicks'; that they pulled up and appellant 'revved his engine up' and caught up with the Buick.

The jurisdiction of the juvenile court over the appellant and the authority of the court to make the order involved is found in section 826.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In In re Schubert, 153 Cal.App.2d 138, 143, 313 P.2d 968, 971, the court said:

'Arguments * * * of the probative value of the evidence in the...