Hughes v. People
| Decision Date | 09 August 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 24512,24512 |
| Citation | 175 Colo. 351,487 P.2d 810 |
| Parties | Johnny Edward HUGHES, Plaintiff in Error, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Gaunt, Byrne & Dirrim, Lysle R. Dirrim, Brighton, for plaintiff in error.
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., John P. Moore, Deputy Atty. Gen., Paul D. Rubner, David A. Sorenson, Asst. Attys. Gen., Denver, for defendant in error.
Johnny Edward Hughes, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was originally charged, together with three co-defendants, with the crimes of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary. Thereafter, the charges against one of the co-defendants, Barbara Andrea Lenord, were dismissed by the district attorney prior to trial. The two other co-defendants, James W. Germany and Louis I. Neal, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accessory after the fact of burglary, and the felony charges of burglary and conspiracy against them were dismissed. As a result, the original charges remained only against the defendant Hughes. Two other girls were involved, but due to their ages they were handled as juveniles and no criminal charges were filed against them. Defense counsel stated for the record that defendant had been offered the same deal as Germany and Neal, but chose to plead not guilty to the original charges as he felt he was innocent. At no time was defendant charged with accessory during or after the fact. Defendant was convicted of conspiracy, but acquitted of burglary.
On the evening of January 11, 1969, Germany and Neal were to have met the defendant at his home. The defendant was not there, but they were able to locate him nearby. They had a few drinks, and drove around the city in the defendant's car. At some later point they saw three girls who were known only to Germany. The girls got into the car with them and the six drove around until they got hungry. Some meat was purchased and the six went to the defendant's house to fix hamburgers. At about one a.m. the following morning they were out in the car again.
Defendant stopped to make a phone call and the girls went to look into a jewelry store window. They all got back into the car, but before they had gone very far the girls asked the defendant to stop, which he did. There was testimony that at this point defendant asked one of the girls, 'Do you know which ring I want?' The girls then proceeded to burglarize the jewelry store and returned with several rings, including the one the defendant wanted.
They then drove around until they came to a suburban shopping center. The three men had to relieve themselves, and got out of the car to do so. Two of the girls then approached the clothing store which is the subject of this prosecution. There was testimony that defendant told the third girl that she had better join the other two if she wanted to get anything. The girls then burglarized the store, and returned to the car. The defendant had kept the motor running as he had been requested to do by one of the girls.
They continued to ride around until the girls saw a wig shop they wished to burglarize. While attempting to do so they were apprehended. A description of the defendant's car was given to the police, and the defendant and the others involved were captured within a short time.
Defendant raises four allegations of error: (1) That the conspiracy charges against him had no validity once the charges against the co-conspirators had been dismissed; (2) that the trial court was required to enter a judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charges when defendant was acquitted on the principal charge of burglary, (3) that the trial court committed error by refusing to give defendant's tendered instructions concerning accessory during and after the fact, and (4) that there was not sufficient evidence to convict on the conspiracy charge as a matter of law. We find no error, and affirm.
Defendant's first argument is that the conspiracy charges had to be dismissed against him when they were dropped as against his three co-conspirators, citing Mendelsohn v. People, 143 Colo. 397, 353 P.2d 587 (hereinafter cited as Mendelsohn). The language referred to in Mendelsohn does not even rise to the status of dictum. It is merely a quotation lifted by the court from a statement in American Jurisprudence in which conflicting views were stated as to the validity of a conspiracy charge against one co-conspirator where a Nolle prosse was granted to the other conspirator. Since this was not the situation in Mendelsohn, the court did not rule on which of the conflicting views it would accept. In the present case, two of the alleged conspirators were not charged and the charges against the remaining co- conspirators...
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...on attempt was harmless error, as jury specifically found defendant guilty of first degree murder after deliberation); Hughes v. People, 175 Colo. 351, 487 P.2d 810 (1971) (alleged instructional error not subject to review where requested instructions went only to thequestion of the charge ......
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People v. Scearce, No. 01CA1660.
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