Jordan v. People, 20159
| Citation | 376 P.2d 699,151 Colo. 133 |
| Decision Date | 03 December 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 20159,20159 |
| Parties | William Vena JORDAN, Plaintiff in Error, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Colorado |
William Vena Jordan, pro se.
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Hickey, Deputy Atty. Gen., John E. Bush, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for defendant in error.
Jordan asserts the commission of error, affording grounds for reversal of his conviction of aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, in four respects: (1) admission of testimony detailing the manner of his arrest; (2) refusal to grant his motion for directed verdict; (3) allowing an officer to read the transcribed statement of Jordan and another to the jury; and (4) receiving in evidence certain rebuttal testimony.
After a perusal of the record, we deem it necessary to discuss only the first and third points at some length. We at once dispose of the other points by passing comment.
To have directed a verdict of acquittal in this case, in the face of substantial evidence supporting guilt, would have been folly. The trial court judiciously denied the motion for such relief. Abeyta v. People, 134 Colo. 441, 305 P.2d 1063; Boyles v. People, 90 Colo. 32, 6 P.2d 7.
In the absence of a showing of discretion abused, the discretionary action of the trial court in receiving certain challenged evidence in rebuttal will not be disturbed on review. Phenneger v. People, 85 Colo. 442, 276 P. 983. Thus, the testimony of the officer, testifying for the people on rebuttal, was not necessarily improperly admitted because he remained in the courtroom after testifying on the examination in chief, notwithstanding an order excluding all witnesses had been entered at the commencement of the trial. Gizewski v. People, 78 Colo. 123, 239 P. 1026.
Much of the testimony in the case related to the arrest of Jordan almost twenty-four hours after the alleged commission of the crime. His presence with one Line at a shopping center the evening following the robbery under circumstances generating suspicions sufficient to move an officer to follow their car was the initiatory event of a string of occurrences leading to his arrest. The description of these circumstances in all their damaging detail provoked objections by the defendant. In overruling these objections, the trial court safeguarded Jordan by limiting instructions.
Testimony relating to Jordan's arrest was offered by the prosecution 'to show the circumstances and the history of the arrest of the Defendant and his co-conspirator, the furtherance of the conspiracy in avoidance of arrest.'
In admitting the testimony, the trial court admonished the jury that, if it found that Jordan had 'fled and resisted an attempt to interrogate him, that flight is not sufficient to establish the guilt of the Defendant, but is a circumstance' which it could consider 'in connection with all the other facts and circumstances proven at the trial in determining the guilt or innocence of the Defendant.' It was for the jury to determine
How the officer stopped the car in which Jordan and Line were riding; had Jordan leave the driver's seat and accompany him to the patrol car; used his radio; left Jordan in the patrol car and returned to get the motor number of Jordan's car and was there confronted by Line armed with a gun; relieved of his gun by Jorden; forced to ride in the rear seat of Jordan's car until the latter car was stopped by another officer; used as a hostage to disarm the latter officer; forced to get in the latter officer's car, in which both officers were unwilling passengers at gun point; and finally rescued when other officers stopped the car and shot and wounded Jordan and Line--all this was described to the jury. Was this testimony admissible for the limited purposes for which it was submitted and received?
It is the general rule that evidence of offenses other than the one for which the defendant is on trial is not admissible. But where the case is such that proof of one crime tends to prove any fact material in the trial of a person accused of another crime, such proof is admissible, and the fact that it may tend to prejudice the defendant in the minds of the jury is no ground for its exclusion. Abshier v. People, 87 Colo. 507, 289 P. 1081; Phillips v. People, 107 Colo. 250, 110 P.2d 977; Williams v. People, 114 Colo. 207, 158 P.2d 447, 159 A.L.R. 509.
Jordan's conduct leading to his arrest was a circumstance properly brought to the attention of the jury, not for the purpose of showing that Jordan was guilty of other crimes, but for the purpose of determining whether such conduct tended to show or not show his consciousness of guilt. See Crawford v. People, 144 Colo. 385, 356 P.2d 485.
We observe that the safeguards set forth in Stull v. People, 140 Colo. 278, 344 P.2d 455, were carefully followed in the admission of this evidence. The district attorney offered it for a limited purpose; the trial court advised the jury of the limited purpose for which it was to be considered, and in its general charge instructed the jury as to the limited purpose of the evidence.
We now consider the asserted error in permitting the officer to read the statement of Jordan and Line to the jury. The officer first testified to the circumstances preceding the making of the statement and narrated facts indicating that it was voluntarily made. Questions put by the officer and answered by Jordan and Line were taken by the reporter, who typed them, and the typewritten copy was identified as Exhibit 'K'. As typed, it was submitted to Jordan for his signature. He refused to read or sign it.
The exhibit was offered in evidence and objected to on the ground that, since it lacked Jordan's signature, it did not constitute a confession. The trial court denied its admission as a confession and ruled that the officer could refer to the exhibit for the purpose of refreshing his recollection. An objection to the use of the statement, because it also contained admissions by Line, was overruled on the theory that it was a joint statement of Jordan and Line and...
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