People v. Bridgehouse

• Citation: 47 Cal.2d 406,303 P.2d 1018
• Decision Date: 30 November 1956
• Docket Number: Cr. 5913
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. William BRIDGHOUSE, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

Page 1018

303 P.2d 1018

47 Cal.2d 406

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. William BRIDGHOUSE, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 5913.

Supreme Court of California, In Bank.

Nov. 30, 1956.

Eugene V. McPherson and Gladys Towles Root, Los Angeles, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., and Elizabeth Miller, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

CARTER, Justice.

Defendant, William Bridgehouse, was convicted, after trial by jury, of second degree murder of William Bahr. His plea of not guilty by reason of insanity was tried, by stipulation, by the court and he was adjudged sane both presently and at the time of the commission of the crime. The appeal is from the judgment of conviction and the denial of his motion for a new trial.

Defendant who was thirty-one years of age, married Marylou Bridgehouse in 1951. At the time of the crime, they had a son, Danny, who was two-and-a-half years old. Mrs. Bridgehouse had a son by a prior marriage who, at the time of the crime, was six-and-a-half years of age. At some time early in 1954, defendant met the deceased who was a part time bartender as well as a commercial fisherman and an engineer on construction work. Mrs. Bridgehouse had known Bahr for more than six years. After defendant met Bahr, he and his wife had discussed her relations with him over a period of 'well over a year.' Mrs. Bridgehouse told defendant she was having a love affair with Bahr and that she had stayed all night with him. For some six or seven months prior to the crime, defendant had worked at two jobs from 3:30 p. m. until 11:30 p. m. he worked at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as a deputy sheriff; and from midnight until seven in the morning, he worked at Air Research Manufacturing Company where he had been employed for some six or seven years. During the time he was working nights, Mrs. Bridgehouse told him that she was seeing Bahr at the family home, and other places. When defendant took the night position he had moved into a room in Los Angeles, returning to his home in San Pedro on his days off. The record shows that Mrs. Bridgehouse left the children at home alone, or that she took them with her to the bar where Bahr worked. There is testimony by defendant's neighbors that Bahr's car was often seen standing all night, or the major portion thereof, in front of the Bridgehouse home.

The defendant filed a suit for divorce from his wife in October, 1954. On January 4, 1955, he filed an application for a restraining order prohibiting Mrs. Bridgehouse from associating with, or cohabiting with Bahr in the presence of the parties' minor child. This was served on Mrs. bridgehouse on January 7th. About January 7th, defendant resigned from the sheriff's department. On the same day he got his gun, which he had bought as a service weapon while with the sheriff's department, out of hock and loaded it in the pawn shop with the intention of selling it. On January 7th, after having been served with the restraining order, Mrs. Bridgehouse telephoned defendant asking him to see her in San Pedro. Defendant went to San Pedro, arriving there at approximately 10 o'clock on the morning of the 8th. When he reached the family home, he slept for a couple of hours. When he awoke. Mrs. Bridgehouse told him that she would fight his divorce action and would not hesitate to lie or use any other methonds in so doing; that she would kill him if he tried to take the children away from her. During this discussion, defendant apparently gave his wife, at her request, two or three months to think things over and decide whether or not she wanted him or Bahr. After this discussion, defendant left the house and went to Manhattan Beach returning to his wife's home between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening. Mrs. Bridgehouse was not there at the time but returned with the children sometime after 9:00 p. m. Defendant spent the night there, and the next morning Mrs. Bridgehouse at defendant's request finally consented to arrange a meeting between defenant and Bahr but would not agree to a time and place, and in answer to defendant's questions as to Bahr's whereabouts, told defendant she did not know where Bahr was.

The defendant and the parties' small son left the house. He intended to go to his room in Los Angeles and clean up and, after finding some socks for the boy, take a trip to the zoo. The defendant, prior to leaving the home in San Pedro, took his gun, which was on a shelf there, and put it in his belt. He went to his wife's mother's home in San Pedro where his wife had told him he could find some socks for the child. When the door was opened to him by his wife's grandmother, he went to his mother-in-law's bedroom where he was told by her that the socks were either in the pantry or hanging on the line. As he returned from the clothesline with the socks, he passed the den where he saw Bahr sitting on the davenport reading. Bahr was living there at the time. At this point, Mrs. Jennings, the grandmother, said that the child was getting out of the car, so defendant went through the front door of the house and put him back into the car. Upon defendant's return to the house, he was informed that the child was again getting out of the car. Defendant then went after the child and brought him in the house. His mother-in-law told him when he came in the bedroom, 'Bill, you look white and shaking. I have something that I think will calm you down. Something the doctor gave me and I * * *.' After this statement, Mrs. Huff went into the kitchen to get the defendant a glass of water and as she returned she heard the shots; that she thought there were five or six of them; that the defendant was firing them; that he was standing in front of Bahr who was standing in front of the sofa; that he started falling before the 'end of the shots'; that she saw Bahr fall over the coffee table; that she ran and got the child and went to her bedroom where she sat, holding him. She testified that prior to going to the kitchen for the water she heard either defendant, or Bahr, say 'Hi, Bill.'

Defendant testified that he had purchased the gun as his 'service weapon' for his work in the sheriff's department where it was required; that after getting it out of the pawn shop he had placed it on a top shelf in the San Pedro home; that when he left his wife's home he stuck it in his belt where it remained while he went into the Huff house; that he did not want to leave it in the car because of the child; that it would not fit in the glove compartment. He testified that when he went into the Huff house he was 'Tired. Physically tried. Perhaps to the point of exhaustion.' He said his mother-in-law said he looked as if he had been working too hard and that he was shaking and she would get him something. He said that he then walked over to where Bahr was sitting and that 'It is very hazy, but I believe I spoke to him, and it is my recollection that at that time that I wanted to discuss my legal the legal action that I was taking against him, and that I wanted to get it over with and get it out of my system and talk it out with him'; that he had no idea where Bahr was or that he had there until he saw him; that he seemed 'to have a very vague memory of him springing from the couch'; that 'As near as I can possibly reconstruct in my mind, the next thing I remember was pulling the trigger on the empty cartridges'; that 'The whole action was of such an explosive nature, you might say, and so distorted by a haze of mental void, you might say, that a detailed rememberance of the whole action are very * * *'; that he believed he next walked into the kitchen, but didn't know how much later it was; that while being questioned by the officers 'It is very difficult to recall. All I knew was that I was in considerable pain at the time. I had a great deal of difficulty in replying to the questions * * * as I remember, it (the pain) was in the region of the solar plexus or in the thoracic or chest region'; that he had never had any pains like that before; that many times in the past he had been so fatigued he had not been able to speak rationally. The officer who questioned him after the crime was committed, said he found defendant sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands; that he seemed to be in pain and upset; that he had difficulty in speaking and that his voice seemed to come in sort of a 'gasp.' Shortly after the crime, the defenant made the following statement to a police officer: 'About this time I thought that I would tell Mr. Bahr what I wanted to tell him for a long time, that I didn't want him around my children, and I was really going to tell him off. I went out of the bedroom (belonging to Mrs. Huff) and across the living room to where Mr. Bahr was sitting on the divan. He looked up or started to stand up. I really don't remember what. As I stood in front of him, there was a table between us. I don't remember if I said anything or not before taking the gun out of my belt and shooting. I don't actually recall pulling the trigger. All I remember is that I realized my gun was clicking on empties.'

The defendant's testimony showed that his mother had been committed to Camarillo State Hospital; that he still loved his wife and wanted her to give up Bahr and live with him and the children and that he thought the complaint for divorce and the order to show cause might force her to choose him and leave Bahr. The record alos showed that defendant's wife and Bahr had a joint bank account which was known to defendant; that one of defendant's charge accounts had been used to buy a gift for Bahr; that defendant had found Bahr's clothing hanging in the closets of his home; that he had paid the entire support of his wife's son by her former marriage; that he thought of the child as his own son and treated him in the same way as he did his own son; that the child thought he was his father and called him 'Daddy.' H...