People v. Bross
| Decision Date | 15 February 1966 |
| Docket Number | Cr. 3784 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Lola Lorraine BROSS and Darrell Dean Bross, Defendants and Appellants. |
Carr, Kennedy & Asbill, by Laurence W. Carr and Thomas McGlynn, Redding, for appellants.
Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., by Doris H. Maier, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Raymond Momboisse and John Giordano, Deputy Attys. Gen., Sacramento, for respondent.
Defendant Lola Lorraine Bross and her husband, Darrell Dean Bross, were convicted of the crime of voluntary manslaughter. Separate judgments were pronounced and entered against each defendant. Both have appealed from the judgments.
The case arises out of an altercation between Charles Kreiss, Darrell Dean Bross, hereafter referred to as Darrell, and Lola Lorraine Bross, hereafter referred to as Lola, arising out of a dispute over the use of a roadway by Darrell and Lola to get to their home in the area of Trinity County known as Carrier Gulch. The deceased, Charles Kreiss, lived below the Brosses who had to drive past the Kreiss home to get to their home. The Brosses moved into the area in October 1963 and at that time the road contained many chuckholes. There was also a ditch across the road opposite the premises occupied by Kreiss and his wife, Eva. The Brosses, as they had been informed they were required to do, began to fill in the chuckholes and help maintain the road. They filled the ditch and this irritated Kreiss, and he thereafter reopened it. The Brosses filled the ditch a second time, and Kreiss' wife, Eva, told her husband to shoot their tires. In November the road was barricaded for a short time. Darrell sought legal advice and was informed that his best remedy would be legal action to prevent interference with the Brosses' use of the road. An attempt was made by Darrell and his attorney to work out some type of an agreement that would provide there would be a right to pass by the Brosses that would not be interfered with--'a typical right of way agreement'--but Kreiss ignored the offer. Nor did he respond to an offer to arbitrate the matter. The Brosses were also subjected to petty harassments, such as roofing tacks or nails being placed in the road and prowlers knocking on their cabin. Darrell had a notice published in the Trinity Journal on January 25, 1964, which read: * * *'
In January of 1964 Charles Kreiss saw Darrell in the Hayfork Hotel, walked up to him and backhanded him, or 'belted' him one on the chin, without warning or provocation. Following this incident Darrell went to the law enforcement officers, including the district attorney, and sought a complaint against Kreiss but they did nothing about it. Thereafter an ineffective attempt was made to have the grand jury investigate the matter.
On March 18, 1964, Lola had a flat tire caused by a roofing nail, this being but one of a series. Darrell again complained to the law enforcement officers--specifically to Deputy Sheriff Barnhouse. Later that day, about 2 p. m., Darrell loaded his truck with gravel and drove to the vicinity of the Kreiss home. He had a .45 caliber Colt pistol with him. Lola followed in their automobile and parked it up by the 'forks.' After parking, Darrell loaded a shotgun for Lola and told her that he thought she should go up and stand by the mill and if Charlie came out with a rifle and pointed it at him, she should shoot--she should shoot at him not to kill but to stop him. Darrell then drove up the road, stopped his truck and started to fill the ditch in the road. Eva Kreiss saw him and told Charlie who went out of the cabin without his rifle. Kreiss told Darrell to take the gravel further up the road. Eva Kreiss testified Darrell then started shooting and Charles Kreiss went back into the house, got his rifle and went out again. Darrell fired five or six times. Eva Kreiss heard a shot from another gun, and following that shot Charles went back into the house and said, 'Mama, they shot me.' There was expert opinion evidence that Kreiss' rifle had not been fired. There was also evidence given by a witness who was visiting with the Kreisses at the time that he thought Kreiss fired his rifle twice.
Kreiss was driven by automobile to the Trinity General Hospital in Weaverville where surgery was performed. Kreiss died within approximately 24 hours following surgery. The testimony justified a conclusion that the surgery was probably incompetently performed. The cause of death was gunshot wounds of the abdomen that perforated the intestines. Only three had been sutured, though there were ten perforations.
After the shooting Darrell was arrested by a deputy sheriff and taken to a substation where he was questioned. There is nothing in the record to show whether he was advised of his right to counsel or his absolute right to remain silent at that time. Later he was taken to the county jail and about 9 p. m. booked. The booking entry was as follows: 'Charge: 217 P. C.' Sheriff Kelly admitted that he wrote in the word 'Investigation' over the booking entry after Darrell had made his statement. The statement was taken in the sheriff's office commencing at 9:20 p. m. and ending at 9:50 p. m. Sheriff Kelly first asked Darrell to state his full name, his address, box number and age. He then stated to Darrell: (Emphasis added.)
Darrell stated that about 10 o'clock in the morning Lola had a flat tire on the road and he went down to change it, pulling a roofing nail out of one of the tires. He then informed Sergeant Barnhouse, a deputy sheriff, of this and told him that so far as the situation up there on the road was concerned he had had it, and that he was now going to exert pressure. He felt up to this time he had done nothing about it. He also informed Barnhouse that whatever he did would be legal.
Later in the afternoon Darrell loaded the back of the pickup truck with gravel and went up on the road. His intention at that time was to fill in the ditch, which he proceeded to do. He stated he was in the habit of carrying guns of some sort in the car because of the threats that had been made against him and because of the fact that he had been assaulted by Kreiss. When he went up there, he had his wife stationed on a hill overlooking where he was going to fill in the ditch; she had the 12-gauge loaded shotgun, and he gave her instructions to the effect that if Charlie came out with a gun and pointed at him she was to shoot at Charlie, not to kill but to stop him,
At that point Darrell was interrupted by Sheriff Kelly and asked the following question:
Continuing, Darrell stated he drove up the road and proceeded to start shoveling dirt into the ditch. He had gotten about half a dozen shovelsful into the ditch when Kreiss came out the back door and stated: 'You take that dirt out of there.' Kreiss then started cursing at him and said, 'Well, I'll fix you.' Darrell nodded to his wife and kept right on shoveling. Kreiss came out of the front door with a rifle in his hands, raised it to his shoulder and pointed it at Darrell. Darrell grabbed his revolver, which was on the floor of the truck, and fired one shot into the air with the intention of showing Kreiss he had a loaded pistol and he 'wasn't fooling around either.' Darrell then stated that Kreiss fired a shot at him from the rifle. Darrell fired a second shot and then a third shot. He stated the second shot hit the bank and he did not intend to shoot at Kreiss with that shot. Kreiss started to run back to the house, at which time he, Darrell, fired another shot that struck the roof. Darrell further stated that after he fired the shot which struck the roof Kreiss evidently ran through the house, came out from the porch and very definitely fired another shot at him; and it was then that
Darrell had noticed earlier that his wife had taken off after the shooting started. As he walked down the road Kreiss and his wife came driving by. Mrs. Kreiss was driving and Charlie Kreiss was slumped over in the front seat. As they passed Darrel ducked behind a tree. While he was waiting there his wife came and told him she had phoned the sheriff's office and Barney (Barnhouse) was on his way, so they waited. While waiting, Bud Jackson came along and told them Barney was in Weaverville and advised Darrell to start driving over that way. Barney met him on the Wildwood road and took him into custody and also took possession of the revolver and the shotgun.
The above is the pertinent portion of Darrell's statement...
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