People v. Crosslin

• Decision Date: 22 June 1967
• Docket Number: Cr. 5405
• Citation: 60 Cal.Rptr. 309,251 Cal.App.2d 968
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Rollis CROSSLIN, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 309

60 Cal.Rptr. 309

251 Cal.App.2d 968

PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Rollis CROSSLIN, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 5405.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 1, California.

June 22, 1967.

Rehearing Denied July 14, 1967.

Hearing Denied Sept. 20, 1967.

Michael Traynor, San Francisco (under appointment of the Court of Appeal), for appellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., Robert R. Granucci, John P. Oakes, Deputy Attys. Gen., San Francisco, for respondent.

MOLINARI, President Justice.

Two informations, one charging defendant with armed robbery at a market on September 21, 1963, and the second charging him in two counts with attempted armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon at a liquor store on October 11, 1963, having been consolidated for trial, and defendant having been found guilty on the charges in both informations, defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction sentencing him to state prison for consecutive terms on the robbery and attempted robbery charges and withholding sentence on the assault charge. Defendant's contentions on appeal are as follows: (1) The trial court erred in admitting into evidence a card containing defendant's fingerprints; (2) a statement made by defendant in which he identified himself to the police as Tony Collins and a statement which defendant made for voice identification purposes during a lineup were elicited in violation of Escobedo v. State of Illinois (1964), 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977, and People v. Dorado (1965), 62 Cal.2d 338, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361, and should therefore not have been allowed into evidence; (3) several articles taken from defendant's apartment at the time of his arrest were the product of an illegal search and seizure and were therefore inadmissible into evidence; and (4) defendant's convictions for attempted armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon are not supported by substantial evidence.

The Record

The Market Robbery

Dolores Turner, a clerk at Littlemen's Supermarket in East Palo Alto, testified the between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. on September 21, 1963, while she was working at the checkout stand and waiting on a customer named Mrs. Irish, she noticed a man standing at the side of her cash register holding a gun; that the man told her to give him all the money out of the cash register and the cash box or he would shoot her; that Mrs. Turner took the money from her cash register and cash box, put it in a small bag and gave the bag to the man, who then left the store after telling Mrs. Irish and Mrs. Turner not to move or to say anything until he had gone.

Mrs. Turner described the person who had robbed the market as between 25 and 27 years old, very neat in appearance, with large eyes, gold in the middle of his teeth, 'processed' hair, and a mustache; further testified that on the day of the robbery this man had been in the store at least two times before the robbery occurred and on each occasion had bought a can of Country Club beer; and testified that prior to the day of the robbery she had often seen the same man in the store and on one of these occasions the man had purchased a can of Country Club beer and had returned to the store about 15 minutes later and asked to exchange the can as the first can had gotten warm. Mrs. Turner further testified that after the robbery she saw the robber in the store on two occasions, once in October 1964 and the other time in January 1965; that on the former occasion she was working at one checkstand and she saw the robber go through another checkstand; that she and the robber stared at each other for a moment and the robber then came over and checked out at her stand; and that she reported both incidents to the police.

Mrs. Ruby Irish, who testified that she was at Mrs. Turner's checkstand at the time of the robbery, corroborated the testimony of Mrs. Turner concerning the details of the robbery. In addition, Mrs. Irish described the robber as a young Negro man who was very neat and clean in appearance, wore a mustache, and was dressed in an olive-green sweater, light shirt, dark trousers and black shoes. Both Mrs. Irish and Mrs. Turner identified defendant as the person who had robbed the market on September 21, 1963. In addition, when shown photographs depicting five male Negroes, both Mrs. Irish and Mrs. Turner testified that these photographs represented the persons who were present in a lineup which they had viewed at the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office subsequent to the robbery and that the photograph of defendant appeared to be that of the person who had robbed the market.

The Attempted Robbery and Assault at the Liquor Store

Mrs. Rose Ferrando testified that at around 2 p.m. on October 11, 1963, while she was working at Charlie's Liquor Store at 2380 Cooley Street in East Palo Alto, a man placed a 12-ounce can of Country Club beer on the counter and ordered her to open the cash register; that there then followed a dialogue between the parties which culminated in the man's telling Mrs. Ferrando that he would shoot her if she did not do as he told her; that Mrs. Ferrando still refused to comply with the man's order, whereupon the man shot her in the leg; that the man then went to the front door of the store to close the door and came back to the cash register; that at this point a scuffle ensued and the man struck Mrs. Ferrando on the head; that Mrs. Ferrando then ran outside and called for help, the man meanwhile leaving the store by a back door. Mrs. Ferrando's daughter, Joanna, testified that on the afternoon of October 11, 1963 she was in the rear of the store washing dishes when she heard gunshots in the front of the store and came forward to see what was happening; that when she arrived at the front of the store she heard the man order her mother to open the cash register; that as the man came around the counter and attacked her mother, Joanna stepped on the alarm which signaled for the police.

Mrs. Ferrando described her attacker as a very neat-looking, well-mannered Negro, who was short and had big, black eyes. However, when asked to identify defendant as her attacker she stated that defendant's eyes were similar to those of her attacker but that she did not know if defendant was the attacker. Joanna, who had viewed a lineup subsequent to the attempted robbery, testified that she did not recognize defendant by his features but did recognize his voice when he said, 'This is a hold up.' When asked if she could identify defendant as the assailant Joanna testified that she was not certain that he was the man and further stated that she had noticed his eyes which were quite large.

Testimony identifying some fingerprints on the Country Club beer can left by the assailant at the liquor store as those of defendant was adduced as follows: Wesley Blum, a deputy sheriff who went to the liquor store in response to a radio call, testified that from the time he arrived at the store until the arrival of Don Harding, a criminologist for San Mateo County, Blum did not allow anyone to touch the beer can which was sitting on the counter. Harding testified that when he examined the beer can at the liquor store he found several latent fingerprints on the can; that he took the can to the laboratory for further examination; and that by comparing the fingerprints lifted from the can with fingerprints on a card which was reputed to contain defendant's fingerprints, he determined that defendant had handled the can. Harding further admitted that he found other prints on the can and could not determine when defendant had handled the can or whether he was the last person to handle the can.

Concerning the fingerprints on the card which were used for comparison with the fingerprints on the can, the testimony was as follows: The card, which was introduced into evidence, purported to show defendant's fingerprints as taken by M. Gunderson on January 23, 1965. According to the testimony of Donald Hartnett, a captain with the San Mateo Sheriff's Office, this card was part of the records of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. Hartnett further described in detail the fingerprinting system used by the sheriff's office: He described the cards and the method by which they were created, maintained, and filed; he also explained the meaning of certain numbers and entries appearing on the card; in addition he testified that the card in question was prepared in the usual course of business; and finally he stated that he knew the fingerprints on the card were those of defendant because he had compared them with another set of defendant's prints which he had taken himself at a later date.

The Arrest

Sergeant Henry Crossfield, a detective with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, testified that he was assigned to investigate the armed robberies at the liquor store and the market; that this investigation led to the arrest of defendant under the authority of an arrest warrant. Crossfield further testified that at the time he and several other officers went to defendant's Redwood City apartment to arrest defendant, they found him in bed; that when asked for his name or identification defendant stated that his name was Tony Collins and that he had identification in his wallet, which was on the dresser; that the officers searched the wallet for identification and found an identification card from Stanford Research Institute and a temporary California driver's license both bearing the name Tony Collins; that after advising defendant of his right to counsel and his right to remain silent, Crossfield again questioned defendant about his identity but defendant continued to maintain that his name was Tony Collins and that he had never gone under the name of Rollis Crosslin; that the officers then searched defendant's apartment and discovered a marriage certificate bearing the name Rollis Crosslin; and that when confronted with this certificate ...