People v. Ford

• Decision Date: 06 March 1962
• Docket Number: Cr. 4041
• Citation: 200 Cal.App.2d 905,19 Cal.Rptr. 758
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Clarence James FORD and Ralph Harold Manchester, Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 758

19 Cal.Rptr. 758

200 Cal.App.2d 905

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Clarence James FORD and Ralph Harold Manchester, Defendants and Appellants.

Cr. 4041.

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

March 6, 1962.

Harold D. Winingar, Jr., Sacramento, for appellants.

Stanley Mosk, Atty. Gen., of the State of California, Doris H. Maier, Asst. Atty Gen., Richard Diebold Lee, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

SULLIVAN, Justice.

Defendants Clarence James Ford and Ralph Harold Manchester were convicted by a jury upon two counts of petty theft with prior felony convictions. (Pen.Code, § 667.) They appeal from the judgment and from the order denying their motion for a new trial.

The case before us involves separate thefts of two bicycles at Dixon and Vacaville on the night of January 13, 1961.

A red bicycle belonging to one Carpenter was stolen from the front of his house in Dixon, California. Carpenter last saw it there at about 7 or 8 p. m. He then left for a nearby cafe. While he was sitting in the cafe from which place he could see his house, Carpenter noticed a car stop for a minute or two in front of the house. When he returned home at about 11 p. m., the bicycle was gone.

On the same evening, a green bicycle belonging to one Cooprider was stolen from the latter's home in Vacaville, California. Cooprider last saw his bicycle in his driveway about 11 p. m. when he left his house. When he returned about 12:00 it was gone.

Later the same evening, at about 11:30 p. m., Chief of Police Fellers and Officer DeGarcia of the Vacaville police department, in their patrol car, came upon both defendants and one Jack Leighton in and near a parked car on East Main Street in Vacaville, about a block from Cooprider's house. Manchester was sitting behind the steeringwheel, Leighton was in the right front seat bending over into the back, and Ford was outside the vehicle on the right side looking down at the rear tire. The police made a U-turn, came up behind the defendants' vehicle, and stopped. As they did so, Machester and Leighton got out of their car, went to the rear and opened up the trunk. Ford went to the rear with them. DeGarcia asked them what they were doing. One of the men, whom DeGarcia later identified as Manchester, said they were having trouble with the right rear wheel of their car. While this was going on Chief Fellers noticed two bicycles in the back seat, a red one with a blanket over it, and a green one on the floor but protruding through the right rear door which was open. Observing that the green bicycle had a Vacaville license plate Fellers returned to the patrol car, contacted the police station and was advised that the bicycle belonged to a resident of Vacaville. The police then took and three men and the two bicyles to the police station in a patrol car.

Just before this occurred, DeGarcia asked where the men had obtained the bicycles and was told by Manchester that two boys had come over and asked them to carry the bicycles down town for them. Manchester then said 'He ran there * * * those cars over there * * * you see them?' But DeGarcia saw no one.

DeGarcia testified that when they arrived at the police station he put Ford and Manchester in separate rooms and talked to Ford first. Ford told him that he worked for Machester, cleaning furnaces, and that they were on their way from Reno to San Francisco. DeGarcia further testified that Ford told him that he knew the bicycles were stolen; that he would rather not say who put the bicycles in the car; and that the others would more than likely say that he, Ford, put them in because of past experiences. Ford also stated that the three men had stopped on the above street in Vacaville because they had trouble closing the door on the bicycle and that he, Ford, had been outside the car trying to close the door. According to DeGarcia, Ford said that there was no one else there but the three of them. Later that evening, after he had interrogated Manchester, DeGarcia returned to the room where Ford was. Ford told him, DeGarcia testified, that the three men were low on gasoline and were going to sell the bicycles for expense money.

DeGarcia also testified as to his separaste interrogation of Manchester on the same night. Apparently DeGarcia to some extent went back and forth between the two men in order to check their stories. According to DeGarcia, Manchester's conversation with him was as follows: Manchester started out by asking DeGarcia if he had found the boy who had run off. DeGarcia said he had not. Manchester expressed concern for Leighton because the latter was a young boy and this was his first offense. He stated that Leighton had not been out of the car at any time; had been asleep in the back seat when the others put the bicycles in; and had to be awakened and put in front. DeGarcia then took Manchester to see Leighton who was also in custody. Manchester thereupon told Leighton to give the police what they wanted but DeGarcia noticed that Manchester was winking at Leighton. DeGarcia returned Manchester to the latter's room. Later, when DeGarcia asked him who put the bicycles in the car, Manchester replied that he didn't want to put the blame on anybody but he figured it was one of the others. According to DeGarcia, neither Manchester nor Ford said that they took the bicycles. DeGarcia had no other conversations with either defendant.

DeGarcia's testimony pertaining to the statements made by both men, was admitted in evidence under careful instructions by the court to the jury that the statements of each defendant, having been made out of the presence of the other, could be considered as evidence only against the defendant making the statement.

The above evidence was introduced during the case in chief for the prosecution, which consisted of the testimony of the two owners of the bicycles and the two police officers. Thereupon the defendants moved for a dismissal upon the ground that no theft had been established against the defendants. The motion was denied.

Both defendants testified on their own behalf. Manchester testified that they were coming from Reno and had left Sacramento at about 11 or 11:15 p. m. Half way between Dixon and Vacaville he stopped and picked up a rider. He had not stopped at, or even gone through Dixon. The hitchhiker said that his brother and sister had been riding their bicycles and had left them in Vacaville; he offered Manchester five dollars to return the bikes to their home. Manchester accepted the offer, drove to Vacaville, and at the direction of the stranger made a turn in a blind alley, while the hitchhiker got one bicycle and put it in the car. The hitchhiker then directed Manchester to Main Street and had Manchester pull over so that he could get the second bicycle. According to Manchester, the stranger was actually riding the bicycle back to the car, when the police first drove by. After the police stopped, Manchester and Leighton got out of their car, but the stranger disappeared.

Ford told substantially the same story. He did not recall making any of the statements to DeGarcia, as the latter had testified, except that 'the only statement I recall making was that evidently the bicycles were stolen or the guy wouldn't have ran * * * I stated that--that I would probably get the blame for it, because I had a prison record.' On cross-examination, Ford admitted that Manchester, when first stopped by the police, had told them that the three men were taking the bicycles down town for a couple of boys. Ford also admitted that there were no boys around at all.

In rebuttal, the prosecution introduced testimony of both police officers to the effect that they saw no man riding a bicycle as claimed by the defendants. DeGarcia testified that he saw no fourth man at all.

The third man, Leighton, did not testify at the trial. He had previously been convicted in the Justice Court at Dixon of the theft of the red bicycle, and subsequently, upon his plea of guilty, was convicted, in the Justice Court at Vacaville, of the theft of the green bicycle. He was sentenced to serve 30 days in the Solano County jail, was released, and disappeared. The defense were unable to subpoena him. The prosecution did subpoena him but he failed to appear.

The defendants contend here that (1) they were denied their constitutional right to appear and defend by counsel, in that their representation by court appointed counsel was inadequate; (2) defendant Manchster was deprived of his right to defend himself; (3) the evidence is insufficient to sustain their conviction; and (4) the trial court erred in giving certain instructions to the jury. We have concluded that none of the above contentions have merit and that the judgment and the order denying the motion for a new trial should be affirmed.

Adequate representation by counsel.

Counsel below, who is not counsel on appeal, was appointed for both defendants on their arraignment. One week later, his withdrawal as counsel for Manchester was approved by the court, since Manchester desired to secure his own counsel. Subsequently, for reasons not disclosed in the record, this arrangement was changed, and the original counsel appeared for both defendants at the time of their plea, and thereafter throughout the proceedings and trial.

Defendants' claim of inadequate representation appears to be based on three complaints against their counsel: (1) although he was aware of the fact that Leighton, the third man involved in the thefts and a material witness, might leave the jurisdiction, counsel failed to secure Leighton's presence at trial or perpetuate his testimony; (2) he relied upon the prosecution to issue a subpoena for Leighton; and (3) he failed to point out to the jury that the defendants had been deprived of the benefit of Leighton's testimony. It is further argued that defendant Manchester attempted to have...