People v. Grischott

Decision Date20 November 1951
Docket NumberCr. 908
Citation107 Cal.App.2d 631,237 P.2d 712
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
PartiesPEOPLE v. GRISCHOTT.

Theo. G. Krumm, San Bernardino, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., Dan Kaufmann, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

GRIFFIN, Justice.

Defendant and appellant Alice Cordelia Grischott was charged jointly in two counts of an information with defendants Francis W. Richards, Billy Jones and James D. Hunt, with the crime of burglarizing two furniture stores on the same evening. Appellant plead not guilty. The other defendants entered pleas of guilty. A jury verdict resulted in appellant's conviction on both counts. She appealed and questions the sufficiency of the evidence to show that she aided and abetted the other defendants in the commission of the offenses.

The evidence shows that on the night of December 10, 1950, about 3:30 a. m., a police officer caught the named defendants in the store of the Vanderwall Furniture Company, in Redlands, hiding behind a counter. They had been endeavoring to open a safe by means of a sledge hammer. They had, a few minutes previous to this time, entered another near-by furniture store and were unsuccessful in breaking open the safe located therein. The officer handcuffed them and put them in a police car which was parked behind the store about 50 feet east of an alley. Immediately thereafter appellant drove up behind them through the alley and stopped. The officers went to her and asked her what she was doing in that alley at that time of the morning. She remarked that she was after some fellows she was supposed to pick up there, and mentioned the names of the defendants Richards and Jones; that she had brought them to Redlands 'to do some work'. She was also taken into custody. She later mentioned she had left the three defendants out close to another near-by furniture store and that she thereafter picked them up and drove them to this alley back of the furniture store where they were later apprehended; that she drove down the street and waited for them at their suggestion; that she got tired of waiting and decided to come back to see why it had taken them so long. In another conversation the officers asked her what part she had played in the burglary on that night and she stated that defendant Jones asked her to drive her car for him to a place on D Street in San Bernardino; that she did so and stayed there until about 1:30 a. m.; that the other two defendants came out, got in the car, and asked her to drive them to Redlands because they 'had a job to do'. One of them told appellant that they were going to buy her some gasoline for her car. She stated she drove the defendants over to Redlands. She told the officers that there was a sack of tools in the car.

Defendant Richards testified that by prearrangement to 'pull these jobs' he met defendants Hunt and Jones at Jones' home in San Bernardino; that when he arrived the appellant was seated at the wheel of the car; that Hunt asked him if he was ready and he said he was, and they drove away without further instructions; that there was a gunny sack with tools in it on the floor of the back seat compartment; that when they arrived to a place near the first furniture store Hunt gave instructions to appellant to stop and told her that they were going over to see a fellow 'for something'; that he took the sack of tools and the three defendants then departed and entered the store through a window, but that they were unsuccessful in breaking open the safe; that they returned to the car with the sack of tools, and remarked that 'we missed the fellow' and stated that they were going down the street and see if they could find him at another place. Hunt was wearing a jacket which he had appropriated in that furniture store. Richards then testified that Hunt gave orders to appellant where to drive; that she pulled up to the curb about a block from the second furniture store; that the defendants all got out, took the sack of tools, walked to the alley, jimmied the lock, entered that store, and knocked the combination off of the safe; that the officer came in and got them, and held a gun on them until the patrol car came.

Appellant testified she was at a cafe that evening; that defendant Jones came in and asked if she would drive her car for him that evening to his home; that she did so; that the defendants came out and asked her to take them to Redlands because they wanted 'to see a man about a job'. She then related the story as told by defendant Richards. She denied that she...

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14 cases
  • People v. Magee
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 24 Junio 1963
    ...Cal.App.2d 128, 134, 318 P.2d 828, 833; People v. Fleming (1961) 191 Cal.App.2d 163, 168, 12 Cal.Rptr. 530.) In People v. Grischott (1951) 107 Cal.App.2d 631, 237 P.2d 712, the defendant claimed that she did not conspire with her codefendants to commit burglary. However, she drove them to t......
  • People v. Dotson
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 9 Noviembre 1982
    ...his passenger kill the victim by holding back others who might have interfered to prevent the homicide. (See also People v. Grischott (1951) 107 Cal.App.2d 631, 237 P.2d 712 [defendant properly convicted of burglary where he drove codefendants to stores and returned to pick them up]; People......
  • Pinizzotto v. Superior Court for Los Angeles County
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 2 Enero 1968
    ...circumstance from which it could be inferred that petitioner had knowledge of Forster's criminal actions. (Cf. People v. Grischott, 107 Cal.App.2d 631, 237 P.2d 712; People v. Silva, 143 Cal.App.2d 162, 169, 300 P.2d We think this case is distinguishable from the case where the contraband i......
  • The People of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Charles Merie Butts and William Gerald Otwell, Defendants and Appellants
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 12 Marzo 1965
    ...purpose is apparent from the circumstances and the secondary actor nevertheless assists in its accomplishment. (People v. Grischott, 107 Cal.App.2d 631, 634, 237 P.2d 712.) An unarmed aider and abettor may be responsible in the same degree as the actual perpetrator. (People v. Perkins, 37 C......
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