People v. Guarino, Cr. 5266

• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Citation: 132 Cal.App.2d 554,282 P.2d 538
• Decision Date: 27 April 1955
• Docket Number: Cr. 5266
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Luke Patrick GUARINO, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 538

282 P.2d 538 132 Cal.App.2d 554 The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Luke Patrick GUARINO, Defendant and Appellant. Cr. 5266. District Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3, California. April 27, 1955.
Hearing Denied May 25, 1955.

[132 Cal.App.2d 555] James O. Warner, Los Angeles, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., Theodore S. Tabah, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

SHINN, Presiding Justice.

Luke Patrick Guarino appeals from convictions of grand theft and burglarly and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. He was accused of having suffered three prior convictions, which he admitted.

It was alleged in the Information that on or about December 5, 1953, defendant unlawfully and feloniously entered a shop in the store of I. Magnin and took about $15,000 worth of jewelry from two showcases. Defendant was arrested on the evening of January 11, 1954, in the Mitchell Hotel, located in Los Angeles, and was booked at the Wilshire Police Station at about 4:00 a. m., January 12, 1954. His bail was fixed prior to the time he was arraigned before a magistrate on January 19, 1954.

The jewelry was taken from the cases of Laykin & Co., jewelers, on the main floor of the store. On December 5th at

Page 539

6:30 p. m., Mr. Laykin, the owner, checked his three showcases and found them to be locked. He was the last one in his department to leave the building. On the following Monday morning, it was discovered that the showcases had been broken open. A gold ring was found on the bottom landing of the fire escape. This ring was identified by a tag as having come from the jewelry showcases. An inventory of the missing items was made and they were found to be of the value of $15,000.

According to officers' testimony, defendant Guarino was arrested on January 11, 1954, about 10:30 p. m. in his hotel, and was taken to his room for about 10 minutes and searched. At the time of the arrest a woman's diamond wristwatch was found in defendant's coat pocket, wrapped in a piece of tissue paper. It was subsequently identified by the serial number of the watch movement and the case as having come from Laykin's. Defendant also had about $1,200 in large bills in his possession. He gave a gold key watch and key holder to a [132 Cal.App.2d 556] friend, Shirley Johnson, shortly before Christmas, which she gave to the police and which were subsequently identified by Mr. Laykin by the watch movement number as having come from his store. Alice Rienhart, a salesgirl for Laykin, testified she waited on defendant on December 4th, shortly prior to the theft, and that she remembered his mannerisms, nervousness and speech, and noted a scar on his forehead. Mr. Bugel, the store night watchman, saw a man at about 7:10 p. m., December 5, 1953, standing on the porte cochere of the roof 8 or 9 feet away from him. The witness asked him what he was doing on the roof and the man answered 'just investigating.' He then fled. The witness later at the police station identified the voice of the defendant as the voice he had heard from a group of several men. He also identified the blue topcoat he had on.

Officer Carey testified that while enroute to the Hall of Justice for arraignment, defendant had stated, '* * * this is the kind of day I like to hit residences * * * all the cops are holed up drinking coffee * * *' and that defendant had said he was '* * * a master burglar'; that he had gambled and lost, but that he planned to get a woman jury and have them in the palm of his hands at the trial, and 'Tell all your friends, and tell the newspapers * * * because I am going to put on a big show for you.' Officers testified that at the time of the arrest defendant was questioned as to whether there was any more jewelry in his room and stated, 'There is no use looking any further. There is no more jewelry in this room. * * * What are you worrying about more jewelry for? You have got the piece. That is enough.' They further testified that at 11:30 p. m. the same evening, defendant was taken to the detectives' room of the Wilshire Police Station for further questioning. At about 2:00 a. m. he was taken to be booked, but when observed to be limping was taken to a Receiving Hospital where the examining physician advised him to obtain an elastic bandage and gave no other treatment. Defendant was booked at 4:00 a. m. January 12th.

Defendant testified he was abused while being questioned by the officers; the...