People v. Harrison, Cr. 2577

• Decision Date: 24 November 1954
• Docket Number: Cr. 2577
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Richard Olen HARRISON, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 188

276 P.2d 188

129 Cal.App.2d 197

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Richard Olen HARRISON, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 2577.

District Court of Appeal, Third District, California.

Nov. 24, 1954.

Hearing Denied Dec. 22, 1954.

Laura O. Coffield, Napa, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., G. A. Strader, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

SCHOTTKY, Justice.

Appellant was indicted by the Grand Jury of Napa County and charged with two counts of burglary, one alleged to have been committed on January 3, 1954, and the other on January 28, 1954. The jury found him guilty on both counts and his motion for a new trial was denied. This appeal is from the judgment entered on the verdicts and from the order denying a motion for a new trial.

Appellant urges a number of grounds for a reversal of the judgment and order. His first contention is that the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to support the conviction upon either count. Before discussing this contention we shall give a brief summary of the evidence, bearing in mind the familiar rule that upon an appeal in a criminal case the appellate court must assume in favor of the verdict the existence of every fact which the jury could have reasonably deduced from the evidence and then determine whether the guilt of the defendant is deducible therefrom. People v. Newland, 15 Cal.2d 678, 104 P.2d 778.

At approximately 1:50 a.m. on January 3, 1954, Napa City Police Officer Jesse Crowell heard the ringing of a burglar alarm at the Meyer's Jewelry Store in the city of Napa, and proceeded to the store to investigate the matter. As he approached the store he noticed that a window on the east side of the store was broken. Some of the articles which had been in the window appeared to be missing, although some watches still remained. The owner of the store, Mr. Wesley Meyer, was summoned to the store, and he verified the fact that a number of watches were missing from the window display. Mr. William Whitman, the business manager of Meyer's Jewelry, testified with respect to the serial numbers of the watches which were missing from the stock on the morning of the burglary and these serial numbers corresponded with the serial numbers on two Bulova watches, one a lady's watch, the other a man's watch, which were introduced as People's Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively.

In the early morning hours of January 28, 1954, at approximately 1:55 a.m., the window of Meyer's Jewelry Store was again broken. At this time, Mr. Whitman, who was summoned to the scene in the absence of Mr. Meyer, noticed that articles had again been removed from the window. At this time the articles removed consisted of a tray of men's Masonic rings. A tray of rings and two additional Masonic rings were introduced in evidence at the trial as People's Exhibits 3 and 4.

The man's Bulova watch was sold by appellant to a Mrs. Souza on or about January 14, 1954. The watch was delivered by the appellant to Mrs. Souza who, as consideration for the watch, paid a loan of $30 which the appellant owed to Public Loan in Vallejo.

The lady's Bulova watch was found by Officer Corbett on March 1, 1954, during a search of the appellant's house. The watch was in the appellant's bedroom in a small box. The same evening, police officers again returned to appellant's home and found the tray containing seven rings and two Masonic rings under the sofa in the living room. The appellant denied having any knowledge of the lady's watch or the rings, although he admitted selling the man's watch to Mrs. Souza. Although appellant denied having any knowledge of the rings, his stepson testified that he over-heard his mother and the appellant discussing the matter of rings subsequent to the second burglary and prior to the arrest of appellant. The rings were first discovered under the couch by the appellant's mother-in-law, while she was cleaning. She showed them to Mrs. Harrison, the appellant's wife. The rings, after their discovery, were left where they were found under the sofa.

With respect to the man's wrist watch, appellant claimed that he obtained it from a homosexual in a bar. Appellant stated that an unknown man gave him the watch as an inducement to get the appellant to come to this man's room. According to the appellant, he then just kept the watch and refused to accompany the man to his room. In short, appellant stole the watch. Appellant claimed that he had not seen this homosexual since this alleged theft from him.

At approximately 1:45 a.m. on January 28, 1954, (the same time as the commission of the second burglary) appellant was seen on the street several blocks from Meyer's Jewelry Store by Police Officer Crowell.

Following his arrest, the appellant agreed to submit to a lie detector test. At the trial it was stipulated by counsel for the appellant that the testimony of Albert Riedel, an expert in the giving of lie detection tests, was admissible, and it was further stipulated that said Albert Riedel was qualified as an expert to give his opinion with respect to the results of such test. This witness then testified that when the appellant was asked if he broke the window at Meyer's Jewelry Store in Napa, or if he knew who broke the window, he answered 'No'. In the opinion of Mr. Riedel, the results of the test showed that the appellant was not being truthful in answering these questions. As the test proceeded further, it also became apparent to Mr. Riedel that the appellant was deliberately attempting to cause irregular movements of the graph of the lie detector machine so that the test would not give an accurate indication of the truth or falsity of his answers. It was Mr. Riedel's opinion that the appellant was deliberately trying to 'fix' the results of the test. During the interview, Mr. Riedel concluded that he would be unable on that day to further examine the appellant, and it was agreed that appellant would return at a later date. However, the appellant failed to return for the additional examination.

Appellant argues as to Count One that to find appellant guilty 'the jury had to place an inference on an inference. That is, they must have inferred from the fact that the one watch which was found in the Harrison home, was found there, that it must have been brought there by the defendant, and from that inference, inferred that he had obtained it in the commission of the burglary. Or, as to the watch which he gave to Mrs. Sousa, they must have inferred that he did not get it from the man in the Log Cabin, and from that inference, also inferred that he must have obtained it in the commission of the burglary, and therefore must have committed the burglary.'

Appellant then argues that the best that can be said for the People's case is that they have proved possession of some of the stolen property, and that possession of stolen property, standing alone, is not sufficient to connect a defendant with the perpetration of the burglary in which the property was taken. Appellant then cites People v. Russell, 120 Cal.App. 622, at page 625, 8 P.2d 209, at page 210, where the court said:

'While it is true that the mere possession of stolen property is not sufficient to connect a defendant with the perpetration of the burglary in which the...