People v. Jones

• Decision Date: 18 December 1962
• Docket Number: Cr. 11
• Citation: 211 Cal.App.2d 63,27 Cal.Rptr. 429
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. James JONES, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 429

27 Cal.Rptr. 429

211 Cal.App.2d 63

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. James JONES, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 11.

District Court of Appeal, Fifth District, California.

Dec. 18, 1962.

Hearing Denied Feb. 13, 1963.

James Jones, in pro. per.

Stanley Mosk, Atty. Gen., Doris H. Maier, Asst. Atty. Gen., Edward A. Hinz, Deputy Atty. Gen., Sacramento, for respondent.

CONLEY, Presiding Justice.

The defendant, James Jones, appeals from convictions of first degree burglary and first degree robbery. Count I of the information charged that the defendant and one James Hamilton, Jr., on or about February 16, 1961, did 'willfully, unlawfully and feloniously enter the house and building occupied by Joseph Williams, in the City of Tulare, * * * in the night time, with the intent * * * to commit theft * * *'; count II alleged that the two defendants on the same date '* * * did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously and by means of force and fear take from the possession and immediate presence of Joseph Williams * * * ($585) * * * at which time defendants were armed with a dangerous weapon, * * * a straight razor.'

On March 10, 1961, appellant first appeared in the superior court, and the Public Defender of Tulare County was then appointed to represent him. The record shows that a copy of the transcript of the proceedings at the preliminary hearing was handed to him and that he received a true copy of the information. The court continued the matter at defendant's request to March 14, 1961, at which time the defendant entered a plea of not guilty to each of the two charges. On April 18, 19 and 20 the defendants were tried before a jury, which rendered verdicts finding each of them guilty as charged on both counts.

Appellant's motion for a new trial was argued and denied on May 12, 1961; the court also denied probation and sentenced the appellant to state's prison on each of the two counts.

The appellant, having filed a notice of appeal, this court, at his request, appointed Martin Fath as his counsel. On March 8, 1962, appointed counsel filed a report in lieu of a brief on appeal stating that he could find no meritorious basis for the appeal, whereupon he was relieved of his duty by order of this court. The appellant subsequently filed both an opening and a closing brief in his own behalf.

The victim of the crimes, Joseph Williams, lived in a two-room house in the city of Tulare; he testified he had been acquainted with appellant Jones and codefendant Hamilton for about 10 years; during the first part of January, 1961, Williams had $585 in a savings account in a Tulare bank; because his mother had died, he withdrew the money about January 27, 1961, for the payment of debts and funeral expenses; he placed it in a white pocketbook inserted in a brown pocketbook, and during the day carried it on his person. At night he kept it between the two mattresses on his bed.

About a month before February 16, 1961, the victim had shown the money to acquaintances, Burl McArthur and Robert Wilson; McArthur told codefendant Hamilton about Williams' money. On February 15, 1961, Williams went to bed at about 11:30 p. m. after locking both doors of his home. A little later, the defendants broke into the house through a kitchen window; they tore down the screen, placed a box under the window, crawled through, and after stepping on the stove, reached the floor of the kitchen. Codefendant Hamilton ran into the bedroom and struck the victim on the right side of the head. After grabbing Williams by the left hand and pulling him onto the floor he said, 'I came for it,' and 'give me that money.' Hamilton told appellant Jones to turn on the light, which he did. The appellant kicked the victim and hit him with his fists, striking him several times. Codefendant Hamilton took the money from between the mattresses of victim's bed. The fund amounted to $585, composed of all $20 bills, except for one $5 bill. Williams tried to seize the money from Hamilton, who was holding him with his left hand; the codefendant pulled a straight razor from his pocket and slashed at Williams with it; Williams jumped back, threw up his hands to block the attack and suffered a cut on a finger of his left hand.

Williams testified that appellant told Hamilton, 'You got what you come for. Now let's go.' The two men went to the kitchen door, unlocked the night latch and went outside. The complaining witness picked up a butcher knife which was lying on a kitchen table and asked them to return the money. Hamilton replied, 'I haven't got your money,' and said that Williams had better not come outside or tell anyone or he would kill him. As the outside area was dark, the victim was afraid to go to the police station; he had neither a telephone nor a car; he wrapped his finger and went to bed.

The next day at approximately 7 a. m. Williams arose and went to the house of Mrs. Jeltz, his landlady, to call the police. She advised him to go directly to the police station. Williams returned home to get his coat and again started out the door. He met appellant and codefendant Hamilton on his porch as he was leaving. Williams accused them of taking his money; they denied it; Williams went back to Mrs. Jeltz's and then again to his home; Jones and Hamilton returned to Williams' house; appellant was at the edge of the yard about 20 feet away while Hamilton stood on the front porch pointing a shotgun at Williams; he told Williams not to leave the house or report the crime or he would shoot him.

Williams watched the two men for a few minutes to see if they were leaving; he then began walking up the alley behind his house; he saw the appellant, who said, 'I didn't take your money. What I was beating on you about last night was my wife.' The victim continued to the police station and reported the crime.

Appellant and Hamilton went to the home of the codefendant's mother, where his four sisters, brother and three children also lived; the two stayed there about 15 minutes, then left and later returned at about 8:30 a. m. Appellant gave Mrs. Hamilton the shotgun and two or three shells and told her to keep them.

That evening Mrs. Savannah Stewart, one of Hamilton's sisters who lived with Mrs. Pearl Hamilton, found $380 in $20 bills in a pocket of an overcoat hanging in the closet.

Testifying in his own defense, appellant claimed that he went with Hamilton to the victim's house at about 7 p. m. on February 15; that the two men and the victim drank and talked and that after awhile Williams offered appellant $2 and then told him to 'go get Willadean and I'll give her ten.' Willadean Jones was the wife of appellant, from whom he had been separated for several years; appellant stated he tereupon slapped the victim in resentment over the offer. He claimed Williams began to cry, talked about his mother's death and then five or six minutes later came out of the kitchen with a butcher knife, and for several minutes Williams lunged at the two men with a knife and yelled at them before allowing them to leave. Appellant claimed that he was not in the Williams house except at the time of the above incident.

Appellant admitted handing the shotgun and shells to Mrs. Pearl Hamilton on the following morning after taking the gun from Hamilton in front of Williams' house. Hamilton claimed that he had found the $380 early that morning wrapped in a blue bandana-type handkerchief near the victim's home; he further claimed that he had given the money to his mother shortly after finding it. However, his mother and sister testified that it was found by his sister in an overcoat which was hanging in the Hamilton closet.

Appellant's contentions on appeal, although divided into numerous subdivisions, constitute four claims:

(1) That no complaint or preliminary examination in the lower court and no commitment to the superior court took place; that therefore the district attorney filed the information without proper authority;

(2) That the information was defective;

(3) That the evidence does not justify the verdict;

(4) That the public defender, the judge and the district attorney failed to protect the defendant's constitutional rights.

Appellant first alleges that no complaint was filed against him in the lower court and that no preliminary hearing was had prior to the filing of the information. These statements are either made with wilful intent to deceive or through ignorance of patent fact. After reading the briefs of the defendant, this court ordered, pursuant to rule 12(a) of the California Rules of Court, that the entire file in the case be sent to us by the clerk of the trial court. The file shows that the criminal complaint in the Justice Court for the Tulare Judicial District, which was subscribed and sworn to by Joseph Williams, the victim, on the 2nd day of March, 1961, before Judge Ward G. Rush, charged James Jones in a proper form with burglary. The document bears an endorsement signed by Judge Rush holding the defendant to answer for burglary, fixing bail and ordering him to appear in Department 3 of the superior court on Friday, March 10, 1961, at 9:30 a. m.

There was likewise placed on file in the office of the County Clerk of Tulare County the original warrant of arrest issued by Judge Rush on the 2nd day of March, 1961, together with a certificate of arrest of the defendant and an endorsement of Judge Rush, fixing bail at that time in the sum of $3,150. These official papers were filed in the superior court by the committing magistrate pursuant to the requirements of section 883 of the Penal Code.

Furthermore, as already noted, the minutes of the superior court show that the defendant was handed a transcript of the testimony taken at the preliminary examination at the time of his arraignment. And the attorney appointed to represent defendant in this court, who filed a report that he could find no meritorious point on appeal, further states that the defendant contend...