People v. King

• Decision Date: 24 February 1966
• Docket Number: Cr. 4814
• Citation: 49 Cal.Rptr. 562,240 Cal.App.2d 389
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 21 A.L.R.3d 706 PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John Lee KING and Robert Lee Jones, Defendants and Appellants.

Page 562

49 Cal.Rptr. 562

240 Cal.App.2d 389, 21 A.L.R.3d 706

PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John Lee KING and Robert Lee Jones, Defendants and Appellants.

Cr. 4814.

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

Feb. 24, 1966.

Hearing Denied April 22, 1966.

Thomas R. Williamson, San Francisco (under appointment of the District Court of Appeal), for appellant Robert Lee Jones.

David B. Flinn, San Francisco (under appointment of the District Court of Appeal), for appellant John Lee King.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., Edward P. O'Brien, Deputy Atty. Gen., San Francisco, for respondent.

SULLIVAN, Presiding Justice.

A jury found defendants John Lee King and Robert Lee Jones guilty of murder in the first degree (Pen.Code, §§ 187, 189) ¹ and of robbery in the first degree (§§ 211, 211a) and fixed the penalty on the murder count at life imprisonment (§ 190). ² Defendants' motions for new trial were denied and defendants were sentenced on the murder count (Count One) to life imprisonment and on the robbery count (Count Two) to state prison for the term prescribed by law, such sentences to run concurrently. They appeal from the judgments of conviction. ³

Since defendants do not question the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions, our recital of the facts will avoid unnecessary detail. In our separate consideration of the several issues, we will set forth such additional facts pertinent to each as the discussion may require.

The Robbery (Count Two)

On March 25, 1964 at about 10:30 p. m., defendant King entered a liquor store in Mill Valley and asked for cigarettes. After receiving them, King ordered the store owner, Schladweiler, to open the cash register, at the same time producing a Colt automatic. Schladweiler complied and King scooped out all the currency. Jones then entered the store, telling King to 'Get it all.' Schladweiler was then forced to hand over $125 in dollar bills and some rolled coins which were underneath the counter. Defendants then made their get-a-way in a late model automobile.

The Murder (Count One)

On Monday, March 30, 1964, the day after Easter, the body of the victim Donald Corbett, a young business executive, was found in his apartment in Sausalito. On the preceding Thursday evening he had been seen with defendant King at Zack's Restaurant in Sausalito. On the next day, Good Friday, Corbett lunched with a few friends and business associates at Zack's, leaving them about 2:30 p. m. Later in the afternoon, accompanied by a young lady next door neighbor, he drove in his Porsche automobile to a nearby beach, returning to his apartment at about 6:30 p. m.

On the same day (March 27, 1964) between 7 p. m. and 8:45 p. m., Corbett's divorced wife, a resident of Tucson, Arizona, tried to reach him by long distance telephone, but without success. All three calls were answered by the same male voice: she was first told that Corbett was out and on her last attempt that he had gone 'into the city.' The person answering them identified himself as Jack Nielsen. Mrs. Corbett came to Sausalito, went to Corbett's apartment on Sunday, March 29, at about 8 p. m., and finding no one there left a note for Corbett with a neighbor. She telephoned Corbett many times on Sunday from San Francisco but could get no answer. A lady friend of Corbett's also tried to contact him by telephone on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Her Friday call, made at about 9 p. m., was answered by a man who told her that Corbett was in the city and would not return until 3 a. m.; her other calls received no response. Corbett's brother was also unsuccessful in telephoning Corbett during Saturday afternoon and evening and throughout Sunday.

On Monday, March 30, 1964, between 11:00 and 11:30 a. m., three of Corbett's friends, concerned over his nonappearance at work, gained entrance to his apartment and found his body. One of them noticed that the paintings which he had seen there on the preceding Friday were missing. There was testimony by a pathologist who examined the victim's body that the cause of death was hemorrhage caused by 16 stab wounds in the back made by a sharp instrument such as an ice pick, a nail or a knitting needle. There were also injuries to the victims' head, including a depressed skull fracture, a fracture of the nose and a blackened left eye. The medical witness fixed the time of death at 'around 48 hours prior' to the autopsy which he performed at 5 p. m. on Moday.

Defendants had been in the Sausalito area since March 1964 and were frequently seen together, although known by other names. On March 5 they rented a houseboat named 'Julia,' King introducing himself as Jack Carpenter and Jones as Virgil Stevens. Both said they were employees of the General Electric Company. On March 18th, King rented an apartment on the houseboat 'Surfside I,' using the name Carpenter; he left the 'Julia' and occupied the new apartment by himself. Defendants were known to have been in the possession of guns and had once been overheard arguing about guns by King's neighbors on the 'Surfside I.'

On March 27, 1964 (Good Friday) about noon, defendant King discussed with a local boat builder the possible purchase of an expensive sailboat and also disclosed to other persons his intention to purchase a Porsche automobile and a stereo set as well as the boat. That night both defendants were seen returning to the Julia together at about 10:30 p. m. and leaving the houseboat again around 11:30 p. m.

An hour or so later their paths crossed that of Arlene Walsh who had known Jones under the name of Virgil Stevens for about a week and had had several dates with him. When Mrs. Walsh returned to her apartment shortly after midnight, she found Jones waiting in her bedroom. The two then went in Jones' Pontiac to Zack's Bar in Sausalito where they arrived at about 1 a. m. on Saturday, March 28. They met King inside, who was thereupon introduced by Jones to Mrs. Walsh as Jack Carpenter. King was intoxicated and obnoxious. Jones proceeded to take Mrs. Walsh home and King followed them to the parking lot. There the three of them entered a 'metallic gold' Porsche, which Jones drove to Mrs. Walsh's apartment. Eventually the two men stayed there all night, leaving about 10:30 a. m. Defendants returned to the apartment at about 1 p. m. and drove Mrs. Walsh in the Porsche to their houseboats where she remained until 4 p. m. aboard the Julia while Jones left with King who, she was told, 'had business in the city.' After a short visit to the other houseboat, Jones drove Mrs. Walsh home at about 4:30 p. m. When she left, she saw King putting suitcases in the Porsche.

During this sequence of events, another significant incident took place. On Saturday morning, before defendants returned from Mrs. Walsh's apartment, the owner of the 'Surfside I' had gone to that houseboat to see if it had been damaged by a tidal wave which had struck the area during the night and had entered King's apartment. In the course of an inspection of the boat by the owner and others accompanying him, a number of articles belonging to Corbett, the victim, were seen in King's apartment. ⁴ King found the visitors there on his return with Jones later in the morning, became 'slightly upset' and told the owner to 'Get out of here.'

On the same day, Saturday, March 28 at 5 p. m., defendants rented a Lincoln convertible in San Francisco, King signing the rental agreement as Donald Corbett and charging the bill on Corbett's American Express card. On Sunday, March 29, 1964 at 1:45 a. m., defendants arrived in the Lincoln at the Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada, and registered as guests, King, the driver, using the name of Corbett. The luggage which they had was Corbett's. On Sunday, March 29, defendants drove to Las Vegas where they registered at a motel at 10 p. m. There they abandoned the Lincoln. In the car sheriff's officers found the keys to Corbett's Porsche. From Las Vegas defendants went by plane to Los Angeles, then to Miami Beach; and finally by way of New Orleans and Los Angeles to Honolulu. ⁵

Early in the morning of April 5, 1964 defendant King was apprehended by the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a hotel on the island of Hawaii where he had registered under the name of Corbett. After being advised of his right to counsel and to remain silent, King talked to the agents about his travel activities and his use of Corbett's name. He told them that he had never met Corbett 'when he was alive.' Later that morning, F.B.I. agents apprehended defendant Jones in a nearby hotel. After advising the latter of his rights, they searched the hotel room, uncovering personal effects of Corbett's, weapons and ammunition, and rolls of coins which had been taken in the robbery of the Mill Valley liquor store.

The prosecution called Evelyn Money who testified that while she was living in Houston, Texas, in the early part of March 1964 she met both defendants; that they brutally assaulted her in her apartment, bound her with adhesive tape and threatened her life; and that they stole her Pontiac automobile, the same car defendants had in Sausalito, as well as other personal property.

Neither defendant took the stand in his own behalf. King called one witness in defense; Jones called none. ⁶

Defendants are represented on this appeal by separate counsel appointed by this court, who were not their counsel in the court below. Separate briefs have been filed on behalf of each. King makes six contentions before us for reversal of the judgment; Jones makes four contentions which are identical to four of those made by King. Hereafter in our discussion of the several points we indicate whether they are raised by King alone or by both defendants.

Defendant King alone contends that it was error for the trial court to exclude prospective jurors who indicated upon voir dire examination that they were...