People v. Kortopates

• Decision Date: 19 July 1968
• Docket Number: Cr. 13106
• Citation: 264 Cal.App.2d 176,70 Cal.Rptr. 189
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Shari D. KORTOPATES and Robert Gene Boggs, Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 189

70 Cal.Rptr. 189

264 Cal.App.2d 176

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Shari D. KORTOPATES and Robert Gene Boggs, Defendants and Appellants.

Cr. 13106.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 5, California.

July 19, 1968.

Hearing Denied Sept. 11, 1968.

Howard E. Beckler, Hollywood, for defendant and appellant Shari D. kortopates.

Dahlstrum, Walton & Butts, by Richard A. Walton, Hollywood, for defendant and appellant Robert Gene Boggs.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., and Robert R. Granucci and John P. Oakes, Deputy Attys. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

STEPHENS, Associate Justice.

After a preliminary hearing, defendants Kortopates and Boggs were charged by information with violation of section 11500.5 of the Health and Safety Code (possession of heroin for sale). One prior non-narcotic felony conviction was charged against defendant Boggs. A motion pursuant to Penal Code, section 995 was made and denied as to each defendant, and each pleaded not guilty. Trial by jury was waived by both defendants, and after trial to the court each defendant was found guilty as charged. The prior felony alleged against defendant Boggs was found to be true. Motions for new trials were denied as to each defendant. The court suspended proceedings as to defendant Kortopates, and she was granted probation for five years subject to certain conditions. Defendant Boggs was sentenced to state prison for the term prescribed by law. Both defendants appeal from the judgments of conviction rendered against them.

Each defendant raises a single issue on this appeal, i.e., that the evidence was insufficient to support the judgment.

The illegal activity centered in two adjacent apartments, Nos. 9 and 10, located at 1531 North Fuller Street, Los Angeles. After the arrest of the defendants, both of these apartments were searched, pursuant to a search warrant. The search of apartment 10 indicated that that apartment was not being used as living quarters. There was no clothing, food, pots or pans, dishes, or little else to indicate that someone was living in it. There were, however, a few glasses, some liquor and soft drink bottles, and a bedspread on the bed. There was a telephone in the apartment which was an extension of one of the telephones in apartment 9, and a bottle of mouthwash in the bathroom. When pressed on questioning, one of the testifying officers expressed the opinion that apartment 10 was being used as the working quarters of a prostitute. Also found in apartment 10, in a linen cabinet in the bathroom, was a significant amount of heroin and various other items of contraband.

The search of apartment 9 revealed it to be a two bedroom apartment. It was apparently inhabited by both defendants and another female, one Billie Zublick, who was also known as Marie Curtis, who was defendant Kortopates' sister. In the kitchen area of that apartment, the officers found toy balloons, milk, sugar, measuring spoons, and a funnel. There was expert testimony indicating that all these items were used for the packaging of heroin for sale. Apartment 9 was leased to four persons: Miss Zublick, an unnamed individual, and the two defendants. The defendants were paying the rent on that apartment at the time of the arrest.

Miss Zublick was renting apartment 10, and the phone in that apartment was in her name. As mentioned above, Miss Zublick appeared to be living in apartment 9, and that is where her clothes were. The testimony also indicated that a search for fingerprints was made in apartment 10. Miss Zublick's fingerprints were found on the bottle of mouthwash in the bathroom, and defendant Kortopates' fingerprint was found inside the linen cabinet in close proximity to the contraband which was found there.

Officers of the Los Angeles Police Department had apartments 9 and 10 under surveillance for a time immediately preceding these arrests, and observed certain activities of the defendants. The officers testified they observed certain persons going to the area of the two apartments. One officer testified that at least two of those persons were known to him to be users of narcotics. On one occasion, defendant Kortopates was seen to leave apartment 9 shortly after someone had arrived there. She then went to apartment 10, and entered it by use of a key. After a short period of time, she left apartment 10 carrying an object, and reentered apartment 9. The person who had entered apartment 9 just prior to Kortopates' leaving it then left the apartment and the building a short time later. This episode occurred on December 8, 1965.

A similar occurrence involving a similar object and following the pattern of the stranger's arrival, the inhabitant of apartment 9 getting something from apartment 10, returning to 9, and then the stranger's departure, was observed involving defendant Boggs. On the day of the arrest, December 11, 1965, defendant Boggs was seen leaving apartment 9 and entering 10. A stranger had not entered 9 preceding this. After a short while, defendant Boggs left apartment 10 carrying a similar object in his hand, and reentered apartment 9. A while later, both defendants left the apartment and entered a car....