People v. Lee

• Decision Date: 15 January 1970
• Docket Number: Cr. 3468
• Citation: 83 Cal.Rptr. 715,3 Cal.App.3d 514
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Edward LEE, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 715

83 Cal.Rptr. 715

3 Cal.App.3d 514

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Edward LEE, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 3468.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 2, California.

Jan. 15, 1970.

Hearing Denied March 11, 1970.

[3 Cal.App.3d 518] Samuel Frizell, Santa Ana, under appointment by this Court of Appeal, for defendant and appellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., William E. James Asst. Atty. Gen., and William V. Ballough, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

OPINION

TAMURA, Associate Justice.

Following a jury trial defendant was found guilty of attempted murder (Pen.Code, § 187) and was sentenced to state prison. He appeals from the judgment of conviction.

The offense was committed in the early morning hours of March 9, 1968, in LaHabra in an apartment rented to one William Brooks. Brooks operated a billiard parlor nearby. The victim, Marie Siuro, had been living with Brooks since January. About 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. on March 8 Brooks received a telephone call from Marie in which she stated that she had been beaten and was badly bruised. Brooks told her to call the police and her parents. That night Brooks closed his billiard parlor at midnight, visited his daughter until 2:00 a.m. and returned to his apartment. As he entered the hallway he observed 'blood all over the place' and found Marie lying on the bathroom floor. She was covered with blood, unconscious and breathing heavily. Brooks called the police and Marie was taken to the hospital where an examination revealed a severe head injury with lacerations and bruises about her head and face. She was unable to move her right upper and lower extremities, indicating brain damage. She remained unconscious for two or three months. The examining doctor testified that the injuries could have been caused by someone kicking the victim. At the time of trial, vision from Marie's left eye appeared to be permanently impairted and it was extremely doubtful that she would ever be able to walk.

The evidence connecting defendant with the crime may be summarized as follows:

On the morning of March 8 defendant and Marie checked into a motel in East Los Angeles. About 7:30 that evening the motel manager saw Marie run out of her room; he noted she had a black eye and a bruised cheek. Shortly thereafter defendant appeared and asked the manager where Marie had gone. The manager pointed in a direction opposite to the one she had taken and defendant stated that he knew where she was and that he was going after her. After defendant drove off, Marie returned and said she was going to call a cab.

At about 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. the owner of the apartment complex in LaHabra where Brooks resided saw defendant ring the doorbell of Brooks' apartment. Defendant got no response and asked the manager where the occupant could be found. The owner directed defendant to the billiard parlor. That evening William Brooks' brother, Murray, saw defendant at the billiard parlor. Defendant inquired about the owner, used a telephone, and left.

About 11:30 p.m. a taxi driver picked Marie up in East Los Angeles and dropped her off about midnight in front of Brooks' apartment in LaHabra. About 1:45 a.m. the apartment owner's 18-year-old daughter saw defendant near Brooks' apartment. She later heard footsteps on the driveway and the sound of a vehicle driving off.

Defendant resided at his wife's house in Montebello next door to Mr. and Mrs. Fontes. On March 16 the Fontes found a pair of work shoes in the shrubbery of their front yard. They had heard that defendant's wife had been looking for the shoes so they gave them to her.

Defendant's father testified that some 15 days after defendant was arrested he called from the county jail stating that he had hidden a pair of work shoes in the neighbor's yard and asked his father to look for them. The father told defendant's wife about the call and she stated that she had the shoes.

The district attorney eventually obtained possession of the shoes and had them examined by a criminalist. The criminalist testified that the shoes were heavily stained with human blood of the same group and type as Marie's, that the heaviest concentration of blood was on the heel and sole with a fairly large amount on the toe, that a bloody footprint found in the hallway of Brooks' apartment appeared to have the same sole pattern as one of the shoes, and that blood of the same type was found on the floor mat of defendant's vehicle. In addition, the criminalist found human hair on the shoes which matched samples removed from Marie's head.

Defendant was arrested on Saturday afternoon, March 9. That afternoon defendant was advised of his rights and interviewed. Defendant admitted registering at the motel in East Los Angeles with Marie, and striking her in the course of an argument. He denied having gone to LaHabra on the evening of March 8 but when he was told that he had been seen near Brooks' apartment, he admitted being there early in the evening. He stated he went from Brooks' apartment to the billiard parlor, then to his wife's house in Montebello, and then to his parents' home. At those interviews defendant stated that on the evening of March 8 he was wearing a pair of wing-tipped dress shoes and the same clothing he had on at the time of his arrest.

At 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 11, defendant was interviewed by an investigator from the district attorney's office. After proper advisements and waiver of rights defendant gave the same version of his activities on the night of March 8. He stated that he called Marie from his parents' home but that she hung up, that about 1:00 a.m. he went out looking for a restaurant, that he drove to his wife's house and sat in his car until 2:00 or 2:15 a.m. before entering the house.

Around 9:30 p.m., March 11, defendant initiated a conversation with a police officer who was making a jail check and offered to show the officer where the clothing he was wearing on March 8 was located. At defendant's request the officer took him to his father's residence where he pointed out certain items of clothing which were in a garage. The officer took the items to the sheriff's crime laboratory for checking.

Defendant was again interrogated by the district attorney's investigator at 2:20 p.m., Tuesday, March 12. After being warned of his rights, defendant stated that he had thrown away the trousers he was wearing on the night of March 8 because he had spilled oil on them and that he had also thrown away a pair of work shoes for the same reason. He did not recall where he had discarded his shoes. He also said that he had beaten Marie on at least eight prior occasions.

Defendant testified in his own behalf in substance as follows: He and Marie registered at the motel in East Los Angeles on March 8. They had an argument, he struck her, and she ran out of the motel. He went to the apartment in LaHabra and spoke to the owner, then went to Brooks' billiard parlor and then to his wife's house in Montebello where he remained until midnight. He then went to his parents' home and telephoned Marie. She told him that she was having trouble with the person with whom she was living and asked him to pick her up. During the conversation he overheard someone tell Marie, 'Is that him?' and 'Hang up on him and don't ever talk to him again.' Defendant called again and his mother talked to Marie. Marie again asked defendant to pick her up and he agreed to do so. En route to Brooks' apartment he picked up a hitchhiker. Upon arriving at Brooks' apartment he rang the doorbell but no one responded. As he was returning to his car he observed someone attempting to unlock the door to Brooks' apartment. He took the hitchhiker home and returned to the apartment. The door was open and the lights were on. He entered and saw Marie lying on the bathroom floor. He became frightened and left immediately for his wife's house in Montebello arriving there about 2:30 a.m. He noticed blood on his shoes so he hid them in the neighbors' yard because he felt he might be a 'logical suspect.' Defendant admitted that the shoes which had been introduced into evidence belonged to him and that they were the ones he was wearing on the night in question.

Defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. He seeks a reversal on the following grounds: (1) Statements taken from him on March 11 and 12 should have been excluded because there was an unreasonable delay in taking him before a magistrate; (2) his shoes should have been suppressed as evidence because they had been illegally seized by the district attorney; (3) certain testimony elicited from representatives of the public defender should have been excluded on the basis of an attorney-client privilege; and (4) the court erred in making certain comments to the jury concerning Marie's competency as a witness.

I

Defendant was arrested on Saturday afternoon but was not arraigned until Wednesday. Defendant urges that he should have been taken before a magistrate on Monday morning and, therefore, statements taken from him on Monday and Tuesday afternoon should have been excluded as fruits of an illegal detention.

Saturdays and Sundays being judicial holidays, in the instant case the statutory two-day period did not commence until Monday and did not expire until midnight Tuesday. Courts not being in session at midnight, arraignment on Wednesday did not exceed the statutory maximum provided by section 825 of the Penal Code. ¹ (People V. Chambers, 276 A.C.A. 117, 132, 80 Cal.Rptr. 672. See People v. Ross, 236 Cal.App.2d 364, 368, 46 Cal.Rptr. 41.) Thus the statements taken on Monday afternoon and at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday were obtained within the two-day statutory maximum.

Under certain circumstances even a delay within the statutory maximum may be patently unreasonable. (See People v. Powell, 67 Cal.2d 32, 59, 59 Cal.Rptr. 817, 429 P.2d 137; Dragna v....