People v. Mulqueen

• Decision Date: 10 July 1970
• Docket Number: Cr. 5698
• Citation: 9 Cal.App.3d 532,88 Cal.Rptr. 235
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John Daniel MULQUEEN, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 235

88 Cal.Rptr. 235

9 Cal.App.3d 532

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v.John Daniel MULQUEEN, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 5698.

Court of Appeal, Third District, California.

July 10, 1970.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., by Edsel W. Haws and James D. Garbolino, Deputy Attys.Gen., Sacramento, for plaintiff-respondent.

Charles T. Thompson, Deputy Public Defender, Stockton, for defendant-appellant.

MUNDT, Associate Justice pro tem.

Defendant herein appeals from a judgment of the superior court entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of the crime of murder of the first degree, robbery of the first degree, and two prior felony convictions, namely, the second and third prior convictions charged in the information.

Defendant, in support of his appeal, contends, first, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict of either robbery of the first degree or murder of the first degree, that prejudicial error was committed in the assertion of the prior conviction before the jury, said prior conviction having been charged by the district attorney and denied by the defendant.Defendant also assertes there was error in the admission of the hotel receipt made out to him under a fictitious name which was found in the wallet of the deceased person, the alleged victim of the homicide.

Facts

Because appellant's principal assertion is the insufficiency of the evidence, we present a complete statement of the evidence which resulted in the conviction.

This case came to the attention of the authorities the morning of July 4, 1969, when Ronald Carlstrom was found dead in the El Rancho Motel in Lodi, California, he having been shot in the back of the head with a single bullet.Two days later the defendant herein was arrested in Sparks, Nevada, for the murder of Carlstrom.

This story began in Hammond, Indiana, where Carlstrom operated as an independent trucker owning his own trucking rig.He usually worked alone, although on occasions he would undertake a long haul and would hire someone as codriver.On June 29, 1969, Carlstrom left Hammond for Sparks, Nevada, with a load of shampoo and rinses.The codriver was the defendant Mulqueen.The parties arrived in Sparks on July 2, 1969, at about 10 a.m. with their load.The truck was unloaded, and the load was found to be some twenty pieces short of the amount shown on the freight bill, a discrepancy which was hard to explain.It appeared the two men weren't too happy with each other because of this discrepancy.

While in Sparks, Carlstrom called a truck broker, seeking a load to transport east on his return trip.The broker directed him to pick up 504 crates of strawberries at Watsonville and 550 crates of lettuce at Salinas--this on July 3.They were to be delivered to Youngstown, Ohio, on July 7.Carlstrom requested an advance on his payment and the broker arranged for $400 to be picked up by him at the Western Union station in Salinas on the following morning.If Carlstrom had completed the trip he would have been paid approximately $1,400, less 10 percent brokerage and the advance.Later on that day Carlstrom arrived at the Vineyard Bar in Lodi, California, where he talked with the owner, Violet Copeland, and drank some beer, mentioning to her that he was going to pick up some lettuce and strawberries on the following day.Carlstrom remained at the bar until 3 a.m., picking up a load of strawberries that afternoon, July 3, in Watsonville.He also picked up lettuce at Salinas.In the early evening of the same day he returned to the Vineyard Bar, parking nearby.Carlstrom indicated that he was very tired and had had no sleep since Monday.He identified himself as 'Chester,' but since Mrs. Copeland could not remember that name, he told her that she should call him 'Don.'Later on Carlstrom went out to his truck and came back with two pint-sized baskets of strawberries for Mrs. Copeland.He had bought beer and attempted to pay for it with a $20 bill.Mrs. Copeland, being short on change, asked if he had anything smaller.While he was getting a smaller bill from his wallet, she noticed that he had several bills in his wallet but did not identify the denominations thereof.

In the meantime the appellant had been in touch with a man named Martinez by phone.Martinez was on parole, living in Lodi approximately ten blocks from the Vineyard Bar.Appellant told Martinez that he had a truck and was going to pick up some produce, asking Martinez whether he was interested in learning to drive a truck.Martinez said that he was still on parole and that he did not want to get involved.Appellant then told Martinez that there was a hitchhiker with him on the truck and that he was going to leave the hitchhiker off on the highway.Martinez declined to go with the appellant.

After the truck had been loaded with produce the appellant got in touch with Martinez again, asking him whether or not he wanted to ride with him and learn how to drive a truck.Martinez stated that he still had not changed his mind because he was still on parole.

After about 9 p.m. the appellant joined Carlstrom in the Vineyard Bar, this on July 3.He was introduced to Mrs. Copeland as 'Benjamin.'As Carlstrom and Mrs. Copeland were comparing ages, Carlstrom showed Mrs. Copeland his wallet containing his identification.During the course of the evening appellant left the bar, coming back several times, attempting to persuade Carlstrom to leave with him.Carlstrom indicated that he was having fun and didn't wish to leave.At about 1 a.m. on July 4appellant came back to the bar and said, 'I got us a room out here.'Carlstrom asked him where and the appellant replied, 'Right out here.'Carlstrom still did not want to go and appellant left, saying, 'I will be right back, I will go out and shave and be right back.'Appellant came back to the bar shortly thereafter and he and Carlstrom left.Carlstrom told Mrs. Copeland that he would be back in ten minutes and that she was not to close up and leave.Carlstrom promised her he would buy breakfast for her and three or more people in the bar.When Mrs. Copeland left the bar at 2 a.m., the truck belonging to Carlstrom was still parked outside her bar.Between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on the morning of July 4, Carlstrom registered at the El Rancho Motel in Lodi under the name of 'Chester Bass.'He registered for one night, paid for the room, took the key and left.No one was with him at the time.

Approximately 2 a.m. that same morning, a janitor was cleaning the cafe adjacent to the motel.He heard a 'bang.'Had it not been for the fact that it was July 4, he would have thought that the noise was the report of a gun.However, since it was July 4, he thought that someone had set off a firecracker.

We next hear of the appellant when he drove into a service station in Sacramento sometime between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. on the morning of July 4.He purchased 25 gallons of diesel fuel for the tractor and 32 gallons of propane for the refrigeration unit.

At approximately 10 a.m. on the same day, a maid at the El Rancho Motel opened the door to Room 26 and saw what appeared to be a body with blood on it on the floor.The maid closed the door and immediately notified the manager of the motel, who went to the room, recognized Carlstrom as the same person that registered about eight hours earlier.Carlstrom was dressed in the same clothes he wore when he registered.The police were called and an officer arrived at the motel about 11 a.m. and proceeded to the room, where he entered and examined the body.There were no signs of life, and upon lifting Carlstrom's arm to check the pulse he found it stiff, apparently from rigor mortis.A further examination revealed the entire body was in the same condition.There were two spots on the floor next to the body, one spot of blood and another of vomit.An examination of the room, which contained two beds, revealed that it did not appear to have been used to any extent whatever.On searching the clothing of the body, nothing was found.The deceased had no wallet, no keys, no watch, and no other personal possessions.The only indications that the room had been used were water spots on the bathroom mirror, a towel lying on the floor, and there was a broken sanitary seal removed from the toilet bowl.A police operator found a fingerprint of appellant Mulqueen on the inside of the door to Room 26.During the autopsy of the body it was determined that Carlstrom had died almost instantly from a gunshot wound which penetrated the base of the skull from the rear.The gullet caused extensive brain damage as it moved toward the frontal area of the brain.Medical testimony established that the exact time of the death could not be determined in this particular case, but that an estimate would be from two to six hours prior to the discovery of the body at 10:45 a.m.

We now return to the appellant.Some 14 hours after the discovery of Carlstrom's body, appellant entered Bill and Effie's Truck Stop in Verdi, Nevada, which is approximately five miles east of the Nevada-California border on Interstate 80.There appellant purchased a truck permit for temporary travel through Nevada, for which he paid $32, the permit being issued to Ronald C. Carlstrom, Hammond, Indiana, Mulqueen signing Carlstrom's name to the permit.Mulqueen also cashed a $100 Western Union money order payable to Carlstrom, signing Carlstrom's signature on the back of the money order.Later on the same morning appellant was seen unloading the truck into a station wagon belonging to a food market in Reno.Appellant inquired of a policeman if he could leave the truck on the parking lot of the grocery store and apparently was given permission since appellant and the driver of the station wagon left with the produce.On the same day appellant sold a crate of strawberries from the truck to Louie's Basque Corner in Reno and apparently...