People v. Orndorff, Cr. 13081

• Decision Date: 16 April 1968
• Docket Number: Cr. 13081
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Charles ORNDORFF, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 824

67 Cal.Rptr. 824

261 Cal.App.2d 212

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Charles ORNDORFF, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 13081.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.

April 16, 1968.

Hearing Denied June 11, 1968.

Florence G. Mills, Los Angeles, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for defendant and appellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., Howard J. Bechefsky and Bruce Perlman, Deputy Attys. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

KINGSLEY, Associate Justice.

Defendant was charged with attempted grand theft. The case was submitted on the transcript of the preliminary examination, together with testimony by defendant. He was found guilty as charged, probation was denied and he was sentenced to state prison. He has appealed. We reverse the judgment.

The victim, Juniper Griffis, testified that he was accosted on a street in Long Beach by a Negro sailor, who asked him concerning a hotel. In the conversation that followed, the sailor displyed a roll of bills and told Griffis that he had been given it by his ship's captain as the proceeds of insurance on the life of the sailor's brother. Griffis advised the sailor to put the money (allegedly.$19,000) in a bank but the sailor demurred, saying that he understood that if a Negro deposited money in a bank, the bank would not let him withdraw it. At this stage, defendant appeared, walked by the two men and was accosted by Griffis, who asked defendant to help 'straighten out' the sailor. After further conversation, the three men drove, in defendant's car, to Griffis' home to procure his bank book so that Griffis, by making a withdrawal from his account, could satisfy the sailor that the sailor could safely make a deposit. They then drove to the vicinity of Griffis' bank. The sailor remained in the car, Griffis and defendant walked toward the bank but, before reaching it, defendant stopped, telling Griffis to go to the bank alone, as defendant wanted to watch the sailor. Griffis went to the bank where he met his wife; after Griffis and his wife talked to the assistant manager they left the bank to find that defendant, the sailor and the car had disappeared.

Thereafter police officers went to defendant's home, advised him of his constitutional rights, ¹ secured permission to search the apartment, discovered a roll of 'play money' and arrested defendant. The roll of play money was introduced into evidence. During conversations that took place, then and later, defendant admitted his participation in the affair, but claimed that he recognized that the sailor was attempting a scheme known as the 'Jamaica Switch,' did not want to get involved because he was on parole, and dropped out of the proceedings as he and Griffis approached the bank.

A police officer, properly qualified as an expert on 'bunco' schemes, described the so-called 'Jamaica Switch,' as follows:

'A The No. 1 Negro I will refer to as the sailor, stops an elderly white man and gives a conversation similar or in scale to what Mr. Griffin (sic) described, in which he will talk about how he is a poor old Negro. He says he is from Jamaica or Martinique or one of the islands down there. He has been left this amount of money, that the captain keeps the money and he is interested in keeping the money in the captain's safe; the night before the girl had tried to take him, getting the victim's sympathy. He then talks about the girl and the hotel, bringing in the sex angle. The third subject will come along, the No. 2 Negro comes by, a man that looks prosperous, has a fine fitting suit, probably wearing a hat and as Mr. Griffis stated, the sailor will constantly refer to himself as a nigger.

'* * *

'A. Yes sir. There is a discussion about finding a hotel, they then go around and get the victim's bank book. Usually a roll of 100 and 500 dollars is shown to the victim by the sailor, after showing him that he can get his money in and out of the bank. They will take the victim to the bank, he gets his money out and shows it to the sailor. The sailor will then grab the money and get the victim's money in his hand and tell the victim what a wonderful man he is, and he will have a handkerchief or a bag or a container he can put the money in. So he will take the victim's money, put it in the handkerchief and tell him what a wonderful man he is. He also will take the award money and put the money in the sack and hand it back to the victim. At that time the victim has hes own money and then the money the suspect had carried. The victim will start to put it into his pocket, coat pocket, inside pocket or even in his hand. The sailor grabs the package back and says, 'Oh no, man, like my momma used to tell me,' and he will...