People v. Thompson, 787

Citation120 Cal.App.2d 359,260 P.2d 1019
Decision Date24 September 1953
Docket NumberNo. 787,787
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeals
PartiesPEOPLE v. THOMPSON.

Howard B. Clayton, for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., and William E. James, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

MUSSELL, Justice.

Defendant was charged with and convicted of the crime of Burglary in violation of section 459 of the Penal Code. The jury verdict fixed the degree of the offense as burglary in the first degree. Thereafter a motion for new trial was made and denied and judgment was entered declaring the defendant to be an habitual criminal and sentencing him to the state prison. He appeals from the judgment and the order denying the motion for a new trial and his sole contention here is that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury.

Statement of Facts and Evidence

At about 7:30 p. m. on November 27, 1952, Mrs. Odie Thornton left her apartment at 831 Broadway in San Diego and proceeded to a sandwich shop nearby, where she worked and of which she was a co-owner. She returned to her apartment at about 8:30 p. m. to 'pick up a check' and after remaining there a few moments, again returned to the sandwich shop where she worked until about 4:30 a. m. of November 28th. It was her nightly custom to check the cash register, remove the money therefrom and take it to her apartment. On the night of November 27th she had left approximately $300 in a metal cabinet in the living room of her apartment and upon her return from work on the following morning, at about 4:30 a. m., she found that the apartment had been entered in her absence; that the locks on the filing cabinet had been pushed in and that all the money therein had been stolen, together with a list of the number of rolls of quarters and dimes which she had fastened to some of the currency with a paper clip. The money stolen consisted of currency, a $10 roll of quarters, four $5 rolls of dimes, about 10 silver dollars, and some nickels and pennies. Mrs. Thornton, upon discovering her loss, contacted her brother, who was also part owner of the shop, and he in turn called the police. About an hour later the defendant was arrested in his nearby apartment. He was then fully dressed and on his person and on a table in the partment the officers found a total of $286.74, consisting of $241 in currency, $8 in silver dollars, one half dollar, $10 in quarters, $19.60 in dimes, $4.45 in nickels and $3.19 in pennies. The currency consisted of five $20 bills, ten $10 bills, six $5 bills and 11 $1 bills.

When first questioned by the arresting officers, defendant stated that he had been in his room the entire night of November 27th. He later remembered that he had gone out for a few minutes to buy a bottle of Vodka, and when shown a partly used bus ticket found in his room, admitted that he had boarded a Greyhound bus at about 8:00 or 8:30 p. m. on the evening of November 27th and traveled on it as far as Oceanside, when he remembered that he was not to leave San Diego; that he then got off and boarded another bus for San Diego. When asked where he obtained the money found in his room and on his person, defendant stated that it was 'savings' and that he had spent a small portion of it for a bottle of Vodka and one or two other items. However, two days before the burglary defendant sought employment in a bakery in San Diego and at that time stated that he did not have $100 with which to post the bond required and that he would be back the next day and would try to borrow the money.

Defendant was employed in the sandwich shop as a dishwasher for about six weeks prior to November 19, 1952, and was then discharged. During his employment he worked on the night shift with Mrs. Thornton and was in the shop when she removed the money from the cash register at night. After having been discharged, he twice visited Mrs....

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12 cases
  • People v. McFarland
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • November 20, 1962
    ...or conduct of the defendant tending to show his guilt. (E.g., People v. Citrino, 46 Cal.2d 284, 288-289, 294 P.2d 32; People v. Thompson, 120 Cal.App.2d 359, 260 P.2d 1019; People v. Morris, 124 Cal.App. 402, 404, 12 P.2d 679.) This court stated in People v. Lyons, 50 Cal.2d 245, 258, 324 P......
  • People v. Robinson
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • September 10, 1974
    ...148, 179 P.2d 75.) When possession is shown the corroborating evidence may be slight. (People v. Citrino, supra; People v. Thompson, 120 Cal.App.2d 359, 363, 260 P.2d 1019.) In the instant case the jury was instructed as to murder of the first degree perpetrated by deliberate and premeditat......
  • People v. Hopkins
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • March 27, 1963
    ...conduct of the defendant tending to show his guilt. (E. g., People v. Citrino, 46 Cal.2d 284, 288-289, 294 P.2d 32; People v. Thompson, 120 Cal.app.2d 359, 260 P.2d 1019; People v. Morris, 124 Cal.App. 402, 404, 12 P.2d 679.)' (People v. McFarland, 58 A.C. 763, 769, 26 Cal.Rptr. 473, 476, 3......
  • People v. Phelps
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • May 11, 1961
    ...P.2d 58, 59; People v. Wissenfeld, 36 Cal.2d 758, 763, 227 P.2d 833; People v. Citrino, 46 Cal.2d 284, 294 P.2d 32; People v. Thompson, 120 Cal.App.2d 359, 260 P.2d 1019), such as acts, conduct or declarations of the accused tending to show his guilt (People v. Citrino, 46 Cal.2d 284, 294 P......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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