People v. Webb

• Decision Date: 24 June 1966
• Docket Number: Cr. 9462
• Citation: 243 Cal.App.2d 179,52 Cal.Rptr. 85
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. William Henry WEBB, Jr., and Eddie La Rue Radley, Defendants and Appellants.

Page 85

52 Cal.Rptr. 85

243 Cal.App.2d 179

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. William Henry WEBB, Jr., and Eddie La Rue Radley, Defendants and Appellants.

Cr. 9462.

District Court of Appeal, Second District Division 1, California.

June 24, 1966.

Robert W. Stanley, Los Angeles, for appellants.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., and S. Clark Moore, Deputy Attorney Gen., for respondent.

LILLIE, Justice.

Defendants Webb and Radley and co-defendant Bond were charged with receiving stolen property (§ 496, Pen.Code); Bond was also charged with burglary and kidnapping. In addition, four prior felony convictions were alleged against Webb and one against Radley; defendants admitted the priors. A jury found defendants guilty as charged. Webb appeals from the judgment, sentence and order denying motion for new trial; Radley appeals from the judgment.

On December 23, 1962, around 2:15 a.m., J. W. Robinson was robbed of approximately 300 furs of a value of about $230,000. The night watchman was threatened with a gun, taken back to a room where the furs were kept, and told to lie on the floor while the bundles of furs were taken and loaded into a station wagon.

Late in December 1962, a Mr. Baker was employed as an undercover officer by the Los Angeles Police Department; he was registered at the Biltmore Hotel under the name of Kaufman. Sergeants Donovan and Walters occupied the suite with him. Sometime between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. on December 27, Baker received a telephone call from Bond. Following the conversation the officers waited in the hotel bar while Baker met two men in a Cadillac convertible. One of these men was Radley, the other Bond. Bond leaned over and whispered, 'Mr. Kaufman?'; Baker responded by walking toward the car. Radley made a gesture of invitation, but Baker told him that they had to do some talking, so they should park the car, go in and have a drink. The three went to the hotel bar; Baker said he had a friend with him, referring to Sergeant Walters. He called Walters over and Baker said to Bond, 'Let's talk furs'; Bond said okay, and that he could take him (Baker) to them right then. When Baker asked how many pieces he had, Bond said that he had already told him that on the telephone; Baker then said that from what Bond had told him, they had some fair merchandise which he could use. Baker asked what they were asking for the furs; Bond said he wanted $40,000. Baker offered $15,000. Radley said the furs were well worth the price Bond was asking. The conversation continued and Baker said that they mentioned something about $100 apiece and asked if they would take $26,000 for the furs; Baker told Bond he would have to see them, whereupon Bond said he would take him to the furs. The four of them started out to the sidewalk, Sergeant Walters and Baker got into a cab and arranged to follow Bond and Radley. They followed the Cadillac to the corner of 113th and Avalon. Baker told the driver to wait and went to 642 113th Street. There were no lights on in the house but Bond knocked on the door three times, then two times, and then one time; Bond said, 'This is 'Effie,' or 'Essie. " The door opened and the four men entered a dark room, after which the lights were turned on. At this time Baker saw Webb. Walters, Baker, Bond and Radley entered the bedroom and saw a quantity of furs on the two beds. Baker said to Bond, 'Let me see the longs'; Bond took out a bundle and opened it up and Baker examined the contents which contained several fur coats; some had J. W. Robinson labels. Then Bond showed him the stoles and later, the capes. Some of the labels were J. W. Robinson labels. Baker told Bond that he had some fair merchandise, he could use it and would give him $30,000 for the lot. Bond said they would take it.

At this time Baker suggested that Walters and he go back to the hotel where they would wait for a call from Bond telling them when and where he could deliver the furs and that he would pay the $30,000 at that time, but Radley said, 'No, one of you fellows stay here with us, and the other one can go.' Walters mentioned that they had a cab outside and suggested that Baker go with one of them and pay off the driver. Bond said he had a truck and they could all help load the truck, and would take them anywhere they directed; Walters said that was fine, they would pay off the cab and let Baker come back and help load the furs. Radley opened the bedroom door and Webb came in. Someone said to Webb that he was to go along with this man (Baker) and pay off the cab; Webb replied, 'You want me to go with Mr. Kaufman?' and was told, 'Yes.' (From the time they entered the house until this mention of Mr. 'Kaufman,' no one had discussed Baker's alias in front of Webb.) Webb and Baker left the house to pay off the cab driver; Baker told Webb that he would like to get some cigars since it would take some time for them to count and load the furs, and wanted to go across the street to get them. They walked to and entered the store; Baker, leaving Webb, walked outside and waved his hand to advise police units in the area of his position, but no one responded to the signal. They then started to the house on 113th Street; when they got into the parking lot, Baker grabbed Webb and placed him under arrest. Baker walked about 40 feet on Avalon and pushed Webb into a phone booth; he held him with one hand and made a search of his person. Later Baker saw a police car, shouted and received assistance. At that same time other police cars arrived and Sergeant Donovan took Webb into custody.

Approximately 10 or 15 minutes later. Radley mentioned that Webb and Baker had been gone a long time and they should see what had happened to them; Walters and Radley then left the premises and Walters observed five police vehicles traveling cast on 113th Street. He asked, 'What is going on here'; Radley said he did not know, then said, 'Come on. Let's get out of here,' and ran south between two houses. Walters stopped one of the police vehicles.

Officer Bishondon was seated in a police vehicle in back of the apartment house and saw Radley running through the yard at the address of 632 East 113th Street. Bishondon told Radley to halt; he came to a stop, at which time the officer arrested him and placed him in the police vehicle. Bishondon asked Radley what he was doing running through the yard; Radley said that he had been to a show and was walking down 113th Street. He denied having been in any house on 113th Street that night.

Officer Bishondon had a conversation with Webb at the police station around 5 or 6 a.m. in the morning of December 28, 1962. He told Webb that he wanted him to tell them about the fur burglary at Robinson's and the part he played in it. Webb said he didn't have anything to do with the burglary; that all he was called in for was to help sell the furs. Bishondon said that might be true, but that he had to tell them what his part in 'this thing' was Webb then said that he thought that after talking to the other two fellows the police knew what his part in the 'thing' was; he said that all he had done was to make one telephone call. Bishondon said that he had arrested him sitting on a pile of furs worth $200,000 and that he was guilty of receiving stolen property, if nothing else, and that he would have to say more than he had said. Webb said that he couldn't tell any more and that if he did 'those two fellows are big time, and they'd kill me'; also, 'I am not going to tell you any more until I talk to my attorney. I think I have told you too much already.' When asked who his attorney was, Webb said he was Wesley Russell and that Russell had told him to say nothing to anyone about any involvement in this matter.

Officer Bishondon opened the bundles found on the premises; each contained approximately 15 fur pieces, the total number being 278; except for 10, they all bore the Robinson label and the price of the garment.

Webb testified that he went to the 113th Street address to collect a horse racing bet; he waited three or four hours for the man to come and pay him off; meanwhile, Bond and three men came to the house; later he went outside with Baker to get something to...