People v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 11 April 1968
• Docket Number: Cr. 14268
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Don WILSON, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 678

67 Cal.Rptr. 678

261 Cal.App.2d 12

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Don WILSON, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 14268.

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

April 11, 1968.

Hearing Denied June 5, 1968.

Gordon C. Phillips, Compton, for defendant and appellant.

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

FOURT, Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of kidnaping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

In an information filed in Los Angeles on November 3, 1966, defendant was charged in count 1 with kidnaping in that on October 3, 1966, he did forcibly take Marie and Philip Guernsey from one part of Los Angeles County to another part thereof; in count 2 with robbing Roy Fuhrer of certain personal property on October 2, 1966; in count 3 with robbing South Vanhoose and Cy Young of certain personal property on October 3, 1966; and in count 4 with attempting to murder Sergeant Goldsmith on October 3, 1966. It was further charged in counts 2 and 3 that defendant was armed with a deadly weapon (an automatic pistol) at the time of the commission of the respective offenses. In count 4 it was charged that he was so armed at the time of his arrest. It was further charged that defendant previously had been convicted of robbery in Los Angeles County in April 1965 and had served a term in prison therefor. Defendant was found guilty as charged in counts 1, 2 and 3. He was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, and included offense to that charged in count 4. He was sentenced to the state prison, the sentences to run concurrently with each other and 'consecutively to time owing.' A timely notice of appeal was filed.

Defendant does not dispute the facts constituting the twenty-four hour episode of criminal violence in which he engaged, commencing on the evening of October 2, 1966. That evening around 10:30 p.m. Roy Fuhrer was walking along the Pacific Coast Highway when defendant accosted him at gun point and stole his money. A couple of hours thereafter defendant knocked at the door of the Guernsey residence in Long Beach and when Mr. Guernsey answered the door, defendant forced his way into the living room, gun in hand. He commanded Mrs. Guernsey to sit with her husband on the living room couch, explored the house to be sure they were alone, and kept the couple under surveillance at gun point the rest of the night, brandishing the weapon each time the husband or wife made the slightest move. He had some beer and coffee, bathed and changed to clean clothes which the Guernseys provided, but constantly kept his weapon ready and the bathroom door open to keep the couple in full view. Around 5:30 A.M. he allowed the Guernseys a couple of hours of rest, but maintained his vigil in the living room. Although the Guernseys observed that defendant appeared to be under the influence of alcohol when he first arrived, they noticed that his speech became coherent within a short time thereafter. At about 10 a.m. the next morning defendant drank some coffee and then left.

It was about 1:30 p.m. the same afternoon when defendant robbed at gun point the patrons of the Bungalow Inn bar in Long Beach, then ordered them into a room behind the bar, and escaped. Officer Goldsmith was notified that a robbery was in progress and arrived at the Bungalow Inn shortly after defendant left. He pursued defendant up the adjoining street, but was distracted for an instant when a gardener ran across the street in front of the police car, and turned to see defendant only eight feet away and running toward the police car gun in hand. Defendant shot once at the officer while he was behind the wheel and fired six more shots toward him when the officer sought refuge under the car. Ultimately defendant was arrested and police officers described him as apparently sober shortly thereafter.

Defendant testified in his own defense, admitting the commission of the physical acts which constituted the charged offenses. He explained, however, that he commenced drinking some sixteen days earlier at the conservation camp where he was in custody, then escaped and took shelter in some unoccupied cabins he came upon. In the first cabin he found and consumed a case and a half of beer and eight or nine fifths of liquor; in another cabin he found and consumed a case of beer, a pint of creme de cacao, and a fifth of vodka. On October 2, 1966, defendant was confronted by the owners of the cabin he was occupying. He forced them to give him about thirty dollars, and to drive him to Long Beach. There he visited a number of bars and drank a quantity of beer before he met and held up Roy Fuhrer.

Defendant recalled the specific incidents of the trip to Long Beach, but maintained that he could remember little thereafter. He recalled holding up Roy Fuhrer, but did not know whether he obtained any money. He remembered forcibly entering the Guernsey home gun in hand, commanding the Guernseys to remain in the living room, maintaining control of his weapon and brandishing it at them occasionally. He also recalled that he telephoned his parents, bathed, shaved and changed clothes at the Guernsey resident. He had no difficulty in walking from the Guernsey home to the first bar he patronized. Finally, defendant remembered seeing a man at work on the cigarette vending machine at the Bungalow Inn and recognizing that this man was in possession of a lot of money. Defendant recollected demanding money from this man and the patrons in the bar, then ordering the people into the back room while he escaped. Defendant, however, steadfastly maintained that he did not recall shooting at the police officer in the course of his attempted escape.

Two psychiatrists evaluated defendant's conduct and diagnosed him as a chronic alcoholic. Doctor Bret Burquest had examined defendant when he voluntarily committed himself to Harbor General Hospital late in 1962 and later had observed defendant's conduct when he threatened hospital guards with a razor. The doctor believed that defendant then knew where and who he was, knew that he was armed with a razor blade, that he was approaching another human being, and that the blade would cut that person if he attacked. Doctor Ditman, who examined defendant on April 4, 1966, formed the opinion that had defendant not been intoxicated on the date of the crimes, he probably would not have engaged in that conduct. He felt that defendant's alcoholic condition substantially diminished his ability to reason or to reflect in a mature manner upon the gravity of the contemplated acts of robbery, kidnaping, and assault. Doctor Ditman responded to the court's extensive questioning, however, by testifying that defendant probably recognized at the time that he was carrying a gun, that he was committing robbery by taking something that belonged to someone else, and that he may have had the motive to profit thereby. The doctor further stated that the more that defendant recalled concerning an incident, the greater was the likelihood that he knew what he was doing at the time, but he felt that the marked impairment of defendant's judgment affected his realization and appreciation of the consequences of his acts.

Appellant now contends that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that he had the specific intent to steal when he robbed Fuhrer and the patrons of the Bungalow Inn; that the trial court's failure to find that appellant possessed the specific intent to attempt murder of the police officer, as charged, precluded the court from finding that appellant possessed the specific intent to steal at the time he committed the robberies; and that subjecting appellant, as a chronic...