271 P. 1074 | Cal. | 1928
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *598
The defendant and appellant herein was charged by information with the crime of murder, alleged to have been committed on the fourth day of December, 1927. The information was in two counts, in the first of which the defendant was charged with the murder of one Edna Artist, and in the second count of which he was charged with the murder of George Mace Artist, the two decedents being husband and wife. In each of said counts the defendant was accused of "a felony, to wit, murder, in that on the fourth day of December, 1927, in the county of Kings, state of California, he murdered" the particular decedent. Upon his arrest and arraignment he appeared in court by counsel and filed a demurrer to each of said counts, based upon the contention that the information does not state facts sufficient to constitute a public offense, and that it does not substantially conform to the requirements of sections
[1] The first contention which the appellant makes upon this appeal is that presented by his demurrer to the information. An examination of the record discloses that the information, as to the charging part thereof, follows substantially, and in fact almost exactly, the language of section
[3] The next contention, which the appellant quite strenuously urges, is that the trial court committed prejudicial error both in assuming to itself conduct the main examination of the jurors upon their voir dire and in limiting unduly the right of appellant through his counsel to conduct such further examination of the members of the prospective jury as would suffice to sufficiently disclose the *605
existence of any fact which might furnish the basis of challenges for cause, or which might otherwise show a lack of qualification on the part of the individual jurors to serve as such upon the jury. The briefs of counsel for the appellant would seem to present a very plausible basis for the foregoing contention, for it is admittedly true that the trial court, in assuming to act in conformity with the provisions of section
[4] The next contention urged by the appellant is that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to introduce the evidence given by the defendant at the coroner's inquest, which amounted to a confession of the commission of the dual homicide. The basis of this contention on the part of the defendant consists in his claim that the testimony which he gave at the coroner's inquest, while apparently given freely and voluntarily, was in fact a reproduction there of a confession which had been extorted from him by a course of threats, abuse and intimidations to which he had been subjected at the hands of the officers of the law while in jail shortly after his arrest, upon the suspicion that he had committed the aforesaid crime. Upon the defendant's objection to the admission in evidence of his testimony given at the coroner's inquest the defendant testified at length and with much of detail with regard to his aforesaid treatment while in jail and to its effect in inducing the confession made to the officers there. On the other hand, all of the officers whom he thus charged with abuse and intimidation took the stand and denied much of the matter to which the defendant testified. It must be conceded, however, that a considerable amount of harsh treatment and of vile language addressed to the defendant by these officers prior to his confession there remained undisputed, and had the confession which the defendant there gave been offered in evidence at the trial it would be, to say the least of it, a matter of grave doubt as to whether that confession of the defendant given under such circumstances should have been received in evidence. But that confession was not offered in evidence, and the fact is, as shown by the record, that some considerable time elapsed between the date of said jail confession and the time when the defendant was called as a witness and testified at the coroner's inquest. *608 The practically undisputed evidence shows that when called as a witness at the inquest the defendant was fully informed of his rights in the premises and was practically free from whatever duress had attended him while in the jail. The affirmative evidence of those who were present at the inquest would seem to show that whatever testimony the defendant gave there was freely and voluntarily given. Upon such showing made preliminarily to the offer in evidence of the defendant's testimony so given we are of the opinion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the introduction in evidence of the defendant's said testimony. Having done so, and said evidence having been read to the jury, the trial court proceeded to instruct the jury that it was the ultimate judge of the propriety of considering such evidence. In so doing the trial court gave to the jury both the instruction offered by the prosecution and the instruction upon the same subject offered on behalf of the defendant, both of which instructions correctly stating the law and being in entire harmony with each other. Under the foregoing circumstances we are of the opinion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting the introduction in evidence in the first instance of the defendant's said testimony, and that the defendant was not prejudicially affected thereby, nor by the instructions which the trial court subsequently gave to the jury upon the subject.
[5] The next contention of the appellant requiring comment is that wherein it is urged that the trial court was in error in permitting Ione Artist, a child of the age of nine years, a daughter of the decedents, who was present in the home of her parents and was a witness to certain facts which form a part of the res gestae attending the commission of the dual crime, to testify as a witness in the case. Before permitting said child to be sworn and to give her evidence the trial court conducted a quite careful inquiry regarding the mental capabilities of the child and her knowledge of the nature of the proceeding and of her oath and duty to be truthful in relation to the matters with respect to which she was to give her testimony, and we are unable to say that as the result of such careful and searching inquiry on the part of the trial judge he abused his discretion in permitting the evidence of this nine year old child to be given in the case. In support of *609 this conclusion it may be added that the testimony of this child when given and considered as a whole is in entire harmony with the evidence of her elders given in regard to the same matter with relation to which she was called and gave her testimony.
[6] We come next to consider the contention of the defendant to the effect that sections
Upon the state of the record as disclosed by the foregoing facts and circumstances, having special reference to the appellant's contention that sections
An examination of the record quite sufficiently discloses a motive which might have led, and which probably did lead, this defendant to commit this dual crime. That motive was shown to consist in the fact that the defendant, after some years of cordial acquaintanceship with the members *617 of the Artist family, and after he had formed an affectionate relationship with Isabelle, the elder daughter, discovered upon his visit to the household of the Artists that the parents of the girl were apparently disposed to favor the transfer of her affections to another suitor, and that the girl herself manifested a similar disposition, and that in fact upon the very evening prior to the commission of said crime he had been deceived and misled with relation thereto. What feelings of jealousy may thus have been awakened, or what resolution as to his actions in the presence of this situation was made, must be left to inference and surmise. But the facts remain that immediately after the violent and murderous attack upon the father and mother of the girl he attempted not only to have illicit intercourse with her but to induce her to go away with him, without disclosing to her or to the other members of the family the fact that a violent and fatal assault had been made upon the father and mother, with relation to which the evidence is irresistible that he either must have committed or must at the time have known of the commission of the assault, and that these facts furnish abundant evidence of the existence of a motive which, if it existed, would have rendered utterly valueless the purely hypothetical conclusion of the expert witnesses called by the defendant that at the time of the commission of said crimes he was temporarily insane.
It is our deduction from the foregoing that there was no substantial evidence in the case sufficient to justify a verdict on the part of this or of another jury finding this defendant at the time of the commission of his aforesaid crimes to have been insane. This being so, any limitation which was placed by the trial judge upon the rights of the defendant's counsel to question further the jurors as to the existence of any mental attitude amounting to bias or prejudice against the defense of insanity or against the defendant seeking to establish that defense could not at the most have been other than harmless error.
The record fully discloses that the defendant committed a most foul, brutal, and utterly unjustified and unjustifiable crime; that he was brought to trial therefor before a fair and impartial jury; that he submitted himself without objection at the outset to the form of procedure adopted by *618 the trial court; that he presented, without protest or objection, the dual pleas provided for in the aforesaid amended sections of the Penal Code; that he proceeded to trial upon the first of said pleas, in the course of which he was permitted to introduce all of the evidence which he saw fit to offer bearing upon the history of his own past life and upon his relation to the family of his victims and as to his own version as to the facts and circumstances attending and succeeding the commission of his said crimes; that upon his conviction upon the first of his said pleas the only objection which he urged to the purpose of the court to proceed before the same jury upon the second of his said pleas consisted in his insistence upon the right to further examine the jury and upon his claim and plea of once in jeopardy. These having been denied him he proceeded with the second phase of the trial, assuming therein the burden of showing that he was insane. He entirely failed to make good such plea or showing by any sufficient or substantial evidence upon which the present or any other jury could have arrived at a verdict that the defendant was at the time of the commission of said murders insane. It thus appears that entirely regardless of whatever errors, if any, the trial court may have committed in the course of the defendant's trial, it in no substantial way interfered with the canons of our criminal law which entitle a defendant to a fair and impartial trial for the offense or offenses with which he has been charged.
In view of the foregoing conclusions the judgment and order are affirmed.
Shenk, J., Curtis, J., Preston, J., Waste, C.J., Seawell, J., and Langdon, J., concurred.
Rehearing denied.
All the Justices present concurred. *619