283 P. 389 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1929
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *610
Appellant was charged by an information containing two counts with having committed upon a female child ten years of age the crimes defined by sections
Appellant was arraigned on July 17, 1928, at which time he was represented by his present counsel, who requested that appellant be sent to the detention hospital for observation as to his sanity. Such an order was made and the time to plead was continued to August 4, 1928. At that time the examining physicians declared him to be sane. He was then asked to plead to the charges, but, as stated, he stood mute and the court caused the pleas above mentioned to be entered in his behalf; whereupon August 31, 1928, was set as the date for trial. On August 27, 1928, appellant asked leave to file a motion to set aside count two of the information upon the ground that he had not been legally committed by a magistrate, and twice in connection with said motion he sought to introduce in evidence the commitment of the magistrate holding him to answer. He asked also that he be allowed to interpose a demurrer, and at the opening of the trial he objected to the introduction of any evidence in substantiation of the second count upon the ground that the facts stated therein did not constitute a public offense. The trial court ruled adversely on all of the foregoing matters, and we find no error in its rulings.
[1] As said in People v. Magee,
[3] Despite the two rulings of the trial court excluding the commitment from the record, appellant has set forth a copy thereof in full in his brief, and with respect thereto he contends that "the information filed under section
[4] During the trial upon the issue of appellant's guilt he sought to introduce evidence relating to his mental condition at the time the crimes were alleged to have been committed, claiming that section
[5] At the trial on the issue of insanity the information upon which appellant was tried and found guilty was read to the jury, and appellant claims that this was error. Obviously, however, the very purpose of the insanity trial was to ascertain whether appellant had reasoning capacity sufficient to distinguish between right and wrong as to the particular acts he was charged with having committed (People v. Troche, supra), and manifestly the jury could not intelligently determine that question without being first informed as to the nature and character of such acts.
[6] The child testified that at the time the alleged criminal acts were committed upon her appellant exhibited certain pictures, which, according to her description of them, were obscene; and subsequently one of the arresting police officers testified that he found two such pictures among appellant's effects at the time of his arrest. The admission of the evidence was not error for the reason that the exhibition of the pictures tended to show a lewdness of purpose with which appellant accosted the girl, and the officer's testimony was corroborative of the girl's assertion that appellant had exhibited such pictures.
In making the next three points (9, 10 and 11) appellant merely sets forth the bare assignments of error, unsupported by argument or citation of authority, and for that reason said points do not require special attention. All are without merit.
[7] Appellant claims that the court refused to appoint, at the state's expense, a physican to observe his mental condition and to testify as a witness in his behalf, and he contends that this was error. At the time this trial took place the law did not require the court to appoint alienists; nevertheless, the record herein shows that the court of its own motion appointed Dr. Leonard Stocking, medical superintendent of Agnews State Hospital for twenty years, to investigate the sanity of the accused; and afterwards Dr. Stocking testified that in his opinion appellant was sane, and that his opinion was based upon his personal examination and observation of the appellant, and also upon the *614 testimony given at the trial by the several witnesses as to the appellant's actions and conduct. In our opinion the course taken by the court was not improper, and none of appellant's constitutional rights were violated thereby; furthermore, it is apparent that the testimony given by Dr. Stocking in this behalf was competent, relevant and material to the issue then being tried.
[8] Contention is made also that the court erred in denying appellant's application for a continuance to procure the testimony of appellant's sister to be used upon the trial as to his sanity. But with reference thereto the record discloses that the application was not made until the morning of the commencement of the trial, and that a period of six weeks elapsed between the time of the entry of the plea and the commencement of the trial on said issue, which was ample to procure such testimony if appellant had so desired; moreover, the showing made in support of the application was wholly insufficient to warrant the court in granting the same.
[9] Appellant produced certain witnesses who had observed his conduct and actions while he was in jail, and he sought to have these witnesses give their opinions as to his sanity. Admittedly the witnesses were not alienists, nor were they able to qualify as intimate friends and acquaintances; consequently, their opinions were not admissible. In conformity with the rule in such cases, however, the court allowed said witnesses to describe fully the actions and conduct of the appellant; consequently, no error was committed.
[10] In his argument to the jury during the trial on the issue of insanity the district attorney commented upon the acts alleged in the information constituting the crimes of which appellant had been convicted, and such comment is assigned as error. As heretofore stated, the issue before that jury was whether appellant had sufficient reasoning capacity to distinguish between right and wrong as to these particular acts he was charged with having committed. Clearly, therefore, the district attorney had the right to comment upon the nature of such acts. The remaining points urged in appellant's brief either have been disposed of in connection with those already considered, or do not possess sufficient merit to require discussion. *615
After examining the entire record, including the evidence, it is our opinion that appellant has been fairly tried, that the evidence is legally sufficient to sustain the verdicts rendered, and that such verdicts have not resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The judgment and order appealed from are therefore affirmed.
Tyler, P.J., and Cashin, J., concurred.
A petition by appellant to have the cause heard in the Supreme Court, after judgment in the District Court of Appeal, was denied by the Supreme Court on January 16, 1930.
All the Justices concurred.