THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
JOHNNY ANGELO ROCCO, Defendant and Appellant.
Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Four.
*100 COUNSEL
John F. Shirley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Robert R. Granucci and Sanford Svetcov, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
CHRISTIAN, J.
Johnny Rocco appeals from a judgment sentencing him to concurrent terms of imprisonment after a jury found him guilty of kidnaping *101 (Pen. Code, § 207) and forcible rape (Pen. Code, § 261). Appellant admitted prior convictions of burglary, forcible rape, and oral copulation.
The victim testified that on June 4, 1969, at approximately 1 in the morning, she drove to an apartment building in Berkeley seeking to find her estranged husband at his girl friend's apartment. She parked her car next to her husband's, which she found in a garage adjoining the apartment. While she was at the entrance of the building, looking for the name of her husband or of his girl friend, appellant and codefendant Vea drove up. Vea approached and began to talk to her. Noticing a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, she returned to her car. Vea followed and, when she got into the driver's seat pushed her to one side, took the keys from her, and grabbed her by the neck. Rocco then entered the car, and Vea drove to an unpopulated place in the Berkeley hills. Vea told Mrs. Kling that he had a gun and on several occasions threatened to use it if she did not cooperate. The victim submitted to intercourse with, first, appellant, then Vea. She submitted without resistance because of fear induced by threats which had been made. After about 30 to 40 minutes, she was returned to the area from which she had been abducted, and soon reported the incident to the police.
Vea testified that the victim consented to intercourse with both men, after requesting them to beat up her estranged husband and to assist her in stealing his car. The victim denied making such suggestions. Appellant did not testify.
(1a) Appellant first contends that the kidnaping conviction must be reversed in light of People v. Daniels (1969)
A review of the background and of the current development of the Daniels principle will assist in the consideration of appellant's contention. In Cotton v. Superior Court, supra,
Similarly, in People v. Williams (1970)
In People v. Timmons (1971)
On the question of increased danger, Timmons held that merely increased probability that the crime would succeed did not support liability for kidnaping. "Rather, we intended to refer to an increase in the risk that the victim may suffer significant physical injuries over and above those to *103 which a victim of the underlying crime is normally exposed." (
After Daniels, at least 30 reported appellate decisions have dealt with Daniels-based challenges to charges of kidnaping. Of these, 11 were reversals of convictions based on movements within buildings; these cases merely apply the Daniels rule to Daniels facts.[1] Of the remaining 19, several are of doubtful value as arguably having been superseded by the Timmons decision which postdated them.[2]
Analysis of the "substantial danger" part of the Daniels test has received less attention, but two conceptual problems have emerged: (1) the definition of a substantial increase in danger; and (2) the extent to which the determination of substantial increase in danger presents a question of fact.
*104 We have seen that there is no substantial increase in the "risk of harm" within the meaning of Daniels where the movement does no more than increase the chance that the intended crime will be carried out successfully; Daniels-Timmons requires dangers "over and above those to which a victim of the underlying crime is normally exposed." (
The second conceptual problem in regard to the "risk of harm" test is the question whether the appellate court, where the question was not put to the jury under appropriate instructions, can make a determination as a matter of law or must remand for trial as a question of fact. In both Timmons and People v. Mutch (1971)
(2a) In the present case there is arguably an indication of danger to the victim beyond that inherent in the rapes: rape is sometimes accompanied by even more severe physical abuse, and we cannot say that a properly instructed jury could not have found that the victim was in greater danger of severe injury in the secluded place to which she was taken than she would have been if the rapes had been accomplished in the apartment garage where her assailants first captured her. But no instruction was requested or given putting that issue to the jury.
*105 We may put aside the question whether such an instruction should have been given sua sponte, because reexamination of the statute under which appellant was convicted of kidnaping, establishes that this kidnap conviction is not affected by Daniels. Kidnaping is the forcible movement of a victim into another country, state or county "or into another part of the same county." (Pen. Code, § 207.) While the Supreme Court has, in the cases we have reviewed, applied the phrase "into another part of the same county" so as not to include trivial movements outside the commonsense definition of kidnaping, there is no reason to suppose that distance has ceased to be a factor in kidnaping. Such a view would imply that the court overlooked the reference to the "same county" in the statute, an assumption for which we find no basis. On the contrary, Cotton v. Superior Court, supra,
(2b) Forcible movement from the apartment garage to a secluded place in the Berkeley hills could not reasonably be regarded as not amounting to movement "into another part of the same county." Therefore, it was proper to instruct the jury in the language of Penal Code section 207. (3) Here the court went further, and instructed that "the law does not require that the one thus stolen or taken be carried or moved a long distance or any particular distance." (CALJIC No. 652.) Under Daniels, that instruction was erroneous. But that error does not require reversal, where the uncontradicted evidence of movement from the apartment garage into the hills conclusively establishes that there was more than a "reasonably brief movement" of the victim.
*106 (4a) Appellant also argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his kidnaping conviction because there was no evidence that he forcibly removed the victim anywhere; codefendant Vea, rather than appellant, forced his way into the victim's car and did the driving to the Berkeley hills. It is argued that appellant did not commit any criminal act until after the journey had been completed. (5) Whether or not a person present at the scene of the crime aided and abetted the perpetration of the crime is a question of fact for the jury to decide. (People v. Dyer (1963)
(6) Appellant also claims as error the rape conviction, in that the court upheld an assertion of the psychotherapist-patient privilege (Evid. Code, § 1014) by the victim and thus prevented the defense from bringing forth testimony from a psychiatrist who had earlier treated the victim testimony which might have had a bearing on her credibility as a witness. The claim is that, under Evidence Code section 1016,[3] the victim had waived the privilege by tendering an issue concerning her mental or emotional condition. But the issues upon which the case proceeded to trial were, of course, tendered not by the victim (who is not a party) but by the prosecution in drafting the information and bringing the case to trial after pleas of not guilty had been entered. The victim appeared at trial reluctantly (and apparently under subpoena); her responses to questions put to her by counsel after she had been sworn as a witness were under compulsion. Those answers did not amount to a tendering by her of an issue as to her own mental condition such as would waive the privilege which was granted to her by the statute. It is not necessary, however, to hold that the privilege was effective; appellant by his conduct of the defense at trial did not join issue in the trial court on the contention which is belatedly raised on appeal. Appellant's codefendant, Vea, did obtain from the prosecutor, at a pretrial hearing, a stipulation that the complaining witness would assert privilege. *107 The court thereupon declared that the claim of privilege would be upheld and, on Vea's motion, thereupon appointed another psychiatrist to examine the complaining witness and be prepared to testify at trial if called. (Cf. People v. Russel (1968)
(7) At trial, appellant attempted to elicit the opinion of a Berkeley police officer, who investigated the victim's complaint, as to whether or not a rape had actually occurred. The judge sustained a prosecution objection, stating that the officer's "conclusions as to whether it was or it was not rape has nothing to do with it." Appellant argues that it was error for the court to reject such testimony as opinion where "There was no effort by the Court to determine the propriety of the subject of opinion or the qualifications of the witness." But Evidence Code section 720 provides, in part, that "Against the objection of a party, ... special knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education must be shown before the witness may testify as an expert." The burden was on appellant, if he wished to bring in opinion evidence, to establish the officer's qualification as an expert, and the competency of opinion evidence on the matter in question. Appellant did not attempt to do so. The trial court did not err in excluding the officer's opinion as to whether or not a rape had occurred.
(8) Appellant contends, citing People v. Newton (1966)
(9a) Appellant claims misconduct on the part of the trial court. First, appellant complains that the trial court unfairly disparaged defense counsel. The contention is contrary to the record; the court mildly cautioned counsel for the defense to avoid the use of leading questions on direct examination. This was not misconduct. Appellant also complains that the trial court took over from counsel the direct examination of defendant Vea. (10) However, there is nothing improper about the trial court's examining a defendant, so long as he does not indicate partisanship in doing so. (People v. Bonville (1968)
(12) Appellant also argues that, "During this examination the Court referred to Vea's testimony on four separate occasions as a `story' ... `Story' among other things means: lie, falsehood. In context this is the meaning which was conveyed to the jury regarding the defendant, Vea's testimony." However, the passages referred to by appellant do not support *109 his characterization: the court apparently used the word "story" to refer generally to defendant Vea's testimony regarding the events in question. This employment of colloquial usage was not misconduct.
(13) Finally, appellant complains of the following, which occurred at the end of the court's examination of Vea:
"THE COURT: Do you know of your own knowledge whether Rocco saw her again or are you just basing that on something that somebody might have told you?
"THE WITNESS: No. I am pretty positive Mr. Rocco never saw her again. We laughed the whole thing off. As far as we was concerned she was a endeavoring into something that she didn't know anything about and thought she was a pretty stupid
"THE COURT: You had intercourse with her and then you laughed the whole thing off; is that right?
"THE WITNESS: This deal that she wanted to this thing about us her husband
"THE COURT: I think it is a good time to call recess."
Appellant claims that the court used a rhetorical question implying an accusion against Vea. But the question may also be regarded as a fair paraphrase of part of Vea's testimony. It is complained that the court did not allow Vea to answer the question, but the record equally supports an inference that Vea left his answer incomplete and the judge thereafter ordered the recess because it was "a good time" to do so. Neither Vea nor appellant objected, and the matter was not pursued by either of them when the recess ended. In contrast to People v. Byrd (1948)
(14) A final question remains: whether the conviction of both rape and kidnaping violates the prohibition of double punishment embodied in Penal Code section 654.[4] It has recently been held that "The divisibility of *110 a course of conduct depends upon the intent and objective of the actor, and if all the offenses are incident to one objective, the defendant may be punished for any one of them but not for more than one." (People v. Bauer (1969)
The judgment is vacated insofar as it imposes a sentence for kidnaping; in all other respects it is affirmed.
Devine, P.J., and Rattigan, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied December 9, 1971.
NOTES
Notes
[1] In re Madrid (1971)
[2] People v. Beaumaster (1971)
[3] Evidence Code, section 1016. "There is no privilege under this article as to a communication relevant to an issue concerning the mental or emotional condition of the patient if such issue has been tendered by:
(a) The patient;
(b) Any party claiming through or under the patient;
(c) Any party claiming as a beneficiary of the patient through a contract to which the patient is or was a party; or
(d) The plaintiff in an action brought under Section 376 or 377 of the Code of Civil Procedure for damages for the injury or death of the patient."
[4] Penal Code, section 654, provides in part: "An act or omission which is made punishable in different ways by different provisions of this Code may be punished under either of such provisions, but in no case can it be punished under more than one; ..."
