141 Cal. App. 2d 367 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1956
Laura Shepherd and Delores Brown were convicted in a nonjury trial of grand theft of money from Nina Tolle and also from Charles G. Hall. It was alleged that Mrs. Brown had suffered a former conviction of felony, which was found to be true. There was evidence of the following facts: Nina Tolle, 78 years of age, was accosted by Mrs. Shepherd in a Woolworth store on Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles. Mrs. Shepherd is a Caucasian and was unknown to Mrs. Tolle at the time. Mrs. Shepherd represented that a colored woman, Mrs. Brown, had found a package containing a large sum of money and also some parimutuel race tickets, and was uncertain as to what she should do with the money. Mrs. Brown appeared, confirmed the statements of Mrs. Shepherd, represented that she had discussed the matter with her employer. Her employer told her that it was “bookie money” and the man who lost it would
Mr. Hall had an experience with the defendants several days before Mrs. Tolle made their acquaintance. He was then seated in a chair in front of a Penney store in Culver City. Mrs. Shepherd approached him, being attracted to him, she said, because he looked so much like her father. Mr. Hall was evidently well along in years, and he became interested in talking with Mrs. Shepherd because he was a retired farmer from Arkansas and Mrs. Shepherd’s husband, so she said, had been engaged in the dairy business and the propagation of fowls. Mrs. Brown appeared on the scene and after conversing with her Mrs. Shepherd confided to Mr. Hall that Mrs. Brown had found a large amount of money and did not know what to do with it. Mr. Hall, whose son used to be a policeman, advised that the police be notified but Mrs. Shepherd said that Mrs. Brown wished to divide the money between herself, Mrs. Shepherd and Hall and would give the latter two $1,000 each. Hall said . . if it was good money I wouldn’t mind having it, but that if it wasn’t, I didn’t want it.” Mrs. Brown said she would go and see her boss and she left and returned saying her boss was going to keep the money for the protection of the person who had lost it. She said her boss wanted to talk to Mrs. Shepherd and Hall; Mrs. Shepherd left but soon returned
It is stated in the briefs of appellant that in order to sustain a charge of theft it is necessary to prove that the personal property of another was stolen, or misappropriated in violation of a trust, or obtained by a false representation or pretense. (See Pen. Code, § 484.) It is argued that the evidence was insufficient to prove larceny, it was insufficient to prove embezzlement and it was insufficient to prove obtaining money by false representation or pretense or by trick and device. It is stated that there was no evidence that the money had not been found in the two instances as represented to the complaining witnesses and that, after all, the defendants could be guilty of nothing more than a failure to keep their promise to return to Mrs. Tolle and Mr. Hall the sums they
There was conclusive evidence that defendants were guilty of shameful thefts of the savings of two old and innocent people. If the facts did not fit one form of grand theft they fitted another. Since defendants had no avenue of escape it is immaterial which route they took to prison. (People v. Broes, 138 Cal.App.2d 843 [292 P.2d 556].)
The judgment is affirmed.
Wood (Parker), J., and Vallée, J., concurred.