People v. SimpsonPeople v. Simpson
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Carter
Henry C. Simpson and Clarence Eugene Simpson were jointly charged by indictment with the murder of Vivian Simpson on or about March 10th, 1953. Clarence Simpson, being 13 years of age, was certified to the juvenile court and proceedings against him suspended. Defendant pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. After a jury trial, he was found guilty of murder in the first degree without recommendation; he was also found sane at the time the crime was committed. Defendant’s motion for a new trial on both pleas was denied. The appeal is automatic (
The theory of the prosecution, in essence, was that Henry Simpson counseled, advised, and encouraged (
Background
Henry Simpson and Vivian Dodge met in 1937, or 1938, in Porterville, California, and shortly thereafter commenced living together. Both parties had been previously married and Vivian had an infant son, Donald Dodge, living with her. In 1939, Clarence was born and in 1942, the couple were married. Two other sons, Billy and Gary, w;ere subsequently born to them. The Simpsons moved several times selling, at different times, grocery stores, an auto court, and a poultry ranch until 1952 when Henry traded a ranch near Escalón for a home at 1117 Herndon Road, in Stanislaus County.
Such was the background to the events which culminated in the shooting of Vivian on March 10, 1953.
Testimony op Jimmie Jones
Jimmie Jones testified that on Friday afternoon, March 6, 1953, he, defendant, and Clarence were at the Holm Avenue house which defendant was engaged in remodeling. Jimmie testified that defendant told him he wanted him, Jimmie, to be a witness for him and Clarence—that they were going to kill Vivian. According to Jimmie’s story, it was first suggested that Clarence use a baseball bat to kill his mother and then put a knife in her hand to make it look like self-defense. This plan was rejected by the boys. It was then suggested that a fishing trip be planned for a week from the following Saturday; that the boys bring a rifle into the house, pretend to be cleaning it, and that Clarence would “accidentally” shoot his mother. Jimmie testified that he spent most
Jimmie testified that on Monday, March 9, he and Clarence, at defendant’s bidding, took the gun out of the house and across the alley and put it in between the rafters and wall of a house which was being built by a man by the name of “Bill” (later identified as one Bill Christian) to hide it; that later that night he and Clarence got the gun from its hiding place and put it in defendant’s truck.
Concerning the day of the murder, Jimmie testified that after school, about 4 o’clock, he and Clarence went to the Simpson home and did the chores; that they went to the Holm Avenue house where defendant was working and that defendant again repeated the plan to them. After supper, the hoys rode their bicycles to Boy Lutz’ house to see if Mrs. Simpson was there; that after returning from there they “went in the house and went in and laid down on the boys’ bed and were reading books of some sort when the smallest boy, Gary, came
“Then she went out of the living room and Clarence—or Gary went in and got the box and brought it in to me where there was a broken window in the bedroom. I gave it to Clarence outside of the window and he put it under an old screen or something outside the house. Then we went back to the house, sat down on the lounge.” Jimmie testified then that Mr. and Mrs. Simpson began arguing about their property, or deeds, and finally when defendant went outside and the small boy, Gary started to follow him, that‘Mrs. Simpson followed the defendant and Gary outside; that Clarence and he also went out to the carport. He stated that “Just before Mr. Simpson started to go out he called Clarence and I out and told us we would have to do it that night. He didn’t give us any reason except she was going to get us if we didn’t get her, we would have to do it that night. Then he took the two boys and went down to the neighbors. . . .
“He went to the neighbor’s. They were neighbors by the name of Bill—Bill Parker, I think, something like that . . . Clarence and I followed him down. When we got there Clarence said something about, ‘Do we have to do it now.’ or something. Mr. Simpson was talking to Bill, we couldn’t hear the conversation. . . . I don’t remember the exact words he said. All I heard was ‘do it now.’ And Mr. Simpson, when he was through talking to Bill—well, went back up to the house, then he went in. We followed him in. Then they started—■ then the quarrel started over Gary. . . . Then after they were out on the porch, Clarence and I followed them out. . . . Mr. Simpson started to go outside; Gary went to follow him. Mrs. Simpson picked him, said he could stay with her, and Mr. Simpson said if he wanted to go with him, if Gary wanted to go with him, to let him come. Then Mrs. Simpson said ‘No, he could stay with me.’ Then Gary got away from Mrs. Simpson, was crying to go with Mr. Simpson, so I took him out in the kitchen to get a drink. Mr. Simpson went outside, Gary followed him out. Mrs. Simpson went out to get Gary and she took ahold of one arm of Gary and Mr. Simpson had the other; they were having a tug of war over Gary. I looked
Clarence’s Testimony
Clarence Simpson, defendant’s son, testified in substantially the same vein as Jimmie Jones up until the point where he is supposed to have asked if he was “to do it now.” His testimony at the trial was that Jimmie said to him “We better
A statement made by Clarence on March 12, 1953, in the district attorney’s office was admitted for the purpose of impeaching testimony given by him at the trial. In that statement, Clarence said that he and his father had been planning the “accident” for two weeks; that his dad had wanted the boys to do it and that he, defendant, did not want to be around when it was done. He also stated that on Tuesday night, the defendant had said that maybe they ought to “do it tonight, get it over with.” In his statement, Clarence said that his mother was going to kill him and that he shot her in self-defense and also that he had shot her accidentally because he had stumbled; that it was not self-defense and that he had not stumbled. He also stated that for over a month his father had been telling him that his mother would have to be killed before she killed Clarence; that the plans were all made, but that he wasn’t going to go through with it.
Defendant’s Testimony
Defendant denied having made any plans with either his son or Jimmie Jones. Concerning the occurrences on the night of the killing, he testified.that his wife was having an argument with Jimmie when he came home and that the argument then turned into abuse of him, the defendant; that he went to Mr. Parker’s home and tried to get him to go home with him; that Clarence and Jimmie came running after him; that Jimmie said Mrs. Simpson was after him with a gun. He then testified that he and the two boys went back to the
Other Testimony
Officer McDaniels testified that on the night of March. 10, 1953, he went to the Simpson home where he found the lifeless body of Vivian Simpson. He testified that Clarence told him that he had tripped over a peg and discharged the rifle; that defendant had told him either that the boy tripped over the stake or that the boy had told him (Simpson) that he had tripped.
Johnson, brother of the deceased Vivian Simpson, testified that on the night of the killing, defendant came to his home and said he had some “sad news”; that “Sonny shot Vivian while he was cleaning the gun to go fishing”; that she was “pretty bad hurt” but professed not to know what hospital she was in; that the man with defendant (identified later as Mr. Bishop) told him she was in a funeral parlor.
On the morning after the murder, a Mrs. Myrtle Coldwell called at the Simpson home to offer to take care of the children. She testified that the defendant told her that he didn’t know why the boys had to go out and get the gun when he wasn’t there; that his wife had been standing at the sink while the boys were in the room cleaning the gun behind her when it went off.
Corroboration’ op Jimmie Jones’ Testimony
Defendant contends that the testimony given by Jimmie Jones is inherently improbable and that it was not corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the crime. (
In answer to defendant’s contention that Jimmie Jones’ testimony was inherently improbable, the rule is well settled that to warrant the rejection of the statements given by a witness who has been believed by a jury, or trial court, there must exist either a physical impossibility that they are true, or their falsity must be apparent without resorting to inferences or deductions
(People
v.
Huston,
21 Cal.2d 690, 693 [134 P.2d 758]), and it is the exclusive province of the
Mrs. Mary Christian, a neighbor of the Simpson family, testified that about a year prior to the murder, she, her husband, and Mr. Simpson had taken a trip to Atwater in the Christian car; that on that trip, defendant showed her a gun he was carrying and said that he would have to get rid of his wife and that “It’s going to be an accident.”. Mrs. Christian testified that on Monday evening, March 9, the defendant told her that “Clarence would have to kill her [Vivian] because she was not supposed to live any more, he couldn’t get along with her”; and that he told her if “you hear ‘Pop,’ you don’t know nothing about it.”
Bill Christian, husband of Mary, confirmed his wife’s testimony concerning the Atwater trip and testified that defendant said then that his wife had to be killed and that Clarence would kill her. He also testified concerning the hiding of the gun in the house he was rebuilding and stated that when Clarence, Jimmie, and the defendant came back to where the gun was hidden, defendant said to him “Bill, we’re going to have to kill that woman,” and “Clarence is going to have to kill her.”
Donald Dodge, the 16-year-old son of the deceased woman, testified concerning the quarrels between defendant and his wife and also concerning various threats made by defendant
False and contradictory statements of a defendant in relation to the charge are themselves corroborative evidence (People v. Taylor, 70 Cal.App. 239, 244 [232 P. 998] ; People v. Santo, ante, pp. 319, 327 [273 P.2d 249]). Defendant made various contradictory statements: that Clarence had stumbled over a stake and accidentally shot his mother; that he didn’t know which one of the boys shot the gun; that Clarence shot his mother accidentally while cleaning the gun preparatory to going on a fishing trip. Mrs. Coldwell testified that defendant told her that Mrs. Simpson had been standing at the sink, with her back to the boys, and that the gun went off accidentally while it was being cleaned.
The evidence just set forth is sufficient to connect the defendant with the crime in such a way as reasonably may satisfy a jury that the accomplice is telling the truth. It is not necessary that the áccomplice be corroborated as to every fact to which he testified.
(People
v.
Barclay, supra.)
Briefly summarized, the corroborative evidence considered together with the facts heretofore set forth, shows that during the marital life of the parties, defendant had abused his wife, had threatened to kill her, and, for more than a year prior to the killing, had planned to have Clarence commit the crime and make it look like an accident. For this reason, the cases of
People
v.
Petree,
109 Cal.App.2d 184 [240 P.2d 327] , (see
People
v.
Jordan,
115 Cal.App.2d 452 [252 P.2d 328] ) and
People
v.
Lima,
25 Cal.2d 573 [154 P.2d 698], relied upon by defendant, are not in point. Defendant relies upon the rule set forth in those cases that if the corroborative evidence raises only a suspicion of guilt it is not sufficient under
Instruction on Reasonable Doubt
It is contended by defendant that the following instruction, given at the request of the People, had the effect of placing upon defendant the burden of proving his innocence and re
“In a criminal case, the jury should not find the defendant guilty of any offense unless his guilt is established by the evidence to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt, and the burden is on the prosecution to establish such guilt.
“The law presumes every man innocent until his guilt is established to a moral certainty and beyond all reasonable doubt, and this presumption attaches at every stage of the case, and to every fact essential to a conviction.
“Reasonable doubt is defined as follows: ‘It is not a mere possible doubt; because everything relating to human affairs and depending on moral evidence, is open to some possible or imaginary doubt. ’ It is that state of the case, which, after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of jurors in that condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction, to a moral certainty, of the truth of the charge.
“While presumptions of law, independent of evidence, are in favor of innocence, and every man is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, yet if the evidence establishes the truth of the charge to a reasonable moral certainty, a certainty that convinces and directs the understanding and satisfies the reason and judgment of those who are to act conscientiously upon it, it is your duty to find the defendant guilty. The law does not require demonstration or that degree of proof which excludes all possibility of error and produces absolute certainty. Such proof is rarely available. Moral certainty only is required or that degree of proof which produces conviction in an unprejudiced mind.
“The term ‘reasonable doubt,’ as used in these instructions, means a doubt which has some good reason * for its existence arising out of evidence in the case * ; such doubt as you are able to find a reason for in the evidence * As applied to the evidence in criminal cases, it means an actual and substantial doubt growing out of the unsatisfactory nature of the evidence * in the case. It does not mean a doubt which arises from some mere whim or vagary or from any groundless surmise, suspicion or guess.”
While the court was not restricted to the reading of section 1096 of the Penal Code defining reasonable doubt (see
People
v.
Derenzo,
46 Cal.App.2d 411, 416 [115 P.2d 858] ;
Prejudicial Misconduct op District Attorney
It appears from the record that defendant consulted Mr. Pierson, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case for the People, on June 14, 1952, relative to a divorce from his wife, Vivian. The divorce action was never tried since the couple were reconciled in October. Prior to the reconciliation, in August, defendant secured another attorney to represent him.
It is contended by defendant that from the prior representation, Mr. Pierson gained superior knowledge of his affairs with his wife, Vivian, and that the prejudice resulting to him from this superior knowledge was demonstrated during Mr. Pier-son’s cross-examination. Defendant cites several examples of this cross-examination but does not show how it could have resulted to his prejudice. An illustration concerns certain letters defendant introduced in evidence. These letters were four of apparently a number of letters written to him by Vivian at one time when she had left him and were introduced to show that she was reconciled with him and that they could live together harmonously. Mr. Pierson asked defendant why he had kept only four of the letters and defendant contends that the question implied that Mr. Pierson knew of other letters of a different tenor. In answer to Pierson’s question, the defendant replied that Pierson had advised him that the four were all that would be needed for evidence. It is contended that this answer “reinforced” the unfavorable inference. In support of his position that the district attorney occupied inconsistent positions, defendant relies upon
Valentine
v.
Stewart,
15 Cal. 387,
Wutchumna Water Co.
v.
Bailey,
216 Cal. 564 [15 P.2d 505], and
Pennix
v.
Winton,
61 Cal.App.2d 761 [143 P.2d 940, 145 P.2d 561], In the Valentine case, the attorney had represented the government in a land claim
It would appear that the cases cited by defendant are not similar to the situation under consideration. Here, Mr. Pierson had represented defendant briefly in a divorce action which did not come to trial but was dismissed, and defendant had procured other counsel for another divorce action prior to the time at hand; that action, too, was dismissed. It should also be noted that no objection was made by defense counsel at the time the matter was made known in the trial of the ease at bar. Neither was objection made at that time that it was Mr. Pierson’s “superior knowledge” that prompted him to question defendant concerning the other letters which had not been introduced in evidence by the defendant.
It is also argued that on another occasion, Mr. Pier-son challenged the veracity of the defendant and stated that “If he [defendant] keeps it up, I’m going to have to take the stand.” The transcript shows that during Mr. Pierson’s cross-examination of defendant concerning the size of a book with which defendant stated his wife had struck Clarence, defendant would only gesture and would refuse to give an answer stating that “You [Mr. Pierson] have seen it.” Mr. Pierson, during a heated exchange between himself, defense counsel, and the court, stated: “In these answers Mr. Simpson is giving, I don’t know whether he wants me to take the stand and answer these statements he is making about me or not.
Another alleged prejudice suffered by defendant occurred when Pierson attempted to recall to defendant’s son Billy’s mind whether he had ever heard his father say anything “bad” about his mother. During the recross-examination, Mr. Pierson asked Billy if he remembered being around when his father talked to him (Pierson) and Billy replied that he did not—that he only remembered going to Mr. Pierson’s office once.
Defendant’s argument that the deputy district attorney stated to the jury that he had “checked” on defendant’s story and that he, Mr. Pierson, had not been “mesmerized” by defendant, is not borne out by the record. It is apparent that it was defendant who had done the “checking” and that the statement concerning “mesmerized” was a quotation from defense counsel’s argument to the jury: “ ‘Do you think,’ says Mr. Friedman, ‘that he mesmerized Mr. Pierson?’ ” There was no assignment of prejudicial misconduct by defense counsel and, furthermore, it is difficult to see how such remarks could have prejudiced the defendant.
Still another contention that the district attorney was guilty of prejudicial misconduct is the allegation that “two pages of the transcript” were used in arguing to the jury facts not in evidence. In particular, complaint is made concerning the statement “She’s going to kill your little brothers” in that there was no such testimony concerning the child Gary. Jimmie Jones testified that defendant told him and Clarence, on several occasions, that “if we didn’t get her she was going to get us”; defendant himself told one Eldon Marxmiller, a witness for the People, that “I am going to get rid of her or she is going to get rid of me and .the boys”; Clarence testified that one of the reasons why he shot his mother was because “she was going to get rid of my little brother.” It would appear that the evidence justifiably permitted the inference that the use of the word “boys” meant all of them, including Gary.
Another allegation of prejudicial misconduct on the part of the district attorney was the following portion of his
“The Court: I think, Mr. Pierson, you were perhaps putting in an inference there. I’m quite sure that everything you said, Mr. Simpson didn’t say to the little boys, it isn’t in evidence.
“Mr. Pierson: I’ll withdraw my statement then, Tour Honor, if there is any question about that, I’ll withdraw it and ask that the jury disregard my remarks, because I certainly don’t want to put anything into evidence that isn’t there.”
The court thereupon admonished the jury to disregard the statement made by Mr. Pierson, and a general instruction to the same effect was also given.
There is no direct testimony in the record concerning the statement attributed to Mr. Simpson by the prosecution. There is, however, testimony by Clarence that he asked his mother what she was doing with the box of family papers; that later he and Jimmie Jones smuggled the box out of the house; that he later told his father his mother had been going through the papers and had taken a deed, or paper, out of the box; that he was afraid his mother would take some of the papers and that his father had previously told him that she had taken some and hidden them. Donald Dodge testified that defendant and Vivian often quarreled about the custody of the children upon separation; that Vivian wanted Gary but that defendant did not agree; that the couple argued over the home property. Other evidence previously recited shows that defendant, on several occasions, pointed out to Clarence that if he didn’t get his mother she would get him. We said
It is also argued that the deputy district attorney, in his argument, referred to statements admitted solely for impeachment purposes as affirmative evidence in the case. This contention is not supported by the record which shows that the impeachment evidence was contrasted to the testimony given by the witnesses when on the stand. Furthermore, there was no assignment of prejudicial misconduct at the time. References to the “malevolent power” of Mr. Simpson over Clarence which forced Clarence to “parrot the fanciful stories that Mr. Simpson had planted in his mind” were not objected to at the time they were made and no showing is now made that defendant could have been prejudiced thereby.
It is contended that a statement by the deputy district attorney that when Mr. Walters first heard about the death of Mrs. Simpson, he went to the sheriff’s office to inform them, was a misstatement of the evidence. Mr. Friedman stated that Mr. Walters’ testimony was that he had been sent for by the sheriff. Mr. Pierson replied that he did not recall the exact testimony and upon the court’s question “Did he want to argue about it?” Mr. Pierson replied “I know the facts on it but I don’t recall what the testimony was.” The court then asked if he wished to concede the point and let it go, to which Pierson replied that he would not make an issue of the question. There was no assignment of prejudicial misconduct and no showing of prejudice since this particular matter was quite immaterial concerning the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The cases cited by defendant
(People
v.
Kirkes,
39 Cal.2d 719, 724 [249 P.2d 1];
People
v.
Evans,
39 Cal.2d 242 [246 P.2d 636];
People
v.
Brophy,
122 Cal.App.2d 638, 651 [265 P.2d 593] ;
People
v.
Ford,
89 Cal.App.2d 467, 470 [200 P.2d 867];
People
v.
Cook,
148 Cal. 334 [83 P. 34]) are not in point. In the Kirkes case, the district attorney stated that he knew the defendant was guilty; in the Evans case, reference was made to a knife carried by the child’s at
In People v. Cook, supra, 148 Cal. 334, the prosecution argued to the jury that the defendant had sent one man to prison because he was engaged to his daughter and the defendant was therefore jealous and capable of killing upon the same incitement. There was no evidence of any kind pertaining to the alleged statement; the court refused to so instruct the jury and the appellate court reversed.
In all of the cases relied upon by defendant, the damaging nature of the arguments is at once apparent.
Defendant’s last contention is that the evidence does not justify the verdict. It is defendant’s argument that since he did not fire the fatal, or any, shot and yet received the death penalty, the record should be scrutinized by this court with even greater care. Viewing the evidence most favorably in support of the judgment as we are bound to do, we feel that there is no merit to defendant’s contention.
The judgment and order denying a new trial are, and each of them is, affirmed.
Gibson, C. J., Shenk, J., Edmonds, J., Traynor, J., Schauer, J., and Spence, J., concurred.
Appellant’s petition for a rehearing was denied November 24, 1954.
Notes
The emphasized portions are those concerning which complaint is made.