People v. Collins
People v. Collins
Opinion of the Court
The appellant was charged with the crime of burglary and five previous convictions of felony. He entered a plea of not guilty to the burglary charge, and denied having suffered the previous convictions. During trial two of the latter charges were dismissed, and the jury found him guilty of first degree burglary, and that the charges involving the three remaining previous convictions were true. He was sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison, and this appeal was taken from the judgment and the order denying his motion for a new trial.
It appears from the evidence that about 4 a. m. on July
The fact that a burglary was committed was not disputed, but appellant, testifying in his own behalf, claimed he was in Los Angeles at the time of the commission of the crime. However, he was unable to state where he was then living, or name any persons with whom he came in contact, nor did he produce any witness’ or establish any circumstance to corroborate his asserted alibi. Pie admitted having served the three prior convictions, and that his true name was Truman Thomas Crowley, the name" set forth in the records of said prior convictions. The first was obtained in 1922 in Kansas, the charge being grand larceny “and escape from jail”; the second was for burglary, committed in 1933 in Missouri; and the third was for an attempted burglary, in Kansas in 1936.
Appellant makes no point that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s verdict, but as grounds of appeal urges misconduct on the part of the prosecuting officer, and that the trial court erred in sustaining an objection to a question propounded to appellant on direct examination. It is our conclusion that no ground for reversal has been established.
The first point arises out of the following situation: By the testimony of a police inspector of the Berkeley Police Department who brought appellant from Glendale where he was arrested to Alameda County for trial, the People sought to prove a series of admissions which it was claimed appellant had made to the police inspector, and one of the questions propounded to the witness by the prosecuting officer was whether appellant stated “what his occupation was.” Appellant’s counsel objected to the question upon the ground that it was incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. The objection was overruled, and the witness answered in the affirmative. Thereupon, after fixing the time and place of the conversation and the persons present, the witness was asked: “What did you say and what did he say in regard to what his occupation was -” Appellant’s counsel again objected on the same general grounds; the objection was overruled, and the witness replied: “I asked him where he had
As will be noted from the foregoing, appellant’s complaint that he was prevented from receiving a fair trial was based upon the fact that the witness included in his answer a prejudicial statement not responsive to the question propounded to him by the prosecuting attorney. But as will be noted also, on appellant’s motion the trial court immediately struck out the entire answer and later instructed the jury that testimony so stricken was not to be considered by the jury for any purpose. In that state of the record it cannot be presumed that the jury disobeyed such instruction.
Regarding the accusation made by appellant’s counsel that the prosecuting officer “must have known” what the answer of the witness would be, it may be said that where from the record itself, as distinguished from a mere accusation of opposing counsel, it may be definitely determined that a prosecuting officer has deliberately framed a question in such a manner as to make it appear that it is a proper question, but which in truth is designed to elicit an answer which he knows will place before the jury inadmissible evidence, his
With respect to the second point, the record shows that upon taking the witness stand in. his own behalf appellant testified that his age was 37, that his height was 6 feet 1 inch, and that he weighed 120 pounds. Shortly afterwards his counsel put this question to him: “I will ask you, Mr. Crowley, if you are suffering from any disease?” Objection was made upon the ground that it was incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, and the objection was sustained. Thereupon counsel stated that his purpose in asking the question was to show that appellant was “suffering from an advanced stage of tuberculosis,” and that “it would be impossible for him in his physical condition to have ever run in the manner described that the man on July 4, 1940, was supposed to have run ...” Further objection was made that the question called “for hearsay and for his medical conclusions”; and in reply his counsel stated that he was not asking for a conclusion, but was “asking him of bis own knowledge, if he is suffering from tuberculosis.” The court again sustained the objection, but immediately thereupon, according to the reporter’s transcript, the following proceedings took place: “Mr. Sullivan: All right. I will ask you this question. On the 4th day of July, 1940, were you physically able to do any running or anything of that nature ? A. No sir. Q. For how long a time have you been in a physical condition where you would be unable to run or take any great exertion? A. For about a period of four or five years. Q. Take your coat off,
The assignment of error here relied upon is directed against the ruling upon the original question, to wit, whether appellant was “suffering from any disease,” and it would seem that in view of the evidence showing the circumstances attending the flight and the pursuit of the burglar from the seene of the crime, and considering the purpose of the question as disclosed by appellant’s counsel, the trial court should have permitted appellant to answer it, notwithstanding that, as stated by the prosecuting officer, appellant was not “a doctor.” However, it cannot be said that the ruling complained of operated to appellant’s prejudice, because as will be seen, the real purpose for which the question was asked was fully accomplished by further interrogation by appellant’s counsel, and by having appellant partly disrobe so that the jury could observe his physical condition.
After an examination of the entire record including the evidence it is our conclusion that no ground for reversal has been established, and that the verdict has not resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The judgment is affirmed.
Goodell, J. pro tern., concurred.
Concurring Opinion
I concur in the conclusion contained in the majority opinion, but not in the reasons given for that conclusion. The majority opinion holds that the prosecuting officer was not guilty of misconduct in asking the question of the officer concerning the admissions made by defendant to him relating to his occupation. It is held that it does not appear from the record that the prosecutor can be charged with deliberately trying to get inadmissible evidence before the jury. I cannot agree with that construction of the record. The question asked of the officer was, “What did you say and what did he say in regard to what
The attorney general concedes the law to be that the character of a defendant cannot be attacked unless he puts his character into issue by producing character witnesses. That is undoubtedly the law. (People v. Arlington, 123 Cal. 356 [55 Pac. 1003] ; People v. Adams, 76 Cal. App. 178 [244 Pac. 106] ; People v. Wells, 100 Cal. 459 [34 Pac. 1078] ; People v. Wong Loung, 159 Cal. 520 [114 Pac. 829].) It, therefore, follows that in this case it must be held that the prosecutor deliberately attempted to get the bad character of the defendant before the jury when that issue was not before the court. Such tactics should not be condoned. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial, and cannot be convicted simply because he may be a bad man or may have a bad record. It is the duty of prosecuting officials to protect the rights of the defendant, and certainly they have no lawful right to invade intentionally such rights.
It is my opinion, therefore, that the prosecutor in this case was guilty of deliberate misconduct in asking the question for the purpose of eliciting an improper answer. That was error, but not every error requires a reversal. Here the record shows that the trial judge struck the improper evidence from the record, and instructed the jury not to consider stricken evidence for any purpose. While that will not, in all cases, cure the error, it cannot be held in the present case that after an examination of the entire record “the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice” within the meaning, of art. VI, See. 4% of the Constitution. In
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.