People v. AlexanDer
People v. AlexanDer
Opinion of the Court
In an information filed by the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, defendant was charged in count one with the crime of grand theft of an automobile, while in count two he was accused of a violation of section 503 of the Vehicle Code, which makes it an offense to take an automobile without the consent of the owner thereof. Following entry of not guilty pleas to both offenses charged,
Stating the facts in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as we are required to do following conviction of the defendant, we find in the record evidence that about noon on Saturday, January 24, 1942, defendant drove into the used car lot of William Henry at Hermosa Beach in the county of Los Angeles. Defendant was driving a Studebaker automobile, and wanted to work out a deal whereby he would transfer the Studebaker to the dealer and purchase a 1941 Buick coupé. He stated that he desired to take delivery of the Buick that same Saturday afternoon, so that he could drive back to San Francisco to be at work the following Monday morning. During the negotiations defendant stated to Mr. Henry, the dealer, that he had purchased the. Studebaker as a new car in San Francisco, but did not have the white registration slip on it because that document was in transit to Sacramento in connection with his application for 1942 number plates. In response to a question asked of him by Mr. Henry as to whether he ever had a loan on the Studebaker, defendant stated that at one time he had a loan with the Universal Finance Company in Los Angeles; that at that time the car was registered to an address on 92nd Street, but that the loan had been paid off in full. In an attempt to verify the aforesaid statement, Mr. Henry called the Universal Finance Company on the telephone, but that Saturday afternoon its office was closed.
The dealer then contacted the Hermosa Beach Police Department and learned through them that the Universal Finance Company was the legal owner of the Studebaker automobile and that appellant had made the loan from an address in 92nd Street in Los Angeles. When he was asked to produce the “pink slip” on the Studebaker, defendant replied that it was in San Francisco, but that he could send it down on Monday. The dealer then agreed to take what is called a “buyer’s bill of sale” on the Studebaker and to
From the evidence, it appears that defendant first came to the used car lot to look at the Buick a few days prior to the transaction above referred to, to wit, on Wednesday or Thursday of that same week. Upon his return to the lot on Saturday noon, he said to one of Mr. Henry’s salesmen on the lot, “I see you still have my Buick,” to which the salesman replied, “I am glad to have you come back; I think I have.” The salesman then appraised defendant’s Studebaker and figured the amount of the contract; the papers in connection with the transaction were completed and signed by defendant with Mr. Henry, the dealer. The salesman testified that in the conversation that occurred among himself, Mr. Henry and defendant, the dealer agreed to deliver the Buick to defendant and take a buyer’s bill of sale for the Studebaker, and wait until Monday morning for the certificate of ownership on the latter automobile. The Buick was delivered to the defendant, and he drove it away.
On the following Monday morning the dealer continued his investigation, and as a result of that investigation he was required to deliver the Studebaker automobile to the Universal Finance Company. The testimony shows that on the Saturday in question, when defendant delivered the Studebaker to Mr. Henry, there was due and unpaid a balance of $630 from defendant to the finance company, and his conditional sales contract for the purchase of the Studebaker was in default for three installments of $35 each for the months of November, December and January.
It also appears in the evidence that when a copy of the conditional sales contract on the Studebaker was compared with the original, the number of cylinders had been changed from six to eight, the serial number had been changed, and the words, “used 39 Stude” had been changed to “1941 Buick.” Defendant was apprehended in Kansas City, Missouri, and the police officer who returned him to Los An
Testifying as a witness in his own defense, defendant denied any knowledge of much of the information that appeared on the conditional sales contract and other papers in connection with the transaction involving the Buick, claiming that this information was placed therein after he had signed the document. He admitted in his testimony that he told the dealer’s salesman that he had lived in San Francisco at one time, and further admitted that he did give the address of 203 Sutter Street. He denied that he ever made any statement to Mr. Henry or the latter’s salesman that he was the owner of the Studebaker or that he had paid off the loan thereon.
Contrary to appellant’s claims, the information sufficiently charged the offense of grand theft. Compliance with subdivision 2 of section 950 of the Penal Code does not require that the information state the kind of grand theft with which the defendant is charged. The elimination of the necessity for the district attorney to elect in advance of the proof whether the prosecution will proceed upon the theory of larceny, false pretenses, trick and device, embezzlement, etc., and the reasons for such elimination, are set forth in People v. Fewkes, 214 Cal. 142, 149 [4 P. (2d) 538].
Appellant next contends that the decision of the court adjudging him guilty of grand theft is contrary to law and the evidence; but in reading the arguments advanced in
Appellant’s contention that Mr. Henry, the dealer, was informed at the time of the transaction that appellant was not the legal owner of the Studebaker automobile and therefore could not have relied to his detriment upon any representations appellant made, is not borne out by the record. True, the dealer was advised through the police department that a finance company was the legal owner of the Studebaker according to the records of the Motor Vehicle Department ; but the dealer testified that in about ninety per cent of the transactions involving financing of automobile purchases the legal title is not transferred upon the records of the Motor Vehicle Department when the conditional sales contract is paid out; that “the finance company signs off on the back of the pink slip and mails it to the customer without it being transferred, and it is up to the customer to put it through Sacramento. It costs them $1.00 for a transfer,
The judgment is affirmed.
York, P. J., and Doran, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.