People v. Henning
People v. Henning
Opinion of the Court
James D. Richards and James Henning were accused of grand theft of an automobile from Rosina Point and in a separate count of violation of section 503 of the Vehicle Code in that they did wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously take from Rosina Point the said automobile. Richards was accused of having suffered a former felony conviction, which he admitted. A jury trial resulted in the conviction of the defendants; Richards was found not guilty under Count I and guilty under Count II. At the trial Richards declined the services of an attorney and elected to represent himself. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. Upon defendant’s application for appointment of counsel, we followed our usual practice. (People v. Perez, 162 Cal.App.2d 650 [328 P.2d 512].) Our own examination of the record disclosed that appointment of counsel would be of no benefit to defendant or to the court; appointment of counsel was denied, defendant was duly notified, afforded an opportunity to file a brief and no brief has been filed.
There was evidence of the following facts: A Chevrolet belonging to Mrs. Point was stolen from a parking lot in Los Angeles on February 7th; the following evening it was found parked at Amboy, California. Richards was at the wheel; six other adults and a young child were in the car; four males, including Henning, and three females. All the adults were arrested. Officer Jones of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office later had a conversation with Richards. When asked whether he had stolen the car Richards said “Yes and no”; that Henning had taken the car but he, Richards, wired it over and drove it because Henning did not have a driver’s license. Richards said: “I stole it in Los Angeles, and it was stolen in Los Angeles near Angel’s Flight.” There was no ignition key in the car and it had been wired to start without a key. Officer Meyers testified that he had two conversations with Richards. In the first Richards said that Henning had the car and picked up all the people who were found in the car; Richards said he was intending to go to Oakland and see his
Defendant Henning, called by appellant, testified that he first saw the car in front of an apartment house where Ethell was living. In the apartment were William Johnson and his wife, Mrs. Richards, Ethell and Marie Martelle. All got into the car. Richards took the wheel and drove. This is the substance of the defense that was offered.
There was ample proof of defendant’s guilt. The trial was conducted without error.
The order denying motion for a new trial and the judgment are affirmed.
Vallée, J., and Ford, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.