People v. Vincent
People v. Vincent
Opinion of the Court
Appellant was convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree, and appeals from the judgment, and from an order denying a motion for a new trial.
1. We see no errors in the rulings of the court below in the matter of impaneling the jury.
It appears that the regular venire of jurors having been exhausted before the jury was completed, the court ordered a special venire to be summoned by the sheriff; that upon the return of the sheriff, the appellant interposed a challenge to the entire panel of jurors summoned upon said special venire, upon the ground of the bias and prejudice of the deputy sheriff who summoned them; and that said challenge was by the court sustained. Appellant then interposed a challenge to the regular venire of jurors, upon the ground that they had not been drawn in the manner as prescribed in section 205 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the court also sustained that challenge. The court then ordered a second special venire to be issued for one hundred jurors, and upon the return of the sheriff, it appeared that of the one hundred jurors summoned, several were jurors who had also been
2. We see no abuse of discretion in the overruling of appellant’s motion for a change of venue. It is true that the prosecution filed no counter-affidavits, except as to the employment of assistant counsel; but the only affidavits filed by the appellant on the motion were made by himself and his counsel, which fact distinguishes the case widely from People v. Yoakum, 53 Cal. 566, upon which he relies. Moreover, as to the main point of public feeling against appellant in the county in which he was tried, the affidavits are largely upon information and belief; and upon that point, as the motion was not made until several days after the trial
3. It is contended by appellant that the court erred in instructing the jury that “ evidence of drunkenness can only be considered by the jury for the purpose of determining the degree of crime, and for this purpose it must be received with great caution.” This instruction and others stating the same principle have been frequently approved by this court in murder cases. (People v. Lewis, 36 Cal. 531; People v. Williams, 43 Cal. 344; People v. Belencia, 21 Cal. 544; People v. King, 27 Cal. 507; 87 Am. Dec. 95; People v. Ferris, 55 Cal. 588; People v. Jones, 63 Cal. 168.) Appellant relies on the recent case of People v. Phelan, 93 Cal. 111, in which the said instruction above quoted was held to be erroneous.” But that was a case of burglary, in which the degrees of the crime are not based at all upon the principle which distinguishes the degrees of murder. Section 22 of the Penal Code provides that “ whenever the actual existence of any particular purpose, motive, or intent is a necessary element to constitute any species or degree of crime, the jury may take into consideration the fact that the accused was intoxicated at the time, in determining the purpose, motive, or intent with which he committed the act.” Now, the degrees of murder are based upon the “ intent ” — the deliberation or premeditation —
4. The crime of which appellant was convicted was committed prior to the act of March 31,1891, amending sections 1217 and 1229 of the Penal Code, relating to the time and place for the execution of the death penalty; but it must be deemed to have been settled by the decision of this court in Bank in the case of People v. Mc-Nulty, 93 Cal. 427, that such amendments do not apply to convictions for offenses committed prior to their enactment.
The transcript does not contain the evidence, and the
Judgment and order appealed from affirmed.
De HavenJ., and Sharpstein, J., concurrred. De Haven,
Hearing Bank denied.
Reference
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- THE PEOPLE v. F. O. VINCENT
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- Criminal Law — Jury — Challenge to Panel — Second Venire — Challenge to Jurors Resummoned.—The fact that some of the jurors summoned in a criminal case upon a second special venire had also been summoned upon the first special venire, to which a challenge to the entire panel had been sustained by the court, upon the ground of the bias and prejudice of the deputy sheriff who summoned them, furnishes no ground to a challenge of the entire panel of the second venire. Whatever objections might be had to the second panel should be presented as challenges to individual jurors. Id.—Power of Court to Direct Summons of Jurors.—Under section 226 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may at any time direct the sheriff to summon jurors from the body of the county, although there be ■ names of properly selected regular jurors in the jury-box; and when from any cause there are no regular jurors to he drawn from, the court may exercise the power granted by said section. Id. — Change of Venue — Discretion. — Although the discretion of the trial court in granting or refusing a change of venue in a criminal action is not an arbitrary discretion, yet where its exercise has not gone beyond legitimate and reasonable limits, it cannot he rightfully interfered with by the appellate court. Id. — Homicide — Drunkenness — Instruction. — Upon a prosecution for murder, an instruction to the jury that evidence of drunkenness can only be considered by them for the purpose of determining the degree of crime, and for such purpose it should be received with great caution, is correct. Id. —Death Penalty — Amendment of Code—Prior Offenses.—The act of the legislature of March 31,1891, amending sections 1217 and 1229 of the Penal Code, relating to the time and place for the execution of the death penalty of one convicted of murder in the first degree, does not apply to convictions for offenses committed prior to its enactment.