People v. Pimentel Camacho
People v. Pimentel Camacho
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Defendant appellant José Luis Pimentel Camacho, known as Ángel, was accused of violation of §§ 6 (misdemeanor) and 8 (felony) of the Weapons Law of Puerto Rico (25 L.P.R.A. §§ 416 and 418). In the felony case he was convicted by the jury; and on the same evidence, the Superior Court, San Juan Part, found him guilty of the misdemeanor. He was sentenced to serve from 1 to 3 years in the felony case and 6 months in the other,, both sentences to be served concurrently.
On appeal, appellant assigns the commission of five errors by the trial court, which we will discuss below:
1. — That the trial court improperly admitted evidence on the conviction of the defendant for the offense of larceny of use as part of the evidence in the case of carrying weapons.
Witness González Morell testified that on the night of April 20, 1962, he kept his automobile, a Chevrolet Impala,
“Likewise, it has been said that the defendant had pleaded guilty in the district court of an offense of larceny of use in relation to the vehicle which he supposedly drove at the moment he was caught by a police. That evidence has only been act-mitted so that you may consider the scope it may have in relation to the admission it entails, that what it entails is an admission in relation to this case that that night he was in that car. You should not consider it in the sense of conviction for this offense, because that is not the purpose for which it has been offered, but simply, because through it he admits that he had used that car that night and that he had used it without authorization or without the owner’s consent, which is what constitutes the offense of larceny of use.” (Italics ours.)
[1 — 4] The rule of law in regard to the admission of other wrongful acts or of the commission of other offenses is well defined in our case law. In People v. Archeval, 74 P.R.R. 478, 482 (1953), we set it forth as follows:
“The general rule is to the effect that in criminal prosecutions the defendant may not be tried for any offense other than that charged in the information and that, therefore, evidence of other offenses committed by the defendant is inadmissible. People v. Rodríguez, 66 P.R.R. 302. By exception,’ evidence of other offenses is admissible when the former offense is a material fact to establish the commission of the crime charged, or when it is a part of the res gestae or when said evidence is presented to show motive, intent, premeditation, malice or a common plan, or when both offenses form part of the same transaction. People v. Román, 70 P.R.R. 48; People v. Rodríguez, supra; People v. Pérez, 47 P.R.R. 724.”
Its application has not been an easy task. People v. Aponte, 83 P.R.R. 491, 500 (1961); People v. García, 78 P.R.R. 379 (1955); People v. Román, 70 P.R.R. 48 (1949); People v. Rodríguez, 66 P.R.R. 302 (1946); People v. Pérez, 47 PiR.R. 724 (1934); People v. Juarbe, 43 P.R.R. 428 (1932). Evidence of other offenses may be admitted with extreme cau
In the case at bar the direct evidence of the felony charged was sufficient to establish appellant’s guilt, for it
The testimony of the owner of the vehicle to the effect that he did not find it in his garage in the morning, reported the matter to the police, and then they delivered it to him, is immaterial and irrelevant for it was part of the evidence of the offense of larceny of use, evidence which was not admissible in this case as we shall show further on. The testimony as to defendant’s guilt for the offense of larceny of use was not admissible for it did not constitute material evidence to establish the commission of the offense of carrying weapons or that it was part of the res gestae thereof, or that it showed the motive, intention, premeditation in the commission thereof, or malice or common plan, nor was it part of the same transaction although the facts of both offenses arose almost coetaneously and the same vehicle was involved in both. The instruction to the effect that the testimony as to the guilt of the offense of larceny of use leads to the admission that on the night of the events the defendant was in the vehicle, is clearly erroneous.
But the defense waived its objection to the admission of all the evidence related in the preceding paragraph when it asked witness Bauzó himself what occurred in the case of larceny of use of the vehicle in which defendant was traveling. Then the latter answered that defendant pleaded guilty, the defense stated: “Well, that defendant pleaded guilty in this case.” Then he asked Bauzó of what, and he answered: “Of larceny of use. Of stealing the car Chevrolet
2 and 3. — The second and third errors refer to a comment made by the trial judge that certain statement of a witness has no importance and the instruction that the presence of a revolver in a vehicle is prima facie evidence of its unlawful possession by all the persons in the vehicle. Neither the comment nor the instruction were objected to by the defense. Therefore, we shall also understand that appellant waived any error in such actions of the trial court. Beltrán, supra, Lampón, supra.
4. — The appellant assigns as error that the trial court did not give sufficient instructions on the presumption of innocence. But he does not discuss or support this assignment in his brief. We have examined the instructions and we think it is substantially correct.
5. — Finally, the appellant assigns that “The People of Puerto Rico did not prove the corpus delicti, since it did not present evidence of defendant’s domicile or residence.”
We said in Oquendo, supra, that every information under § 8 of the Weapons Law (25 L.P.R.A. § 418) shall allege, pursuant to § 21 of said Act (25 L.P.R.A. § 431), in a case like the one at bar, as it was alleged, that appellant “was bearing, carrying and transporting a loaded revolver, without having a license to carry weapons issued therefor by the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, which is the part to which defendant’s domicile corresponds.” But as we said in Oquendo, supra, and in Segarra, supra, although it is a requirement to inform defendant
For the reasons stated, the judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.