People v. Farrell

MOORE, P. J.

Appellant and his brother Raymond were accused by information of robbery. Raymond pleaded guilty and after trial appellant was convicted by the court without a jury and sentenced to prison for the term prescribed by law. This is an appeal from such judgment.

About noon on September 26, 1950, John Hirsch, an armed

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guard messenger for an armored transport company, called at a suburban market on West Slauson Avenue, received a sealed canvas bag and made Ms exit through the rear door. As he emerged from the building he was “poked in the back” by a strange man who held a trench coat over his right arm. The stranger took Hirsch’s gun and the canvas bag, and after conducting the messenger a short distance, the robber disappeared “into the bushes.”

About midnight November 1, 1950, police officers of the city of Los Angeles, acting upon information recently received, knocked at the door of defendants and ordered them to come out. Raymond emerged from the residence and after gaining entrance the officers found appellant in a back bedroom. In searching the premises they found the pistol wMeh had been taken from John Hirseh, also a Japanese automatic which appellant had borrowed from one Huff.

Raymond confessed to the robbery of the transport messenger on September 26 and gave details of the crime. Thereafter Deputy Sheriff Irving brought the brothers into a conference and requested Raymond to repeat his narrative in order to straighten out the discrepancies. Thereupon Raymond stated that he and appellant left home about 10 o’clock in appellant’s station wagon and after procuring additional gasoline they parked at the “Wich Stand.” About 20 minutes prior to the robbery they drove into the parking lot of the Mayfair market. There Raymond alighted from the station wagon and stood by until the armored car approached the market; appellant immediately drove from the parking lot to the adjoining street and Raymond entered the rear of the market where he waited until Hirseh came out with the moneybag. He held the Japanese automatic in Hirsch’s back, walked him across the parking lot, took the moneybag, reentered the station wagon and appellant drove it away. On arriving at home they divided $2,200 in money evenly and burned the checks in the incinerator. During the statement of Raymond appellant was silent. He was then asked by Irving what he had to say. He replied, “What do you want me to say?” He was then asked if there were any changes he would like to make in Raymond’s statement. His reply was, “the only thing I have got to say is that I didn’t put a gun in anybody’s back and I didn’t hold up any armed truck. I don’t know anything about any robbery.” He denied that he had made such a trip as described by Raymond and did not remember what he did on that day. He said Raymond had never dis