People v. Hudson

PEEK, J.

Defendant was found guilty by the court of grand theft of a steer as charged in an information filed by the District Attorney of Nevada County. He now appeals from that judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Three contentions are made: (1) that the circumstantial evidence rule demands a reversal, (2) that there is no evidence, direct or otherwise, that identified defendant or showed that he was at any time in possession of the alleged stolen property, and (3) that by reason of the trial court’s erroneous consideration of matters not properly in evidence the court thereby disclosed such bias and prejudice as would constitute reversible error.

Summarizing the evidence in the light most favorable to respondent it appears that on April 8, 1949, at about 7:30 p. m. one Palmerson and his son were checking cattle grazing

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in the Camp Beale area located between Nevada City and Marysville. As they started, home, after observing that the gates were closed, they noticed a car approaching at a slow rate of speed. It was described as “an old blue car without any bumpers” and that its license number was 19-A-2202. They followed the car for some distance and it appeared to them to be loaded—the fenders were “right down on the tires.” As they pulled alongside of the car they observed two men riding in the front seat. The driver refused to stop when they called to him to do so and forced them to the side of the road as he increased the speed of the ear. The blue car was followed until it crashed through a gate at Camp Beale at a speed which was estimated to be in excess of 50 miles an hour. On the same evening and approximately an hour thereafter a car with the same license number and description was seen traveling easterly in the direction of Grass Valley. It was followed to where it stopped in the driveway of a house near that city. Two men were observed standing beside it. Shortly thereafter the car was driven from where it was parked to the town of Rough and Ready. On the same day at about the hour of 11 o’clock p. m. a car bearing the same license number was apprehended in the city of Marysville by the sheriff of Yuba county. The appellant was riding as a passenger therein and a brother was driving. The front grille of the car was damaged and the glass of the right front headlight was broken. A .22 caliber rifle and hunting knife were found in the car. Reddish stains were on the inside of the rear doors and on the left rear fender. The following morning the carcass of a Hereford steer was found in the Camp Beale area about 4 or 5 miles from where the head, with a bullet in it, and the entrails of the animal were discovered. The animal had been hacked in two crosswise in the middle of the back. It weighed approximately 900 to 1,000 pounds with the hind quarters weighing approximately 275 pounds, and according to the owner who identified the animal one person would not have loaded the hind quarters into the car. The skin and head matched the remainder of the carcass. The owner further testified that in his opinion the steer had been killed within 12 to 18 hours of the time he saw it at noon on April 9th. David Burd, a state chemist, who was called by the prosecution, testified that the stains on appellant’s shirt and shoes, which he was wearing at the time he was apprehended, were bloodstains of a bovine animal; that a glove found in the car contained bloodstains which matched a like