People v. Caldera

SHEPARD, J.

Defendant was charged, tried and convicted of the crimes of assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to commit murder (violation of Pen. Code, §217), and burglary in the first degree (violation of Pen. Code, §459). Defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction and from the order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial.

In general effect the prosecution evidence showed the following : Defendant was the husband of Angelina Navarro Caldera. They were separated and an interlocutory decree of divorce had theretofore been rendered. Angelina lived with her four small children in an apartment in the rear of her mother’s home, near Blythe, California. On April 13, 1958, Angelina went to a dance in Arizona with Mr. and Mrs. Juan Gonzales. Defendant was present at the dance and some unpleasantness occurred, including a threat of personal harm by defendant toward Angelina. Angelina stated that the defendant was intoxicated but not as bad as she had seen him on other occasions. The exact time when she noticed the intoxication and the degree of intoxication were not described by her. Angelina left the dance before midnight and returned to her home near Blythe. Apparently at some time before midnight, after she had gone to bed, defendant broke through a window of her bedroom, threw her to the floor and stabbed her with a knife in seven places, one of which stabs penetrated her chest cavity and lung. During the time she was on the floor defendant uttered threats that he was going to kill her. Mrs. Higuera (Mrs. Caldera’s mother) heard the commotion, the scream of her daughter, calls for help, and the cries of the 4-year-old son of “Grandma, Grandma, Daddy kill mama.” Mrs. Higuera broke the screen, unlocked the door, pulled defendant away from Mrs. Caldera and shouted “Get the shot gun,” whereupon defendant ran away. Some two hours or so later, at about 2 a. m., on the 14th, defendant borrowed money from a friend without explanation as to why he needed it. At about the same time, he telephoned his mother and asked her to send his valise and money to Mexicali or to Calexico. Later that morning he quit his job and left that neighborhood without attempting to obtain his money and personal effects from his home.

Defendant’s defense was alibi and that he did not do any

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of the acts charged as a part of the crime. He did not offer the defense of intoxication nor did he claim that at any time during the period when the offense was alleged to have been committed he did not have full possession of his mental faculties. He never even mentioned intoxication.