People v. Alexander

SPENCE, J.

Defendants Alexander, Collins and Robin were charged by information with robbery. They were tried by a jury and were found guilty of robbery in the first degree. They were sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison and they have appealed from the judgments of conviction.

At about 7 o’clock on the evening of February 10, 1944, a service station located in Port Chicago was robbed by two colored men who were armed with a gun. These men took about $164 in currency. Upon leaving the service station, they ran to a nearby automobile in which another colored man was sitting behind the wheel. The owner of the service station and an attendant identified the two men who held up the station as defendants Collins and Robin. Another witness identified defendant Alexander as the man who was sitting behind the wheel of the automobile which carried the men away from the scene of the crime. The three men were arrested later in the evening as they were crossing the San Francisco Bay Bridge in said automobile.

The automobile used by defendants was easily identified as it was a Lincoln Continental of the “flashy” type which carried two chrome horns on the front fenders and also carried Arizona license plates. This same car had entered the service station about two hours before the robbery and defendant Collins had then requested that the oil be checked. The attendant cheeked the oil but none was needed. On this visit to the sta

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tion, defendant Collins had walked into the office where the owner was cashing pay checks for several workmen.

Upon the trial, defendants Collins and Eobin took the stand and gave testimony which tended to establish an alibi. They admitted that the three defendants had driven from San Francisco to Port Chicago in defendant Collins’ car on the afternoon of February 10, and that defendant Collins had visited the service station to check the oil. They claimed, however, that they had left Port Chicago at about 6 o’clock, being almost one hour before the robbery occurred. There was no corroboration of their alibi testimony.

Defendant Alexander did not testify on the trial. The sheriff, however, testified concerning an oral and also a written statement given by defendant Alexander following the arrest of defendants on the night of the robbery. In these statements defendant Alexander admitted that he accompanied defendants Collins and Eobin on the trip to Port Chicago and that “we had a small gun.” He also admitted waiting in the automobile a short distance from the service station at about 7 o’clock. He stated that when the other defendants returned they told him “they had held up the gas station.” There was nothing in either the oral or written statement of defendant Alexander denying his previous knowledge that the other defendants intended to rob the service station. On the other hand, his statement showed that with full knowledge of the robbery, he continued to accompany the other defendants on their homeward journey.