People v. Jiminez

PEEK, J.

By an information filed by the district attorney of San Joaquin county the appellant was charged with murder. Upon his arraignment he entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity which pleas were subsequently withdrawn and a plea of guilty entered to the crime charged. The court, after receiving evidence as to the degree of the offense pursuant to section 189 of the Penal Code, determined it to be murder of the first degree and sentenced defendant to life imprisonment. His motion for a new trial and for a modification of the judgment was denied and he now appeals from the order denying said motion and from the judgment so imposed.

The record shows that the 21-year-old appellant is a citizen of Mexico who has resided in California since 1945, residing with decedent’s family near the city of Lodi for approximately seven months prior to the murder. While he ate his meals with the family his actual living quarters were located under a tree approximately 100 feet from the house.

The evidence primarily consists of the testimony of the appellant who testified that he and the decedent, Clotilde Vasquez, were engaged to be married; that he customarily met his fiancee upon her return home from her night job in a Lodi cannery and did so meet her about 1:30 a. m., on the morning of the homicide and that they proceeded to a near by

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vineyard. He further testified that during the course of their conversation she informed him of her intention to go to school in San Francisco and requested him to postpone their wedding until she had concluded her contemplated schooling; that she became angry upon his refusal to do so and his statement that he did not wish to wait any longer; that he too became angry and drew a pocket knife with the intent to “afraid her” but that in his anger he lost his head and fatally stabbed her. Appellant admitted that he fled the scene of the crime without knowing whether or not Clotilde was dead and boarded a bus bound for Los Angeles. Upon his arrival there he changed his name and secured employment with a railroad company by whom he was employed until his apprehension and return to Stockton.

One of the brothers who found her body in the vineyard the following morning testified that the ground near by appeared “scuffled up.” He further testified that the decedent had told him she “might marry” the defendant but that she “wasn’t, . . . well, too certain about it.” Another brother who had searched appellant’s living quarters testified that from a distance the bed appeared to be occupied but upon closer examination he found that a blanket had been used so as to cause it to appear that a person was sleeping in it.