People v. Guarino

SHINN, P. J.

Luke Patrick Guarino appeals from convictions of grand theft and burglary and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. He was accused of having suffered three prior convictions, which he admitted.

It was alleged in the information that on or about December 5, 1953, defendant unlawfully and feloniously entered a shop in the store of I. Magnin and took about $15,000 worth of jewelry from two showcases. Defendant was arrested on the evening of January 11, 1954, in the Mitchell Hotel, located in Los Angeles, and was booked at the Wilshire Police Station at about 4 a. m., January 12,1954. His bail was fixed prior to the time he was arraigned before a magistrate on January 19, 1954.

The jewelry was taken from the cases of Laykin & Company, ' jewelers, on the main floor of the store. On December 5th at 6 :30 p. m., Mr. Laykin, the owner, checked his three showcases and found them to be locked. Pie was the last one in his department to leave the building. On the following Monday morning, it was discovered that the showcases had been broken open. A gold ring was found on the bottom landing of the fire escape. This ring was identified by a tag as having come from the jewelry showcases. An inventory of the missing items was made and they were found to be of the value of $15,000.

According to officers’ testimony, defendant Guarino was arrested on January 11, 1954, about 10:30 p. m. in his hotel, and was taken to his room for about 10 minutes and searched. At the time of the arrest a woman’s diamond wristwatch was found in defendant’s coat pocket, wrapped in a piece of tissue paper. It was subsequently identified by the serial number of the watch movement and the case as having come from Laykin’s. Defendant also had about $1,200 in large bills in his possession. He gave a gold key watch and key holder to a

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friend, Shirley Johnson, shortly before Christmas, which she gave to the police and which were subsequently identified by Mr. Laykin by the watch movement number as having come from his store. Alice Eienhart, a salesgirl for Laykin, testified she waited on defendant on December 4th, shortly prior to the theft, and that she remembered his mannerisms, nervousness and speech, and noted a scar on his forehead. Mr. Bugel, the store night watchman, saw a man at about 7:10 p. m., December 5, 1953, standing on the porte coehere of the roof 8 or 9 feet away from him. The witness asked him what he was doing on the roof and the man answered “just investigating.” He then fled. The witness later at the police station identified the voice of the defendant as the voice he had heard from a group of several men. He also identified the blue topcoat he had on.