People v. Figuieredo

SHINN, P. J.

Carl E. Figuieredo was found guilty of the crime of robbery of the first degree while armed and

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was sentenced to state prison July 8, 1953. He had admitted prior convictions of three felonies for which he had served terms of imprisonment. During the trial which was to a jury he was represented by counsel.

December 28, 1954, there was filed with this court an application by Figuieredo, the purpose of which was to procure an order of court requiring the county clerk of Los Angeles County to file his notice of appeal and to prepare a record on appeal. In making this application he was not represented by counsel. In the written application Figuieredo represented that at the time of sentence, namely, July 8, 1953, “he filed with the Superior Court of the State of California, at Long Beach, before the Honorable Judge Maltby, a Notice of Appeal.” It was also stated that on July 16, 1953, he was transferred to the California Institution for Men at Chino, California, and that on that day he “filed with a Correctional Officer Lieutenant H. M. Comstock, a Notice of Appeal to the Superior Court of the State of California, In the County of Los Angeles”; that due to his unfamiliarity with law he addressed the envelope which contained his notice of appeal from the judgment and order denying motion for new trial “to the District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney T. W. Cochran, County of Los Angeles, 713 Jergins Trust Building, Long Beach, 2, California”; about September 23, 1953, he wrote to the court reporter requesting information pertaining to a notice of appeal “filed by the defendant on July 8,1953”; he received an answer from the court reporter stating that the reporter had not “received any data pertaining to a Notice of appeal”; thereafter he had been trying to the best of his ability to find out why his notice of appeal sent to T. W. Cochran had not been delivered to the county clerk; November 16, 1954, he wrote to Mr. Cochran inquiring concerning the notice of appeal and that Cochran returned the notice of appeal to him on or about December 24, 1954. Attached were copies of the letter to the court reporter, a reply from the county clerk, the letter to Mr. Cochran and the latter’s reply, with which reply Cochran returned the notice of appeal which he had previously received from Figuieredo. Upon consideration of the application this court made an order that the county clerk file the notice of appeal which had been mailed by mistake to Mr. Cochran and returned to Figuieredo. In due time the clerk’s transcript and reporter’s transcript were filed with this court and upon application of Figuieredo, Mr. Albert L. Linniek, member of the Los Angeles Bar Asso