People v. Pearson

SCHOTTKY, J.

Defendant Leonard Castilow was found guilty by a jury of the crime of burglary in the second degree. He has appealed from the judgment entered upon the verdict.

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Upon appellant’s request this court appointed Irvine P. Dungan of the Sacramento Bar to represent him upon this appeal. Mr. Dungan has informed this court that after an examination of the record and an interview with appellant it is his conclusion that there is no merit in the appeal. We have made a careful study of the record and agree with Mr. Dungan’s conclusion.

The evidence discloses that sometime after 11 p.m., the evening of February 28, 1958, the Hoosier Inn in Stockton was forcibly entered. The burglars entered through a rear door. They ransacked part of the interior. The office of the business was also ransacked. The door of a desk which was padlocked was pried open. In prying open the desk door a deep mark was made in the wood which indicated that the mark was made with a tool with a round shaft. Two rolls of pennies, a roll of nickels, and a roll of dimes and an envelope containing three unsigned checks were missing after the burglary.

About 11:55 p.m. two Stockton police officers were driving on Center Street, in the city of Stockton, when one of the officers observed two men standing in the doorway of a grocery store which was closed. The officers drove around the block, and on their return they observed that the men were gone. The police checked the area and two blocks away they found Castilow and a Cecil Pearson. Two rolls of coin were found in Pearson’s pocket. A crowbar was stuffed down his trousers. A screwdriver was tucked under Castilow’s shirt. Pieces of torn coin wrappers were found in the gutter and on the floor of Pearson’s car. Mixed among a handful of change which was found in the jacket of Castilow’s pocket was a torn piece of paper which could have been from a wrapper. The screwdriver taken from Castilow fit into the pry mark on the desk.

Cecil Pearson, who was charged jointly with appellant and who pleaded guilty, testified that about 10:30 p.m. he and Castilow drove around in his (Pearson’s) car. About 11:30 p.m. they drove to the rear of the Hoosier Inn and entered. He had a crowbar and Castilow had a screwdriver which he had taken from some tools in Pearson’s car. They went into the room where the desk was located where Castilow started prying on the desk with the screwdriver. After the desk was opened, Pearson picked up the rolls of coin and the checks, and later he broke open a roll of nickels and gave some to Castilow.