People v. Renoso

[794]

VAN DYKE, J.

Appellant, Jorge Rodriquez Renoso, was convicted of the crime of murder of the first degree in a trial before a jury which set the punishment at life imprisonment. He appeals from the judgment imposed in accordance with the verdict, and urges that the record shows no justification for a conviction of first degree murder; that appellant could have been convicted of second degree murder at most.

Appellant argues that there is no evidence of premeditation or deliberation and that the killing was not in perpetration of or in connection with any activity or endeavor which by force of statute disposes of the necessity of proving willfulness and premeditation.

On September 4, 1950, the decedent, one Audrey Wilson, while sitting in a café in Sacramento, entered into conversation with appellant and agreed to go with him to his hotel room for the purpose of sexual intercourse at a price agreed upon. They left the café and went to the room sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 p. m. About midnight a woman’s screams were heard coming from appellant’s room, and later on a woman was heard moaning therein. About 3 :00 a. m. the body of Audrey Wilson was discovered in the lavatory on the second floor of the hotel. Autopsy examination revealed the decedent to have been approximately 35 years of age, 5 feet 5 inches in height, and weighing approximately 125 pounds. ITer body bore evidence of severe beating. There was a large contused wound on the back of her head which had a considerable amount of blood beneath the skin, although the skin itself was not broken. On her face there were multiple contusions and abrasions. Thus the lower left jaw was abraded; the left eye and right nostril were discolored, the left ear lobe was discolored and swollen; there was a large contusion and several abrasions over the bone of the left cheek; on her neck, in the region of the trachea, there were eleven small abrasions, five or six on either side, and the underlying tissues were deeply bruised; there was a large black and blue spot over the left collarbone and on the left arm, and there were contusions on the upper part of each arm; there were multiple contusions on both thighs, and an abrasion in the kidney region of the back; the nail of the left middle finger had been torn off, and there was a hemorrhage beneath the nail of the right index finger; there was a tear about 1.7 centimeters long by .7 centimeters wide in the lower rectal area. The autopsy physician testified that death was caused by asphyxiation induced by strangulation.