People v. Lima

MOORE, P. J.

Convicted of having recorded a bet and a wager on the result of a trial and contest of speed and power of horses (Pen. Code, § 337a, subd. 4), appellant now demands a reversal of the judgment on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to justify a conviction.

On the contrary, it was not difficult readily to obtain all the evidence reasonably required to warrant such conviction. Deputy Sheriff Earl telephoned Atlantic 1-8242. Appellant answered: “Hello.”

Eabl“This is Rocky for Jo-Jo. I want two dollars to place Market Basket in the seventh and two across on In Regards in the seventh.”

Appellant: “Okay.”

[578]

Thereupon, Bari signaled the deputies who had maintained surveillance of the premises to enter them and arrest appellant. There the officers found appellant seated at a desk with the Atlantic telephone in his hand. At the same time he dropped a scrap of paper to the floor which paper contained a bet of two dollars on “Market Basket” and a bet across the board on “In Regards.” Near the door, outside the shed they took from a five-gallon, open-top can, numerous burnt slips of paper. Among them was one paper but slightly damaged which, when its pieces had been fitted together, proved to be the record of a two dollar bet to win on “Sundisc” in the first race at Hollywood Park the same day. Also, from the waste paper basket in front of the desk of appellant were small particles of paper which, after having been assembled, disclosed wagers on horses that had run on July 4 at Hollywood Park.

When asked by the officers whether he had recorded a bet on the marker which he dropped as the officers entered the premises and how long he had been bookmaking there, he remained silent. Thereupon, many telephone calls were received over the same Atlantic number telephone. While some callers hung up at the sound of the strange voice of the officer, others gave.bets on races to be run that very day. Such evidence was abundantly adequate to sustain a finding of guilt.

The trial court is the tribunal constituted to determine the facts of a controversy, to draw inferences from those facts and to make conclusions therefrom. When it has found from competent proof that the accused has violated the law as charged in the pleading, in the absence of prejudicial error, its judgment will not be disturbed. When the appeal is grounded upon the insufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment, the sole task of the reviewing court is to determine whether the evidence if believed by a jury is of such serious import as to justify conviction.