People v. Hopkins

Opinion

FILES, P. J.

Arnold Ledford Hopkins was convicted of robbery in the superior court in Los Angeles County in 1973 and is presently confined in Folsom State Prison. His appeal from the robbery conviction was affirmed by this court (2 Crim. No. 24080, unpublished opinion, filed April 16, 1974).

Sometime prior to January 18, 1974, defendant submitted to the

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superior court what he denominated a petition for writ of mandate, bearing the filing number and caption of the robbery case.

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By that petition he asked the court to compel Officer J. V. Rodriguez of the Burbank Police Department to return the sum of $1004.30 which had been taken from Hopkins at the time of his arrest for the robbery. He further alleged that the money had not been used as evidence at his trial, and that at the close of his criminal trial his motion for return of the money had been denied without prejudice to his bringing a civil action for it.

Hopkins also sent to the court a request that he be brought to Los Angeles County for the hearing on his petition.

The city attorney filed a “memorandum of points and authorities in opposition to petition for writ of mandate” asserting that the money in question had been taken from the robbery victim.

The superior court declined to order that Hopkins be brought personally before the court. On January 18, 1974, the court made a minute order denying Hopkins’ petition “for lack of jurisdiction.”

Hopkins filed a notice of appeal from that order, which brought the matter here.

Under some circumstances a trial court has jurisdiction to order the police to return to a defendant property seized as evidence of crime. (See

Flack

v.

Municipal Court

(1967) 66 Cal.2d 981, 984 [59 Cal.Rptr. 872, 429 P.2d 192];