People v. Sanders

STONE, J.

Defendant Sanders and a codefendant, Collins, were charged by an information with violation of section 245, Penal Code, assault with a deadly weapon. The attack occurred in the late afternoon of December 15, 1961. Earlier that day the victim, the two defendants, and two other persons, had gone to Manteca, where they secured some marijuana. Upon their return to Modesto from Manteca, the group of five apparently dispersed. At about 5 in the afternoon the victim met the two defendants and a third person at a bar in Riverbank, located in Stanislaus County near Modesto. After drinking some beer, they left the bar, the victim driving the group in his parents’ automobile. Along the way they picked up a fifth person who had had no previous contact with the group.

[481]

The victim was an informer, and apparently appellant and Collins learned of this some time between the morning activities and the reassembling of the group in the late afternoon. During the ride, appellant ordered the victim to drive on a country road, telling him that they were going to “work him over for squealing” on them. Appellant, who was sitting in the front seat, produced a hunting knife and threatened the victim driver with it. An argument ensued and Collins, who was sitting in the back seat, struck the victim over the head with a bottle, which broke. The victim slumped over against appellant, and Collins climbed into the front seat under the wheel. There is evidence that Collins struck the victim a second time with a portion of the broken bottle, and that the second blow cut the victim’s face. The victim revived somewhat, grabbed the wheel, and spun the car into a telephone pole, wrecking it completely. Appellant and his three companions fled the scene, leaving the victim in the car, where he was found by a witness who lived nearby.

In addition to the cuts on his face, the victim’s finger and jacket were cut. The victim testified that he was cut on the finger by appellant, and that his jacket was cut by appellant’s knife. However, on cross-examination he conceded that the cut finger might have been caused by the broken bottle.

The victim was impeached in certain of his testimony. At the preliminary hearing he testified that he made contact with the sheriff’s office on the day of the crime when he was picked up on a bad check charge. At the trial he stated that he had called the sheriff’s office and asked to have someone come and get him. There was also a conflict in his testimony concerning his connection with the law enforcement officers. He denied working for the sheriff’s office, but later explained that he meant that he was not paid by the sheriff’s office. He conceded that his whereabouts was known to the sheriff’s office at all times. In substance, he testified that although he was acting as an informer, he was doing so without pay.