People v. Allen

GRIFFIN, P. J.

Defendants appeal from judgments of conviction of conspiracy to commit theft and attempted grand theft. They also appeal from orders denying their motion for a new trial.

The evidence discloses that defendants attempted to steal money from Lewis Compton by means of a confidence scheme known as the “Jamaican switch.” According to the testimony of a police officer who qualified as an expert on the subject, the Jamaican switch is a method by which two or more Negro confidence men induce a victim, who is also a Negro, to withdraw money from a bank and then deprive him of it by switching envelopes or by some other trick. In perpetrating this scheme, one of the confidence men assumes the role of a “Jamaican sailor” and the other swindler poses as the “helpful stranger,” also known as the “cat man.” In the course of the swindle, the Jamaican sailor usually displays a roll of paper “play” money covered with a genuine five- or ten-dollar bill, which roll is known as a “Michigan bankroll” or a “Chicago roll.”

On April 22, 1960, Mr. Compton deposited some money at the Logan Branch of the Bank of America in San Diego. As he left the bank with his bankbook visible in his shirt pocket, the defendant Allen approached him and, speaking in a dialect, asked for information. At this time, the defendant Finney arrived at the scene and, pretending not to be acquainted with Allen, he entered into the conversation. During the conversation, Allen displayed a roll of what appeared to be paper money and stated that it contained $300. At one

[708]

point in the discussion, Allen and Finney feigned an argument as to whether Negroes could withdraw money from a bank. Finney removed Compton’s bankbook from his shirt pocket and, noting that it contained a balance of $600, stated that Compton could draw the money out at any time. Allen, in the Jamaican sailor role, continued to insist that this was not true and offered to bet Compton a sum of money that he could not withdraw $500 from his bank. Finney encouraged Compton to accept the bet but Compton refused, saying that he had to buy some baseball equipment. Compton left and attended to this errand. On his way, he again passed by the bank and observed defendants standing near the bank talking to an unidentified person. Compton immediately reported the incident to the police and they arrested Allen near the bank a short time later. Compton’s testimony that the defendants had accosted him near the bank was corroborated in part by a housewife who lived near the bank who testified that she had observed the defendants off and on for about six hours, commencing about 10 a. m. on the day in question, during which time they intermittently walked up and down the sidewalk in front of the bank. Occasionally they paused to talk to each other and then resumed their pacing.