People v. Daugherty

BROWN (Gerald), P. J.

— Defendant John Everett Daugherty appeals from a judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of grand theft (Pen. Code, §§484-487).

[565]

In August 1963, Robert Krauss purchased a motorcycle from the defendant. Krauss transferred a car and $250 cash in exchange for the motorcycle. The motorcycle, a bill of sale marked “Paid in Pull,” and the pink slip were delivered to him. The transaction was witnessed by Krauss’ employer, Robert Clifford.

In November 1963, the defendant came to the service station where Krauss worked, and offered to tune the motorcycle engine for him. The defendant wanted to warm up the engine before adjusting the valves. Krauss told him that according to the book the valves were to be adjusted when the engine was cold. The defendant stated he had a better way of doing it. Krauss replied, “Start it here, run it here, get it hot.” He did not give the defendant permission to take the motorcycle from the premises. A short time later Krauss and Clifford saw the defendant speed away on the motorcycle. It has not been seen since.

The defendant was located in Butte, Montana. The officer who accompanied the defendant back to California testified he conversed with him on the train. On one occasion between Butte, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah, he told the defendant, “ [T]hat boy would like to know where his motorcycle [is], he’d like to have it back.” The defendant responded, “That boy hasn’t lost his motorcycle, he just doesn’t know where it is, and if I get convicted of this, they will never find that motorcycle.”

Krauss had a conversation with the defendant at the jail. The defendant stated that if Krauss “took him to court” he would never get the motorcycle back. The prosecutor commented and the court instructed the jury on the defendant’s failure to take the witness stand. Upon his conviction the defendant was sentenced for the “term prescribed by law with respect to the offense of which he has been convicted,” and committed to the Adult Authority at Chino.

The defendant contends there was insufficient evidence to support the implied finding, necessary to support a grand theft conviction, that the value of the motorcycle was more than $200. Krauss’s testimony he had paid $350 ($250 cash and $100 allowance on the car) for the motorcycle a few months before it was taken, refused offers to purchase it of $450 and $650, and valued it between $500 and $600, amply supports the finding.