People v. Reece

PEEK, P. J.

By indictment, defendant and appellant Reece, together with codefendants Harrell and Williams, were charged with eight counts of burglary. All were jointly charged in counts one, two, three, and four. Reece and Williams were jointly charged in counts five and six. Williams alone was charged in count seven, and Harrell alone in count eight. The amendment charged Reece and Harrell each with a prior conviction of burglary, and Williams with four prior convictions involving burglary and robbery.

All entered pleas of not guilty. Reece and Harrell denied the priors charged, but Williams admitted those charged against him. At the conclusion of the ease for the prosecution, the court granted the motion of the district attorney to dismiss count four. The jury found Reece guilty of burglary in the second degree, as charged in counts one, two, three, and six, and not guilty as to count five. Harrell was found guilty as charged in counts two, three and eight, and Williams guilty as charged in counts one, two, three, five, six, and seven. Defendants’ motions for a new trial were denied and judgment of conviction was entered.

Thereafter, Reece and Harrell filed their notices of appeal from the judgment and order. No appeal was taken by Williams. Pursuant to the requests of Reece and Harrell, counsel was appointed to represent them on appeal. Subsequently, the appeal of Harrell was dismissed at his request. We are therefore only concerned with the appeal of Reece.

A fourth participant, one McQuillan, testified for the prosecution and was not charged. His testimony concerning the counts in which Reece was involved was that he and the defendants burglarized certain model homes in the Sacramento area, from which two electric refrigerators and a radio were

taken;

that they also burglarized the offices of a tire company and a lumber company from which articles, including a television set and several chests of tools, were taken; that in each instance Reece remained outside as a lookout; that the items which were stolen were then transported by Reece in his pickup truck; that some of the articles were placed in a garage under the apartment where Williams lived, and other items were stored in a second garage which had been rented

[587]