People v. Seay

VAN DYKE, P. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered upon a jury’s verdict which found appellant guilty of second degree robbery.

The victim of the robbery was Mrs. Walter Freeborn who, together with her husband, operated a grocery store in Lake County. On the evening of November 15, 1958, Mrs. Freeborn was alone in the store when two young men entered. One wore a black and white striped shirt and a black and white striped jacket. Both were clean shaven and well groomed. Neither wore a mask. They threatened Mrs. Freeborn, ordered her to open the cash drawer and lie down on the floor. They took approximately $100 in currency, and left in a light-colored car. Mrs. Freeborn immediately telephoned the sheriff's office and described the men and their automobile. A roadblock was set up and within 15 or 20 minutes thereafter an officer stopped a yellow hardtop in which appellant, his codefendant Brustol, and a third young man were riding. Appellant was wearing a black and white striped shirt and a black and white striped jacket. Upon request the three men accompanied the officers

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to the Freeborn grocery where Mrs. Freeborn unequivocally identified appellant and Brustol as the two men who had robbed her. Appellant and Brustol were searched and found to have in excess of $100 in currency.

Appellant does not, and could not successfully, contend that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. However, he does contend that the instructions given by the trial court were erroneous and inadequate in that the jury were not instructed that specific intent is an essential element of robbery and that intoxication may be considered in determining the question of intent.

The trial court read the statutory definition of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), and, at appellant’s request, instructed the jury: “In every crime or public offense there must exist a union or joint operation of act and intent. To constitute criminal intent it is merely necessary that a person intend to do an act which, if committed, will constitute a crime. When a person intentionally does that which the law declares to be a crime, such person is acting with criminal intent even though he may not know that such act is unlawful and even though there be no bad motive.’’