People v. Boles

SCHOTTKY, J.

Ernest A1 Boles was convicted by a jury of the crime of receiving stolen property. He has appealed from the judgment which was entered and from the order of the court denying his motion for a new trial. The latter is now a nonappealable order. (Pen. Code, § 1237.)

The owner of a men’s wear store in Red Bluff discovered on the morning of February 4, 1963, that during the weekend some merchandise had been taken from the store.

The defendant and three other young men had been in the store the previous Saturday afternoon. Two of the young men entered a plea of guilty to a charge of burglary and the third entered a plea of guilty to the crime of receiving stolen property.

Boles had been staying at a hotel in Red Bluff under the supervision of a parole officer of the California Youth Authority. The officer discovered a quantity of new clothing in the room of another parolee. Boles’ room at the hotel was searched after he had checked out and a pair of jeans similar to those taken in the burglary was found under a blanket in the dresser drawer and also a sweater was hidden under the mattress. Boles was wearing a pair of jeans similar to those taken. At the police station Boles was questioned by Lt. Schoelen of the Red Bluff Police Department who testified that the statements given by Boles were free and voluntary, without promise of reward or threat of punishment. Boles denied at first any knowledge of the burglary. The officer told

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Boles that he was going to get to the “bottom of this” and that he was going to book Boles for burglary.

The following appears in the testimony of Lt. Schoelen: “During this interview Mr. Boles denied anything about this. Later on he told me that he didn’t commit this burglary. I said, ‘Pine, if you didn’t commit this burglary, I won’t charge you with burglary. ’. .. Q. Let me ask the questions please, okay, so all the way through you told him from time to time that you were going to book him for burglary until you could check his story and get to the bottom of the thing? A. That is correct.... Q. ... Well then, let me rephrase my question, did you at any time during the course of this conversation make a statement to him that if he told you what he knew about the burglary and it showed that he wasn’t involved, that you would not charge him with burglary? A. That is correct, I told him if he wasn’t involved in the burglary, I would not charge him with burglary. Q. And is it not a fact that this statement was made to him before he told you anything concerning the burglary or the stolen items? A. Yes, he kept telling me that he wasn’t involved in the burglary. ... Q. After you made the statement to him about not charging him with burglary, did he then tell you or purport to tell you things involving the occurrence of the burglary and purporting to tell you what he knew about ? A. I think this would be true. ’ ’