People v. Woods

THOMPSON, J.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of robbery of the second degree. On appeal it is contended the verdict and judgment are not supported by the evidence, that the court erred in admitting evidence of another offense and in giving to the jury certain instructions. It is also asserted the prosecuting attorney was guilty of prejudicial misconduct in referring to the evidence of another offense in his argument to the jury.

There is ample evidence of the identity and of the guilt of the defendant. The robbery occurred at 3 o’clock on the morning of May 20, 1934. Mr. Burch, the night clerk of the Hotel Maywood at Corning, then had custody of a sum of money in excess of $28.45 which was contained in the cash register in the lobby of the hotel. The clerk was alone in the lobby. The defendant, who had operated a barber shop in the vicinity of the hotel, was known to the clerk. At the time above mentioned the defendant walked into the lobby of the hotel clothed in a light gray suit with his face masked below the eyes. His left hand was covered with a handkerchief which evidently concealed a weapon. Hastily stepping up behind Mr. Burch, he poked the hidden weapon into the clerk’s ribs and said: “This is a hold-up. Get over to that cash register. Be quick and be quiet and I won’t hurt you, but get a move on you. . . . Don’t you ring that bell (or) I will bore a hole through you.” The frightened clerk promptly obeyed the command. Opening the cash register, he told the man to help himself. The robber replied, “No, I won’t touch anything. You take that money out of there and put it on that piece of paper— wrap it up and give it to me.” The clerk did so. He placed the money on the designated paper. He was then asked if he had any more money about the place. The clerk hastily opened a roll-top desk near by, where he had previously placed other money, and added this to the cash register coin. Wrapping the money in the paper as he had been directed to do, he handed the package to the robber, who took it in his right hand and placed it in

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his pocket. The defendant then said to the clerk, “Come on, we are going to take a ride.” The robber marched Mr. Burch out through the side door, accelerating his speed by means of an occasional punch in the ribs with the concealed weapon. Regarding the nature of the weapon with which the clerk was threatened, he testified: “It felt like it might be the barrel of a gun or a piece of iron, or might have been a stick, but I thought it was a revolver, and I think so yet.” In this fashion the defendant and his victim proceeded down a side street and up an alley, where the clerk was left with the admonition to remain quiet for at least five minutes if he wished to escape harm. The robber then disappeared. The clerk immediately ran back to the hotel to telephone to an officer. When he entered the lobby, he turned off the lights. As he did so, he glanced through the window and chanced to see a man crossing the street towards a garage on the opposite side of the street. The corner was illuminated by a street lamp which enabled him to recognize the man as the same person who had robbed him. He promptly telephoned to the city marshal for assistance. He then went to the window and watched the defendant as he conversed with three other men at the garage. These men soon entered an automobile which was parked near by and drove westerly.