People v. White

177 Cal.App.2d 383 (1960) THE PEOPLE, Respondent,

v.

HOLLIS WHITE, Appellant.

Crim. No. 3670. California Court of Appeals. First Dist., Div. Two.

Jan. 25, 1960. Arthur D. Klang, under appointment by the District Court of Appeal, for Appellant.

Stanley Mosk, Attorney General, Clarence A. Linn, Assistant Attorney General, and Peter T. Kennedy, Deputy Attorney General, for Respondent.

DOOLING, Acting P. J.

February 8, 1950, the appellant was adjudged a psychopathic delinquent pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code, section 7058, and committed to Mendocino State Hospital. In 1955, he was transferred to Atascadero State Hospital and on July 30, 1957, to the medical facility at Vacaville. On December 20, 1957, he was transferred to San Quentin prison. While incarcerated there, appellant was convicted of violation of section 4502 of the Penal Code, which provides: [384]

"Every prisoner committed to a State prison who, while at such State prison or any other State prison or while being conveyed to or from any State prison or while at any prison road camp, prison forestry camp, or other prison camps or prison farms or while being conveyed to or from any such place or while under the custody of prison officials, officers or employees, possesses or carries upon his person or has under his custody or control any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a black-jack, slung shot, billy, sandclub, sandbag, or metal knuckles or any explosive substance or any dirk or dagger or sharp instrument, or any pistol, revolver or other firearm, is guilty of a felony and shall be punishable by imprisonment in a State prison for a term not less than five (5) years. (Added Stats. 1943, ch. 173, p. 1068, 2.)"

[1] Appellant does not deny that on January 12, 1958, he had in his possession a homemade sharp knife and a file. His sole ground of appeal is that he was not a prisoner within the meaning of section 4502 but, rather, a patient.

It cannot be successfully argued that appellant was not lawfully committed to San Quentin Prison and there held in custody by due process of law. He was adjudged a psychopathic delinquent pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code, section 7058, which provides for a 90-day period of commitment for observation. The record reflects that the medical superintendent of Mendocino State Hospital, the place of observation, reported appellant to be a psychopathic delinquent. Upon receiving the report the court proceeded with a further hearing as provided in section 7058. Criminal proceedings were suspended and appellant was committed for an indeterminate period as a psychopathic delinquent. Section 7051 of the Welfare and Institutions Code provides that the director of institutions, with the approval of the Department of Finance, may provide one or more institutional units to be used for the custodial care and treatment of defective or psychopathic delinquents. The institutions to which defendant was transferred from time to time were legally designated institutions for the care and treatment of psychopathic delinquents.