People v. Roof

SHINN, P. J.

Accused by information of three offenses of grand theft, defendant was convicted in a jury trial of two offenses; no agreement having been reached as to a third count it was dismissed and defendant was granted probation conditioned upon his spending 90 days in jail and paying a fine of $200. He appealed from the order granting probation as from a judgment.

The offenses consisted of defendant’s obtaining $237 from a Mr. Steele and $260.28 from a Mr. Rodriguez upon representation that he would install two-way radio equipment in their automobiles or trucks. The contract price for the Steele equipment was $1,800 and for that of Rodriguez $1,919.28. Steele and Rodriguez were told they would have to apply for FCC licenses for the use of mobile radio equipment. Defendant was 19 years old. He started in business under the name of Pacific Engineers. He did not have any equipment, but proposed to acquire needed equipment for the Steele and Rodriguez jobs from supply houses. He admitted having received the money upon account of the contract prices for the equipment and he also admitted on the stand the use of the money for his personal expenses. He described efforts he had made to obtain financing for the contracts he had undertaken and other efforts he had made to meet his obligations.

This brief review of the evidence is sufficient to show that it furnished ample support for the verdicts. It is also adequate for a consideration of an incident that occurred in the direct examination of a police officer which, it is contended, deprived defendant of a fair trial.

Curtis Frank, a police officer of the City of Santa Monica, testified that he investigated the case and that he had had two conversations with defendant at the police station; defendant stated that he had received various sums of money, including sums he had received from Mr. Steele and Mr. Rodriguez. The witness had made a memorandum of the conversations and used it in giving his testimony. He was asked by the district attorney to state what was said by the defendant which the officer had included in his memorandum and the deputy said to the witness: “Incidentally, if there is anything

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in the instrument that does not relate to the ease in question, or should not be used to — not mentioned — just relate to the conversation. ’ ’ Defendant stated to the officer that he had made arrangements for installation of the equipment he liad promised to install. The officer asked defendant what he had done with the money, and testified “and he stated that he had been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor — The Court: All right, we can forget about that. Let us proceed. The Witness: And that he needed the money for his financial obligations, and that’s where the money went.” No request was made that the court admonish the jury to disregard the statement of the officer with respect to defendant’s admission that he had been in trouble and the court gave no admonition except to say “we can forget about that.”