People v. Blanks

FOX, P. J.

Defendant was charged in count I of an information with the robbery of Melvin Mays, and in count II with assaulting Mays by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following a jury trial he was found guilty of robbery as alleged in count I, the jury determining it to be robbery in the second degree. He was also found guilty of the aggravated assault charged in count II. Defendant moved for a new trial and the motion was denied. The court then reduced the offense under count I to grand theft from the person, a lesser but necessarily included offense. Probation was denied and defendant was sentenced to one year in the county jail on each count, the sentences to run consecutively. He appeals from the judgment.

The victim of the robbery and assault, Melvin Mays, testified that at about 1:30 a. m., on August 25, 1962, he left a bar known as the “Club Chucaire” in Los Angeles. After walking a short distance he heard someone say, “That’s the one,” and he was then attacked by four or five men. During the scuffle which ensued Mays’ wallet, containing two or three dollars, was taken from him. Mays became unconscious when he was kicked in the head, but he recalled hearing someone say, “Get his ring.” His ring was not stolen, however. He was later taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. At the trial he exhibited scars on his head and face, and also two 5-ineh scars on his back which he sustained as a result of the attack.

An eyewitness to the incident was one Aredas B. Bell, who was sitting with some friends in a car across the street from the Club Chucaire. He observed what at first appeared to be a fight between two men, and then four or five men attacking Mays. He heard one of the men say, “Get his ring.” A woman came out of a nearby house holding a gun and said, “My God, don’t kill the man,” and scared the attackers away. Defendant, however, “came back and stomped” Mays two or three times in the face with both feet. At this point Bell and his friends left their car and approached Mays, inquiring if he was hurt. They then decided to apprehend the attackers. Bell saw defendant and said, “There he is.” De

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fendant began running away but was caught by some of Bell’s companions who returned him to the scene.