People v. Jones

MUSSELL, J.

Appellant was charged with having escaped from the state prison at Chino in violation of the provisions ' of section 4530 of the Penal Code. He entered a plea of not guilty and waived his right to be tried before a jury. Trial was then held before the court and appellant was found guilty of the offense charged in the information. He was sentenced to the state’s prison for the term prescribed by law and appeals from the judgment.

On June 21,1957, appellant, who was a prisoner confined i u the California Institution for Men at Chino, failed to report to the prison dormitory for the prisoner count made at 7 :20 a. m. The prison authorities then conducted a search throughout the institution and surrounding grounds but were unable to locate the appellant. He had left the institution without "obtaining permission from the prison officials and was later apprehended in Oregon and returned to San Bernardino County.

In a statement made to the county agent who went to Oregon to return him to San Bernardino, he, the appellant; admitted

[120]

that on June 21, 1957, he left the mess hall and went into a field, where he lay until darkness fell; that he then walked to Los Angeles, where he obtained food and clothing and a temporary job, later going to Oregon. Appellant made no effort at the trial to refute these facts but contended that his incarceration at the state prison at the time of his escape was not based upon a legal, valid conviction. However, the certified commitment papers covering appellant’s incarceration at the prison were admitted into evidence without objection and show that an information filed in Glenn County charged appellant with having committed the crime of robbery with a deadly weapon and that appellant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; that a trial before a jury was held and appellant was represented by counsel; that the jury found that appellant was sane on the day and at the time the robbery occurred and he was sentenced to imprisonment in the state’s prison. The commitment papers also contained the statement prepared for the Department of Corrections by the trial judge and district attorney, which statement recites the following history of the crime:

“. . . On January 21, 1957, defendant was without funds and was on his way from Ashland, Oregon, to Hayward, California. He had thirty cents in his pocket and stopped at a café and bought a cup of coffee and a couple of doughnuts. He then went across the street to a service station and had his car filled with gasoline. He then took a gun which he had in his possession and told the service station attendant to open the cash register and give him the money. The service station attendant did so, giving the defendant around $35.00. After the defendant left in his car, the service station attendant called the Sheriff’s Office and reported the crime. The defendant was apprehended by the Sheriff of Glenn County, who gave pursuit to the defendant’s car, at Maxwell which is located approximately twenty miles south of Willows.