People v. Fountain

VALLÉE, J.

Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted of grand theft. He appeals from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

The appeal should be dismissed because of the failure of counsel for defendant to comply with rule 15(a) of the Rules on Appeal, which in part reads: “Each point in a brief shall appear separately under an appropriate heading, with subheadings if desired. Such headings need not be technical ‘assignments of errors’ but should be concise headings which are generally descriptive of the subject matter covered. . . .” (22 Cal.2d 1, 12.) Defendant’s brief not only does not state each point separately and under an appropriate heading but no points at all are stated. The Rules on Appeal have been in force nearly six years and it would seem that the profession by now should have some slight knowledge of their content. Notwithstanding, but solely because defendant has been sentenced to imprisonment and a client should not suffer because of the omissions of his counsel, we have examined the entire record to determine whether error was committed below. We find none.

As we cull defendant’s briefs we gather that he wanted to claim that the corpus delicti was not established, that the evidence does not support the verdict, and that the testimony of an accomplice was not corroborated.

[160]

One Mueller operated a meat packing plant at Vernon. The yard of the plant was enclosed by a high wire fence with one gate which was kept locked at night. Fountain, the accomplice, was in the employ of Mueller as a sort of janitor and night watchman. He had no authority to sell meat. Defendant, a wholesale meat dealer, supplying hotels, restaurants, cafés and markets, had worked for Mueller about 1924 and apparently had been discharged for defalcations. He had purchased meat from Mueller’s Vernon plant prior to 1947, but always in the daytime and from a salesman.

In the two months prior to May 30, 1948, between $7,000 and $8,000 worth of meat was stolen from the Mueller plant. In an effort to apprehend the thief, deputy sheriffs were stationed at the plant. On the morning of Friday, May 28, 1948, Fountain met defendant at a market in Los Angeles. They had not known each other prior to this time. He asked defendant if he wanted to buy some meat, saying that he needed money to make a payment on his car; that he was working at a packing house at night. He told defendant where it was located and to come out to it (the packing house). Defendant gave Fountain a card with defendant’s telephone number on it. There was no talk as to the price of the meat. Immediately thereafter defendant went to the Mueller plant and looked it over.