People v. Fellows

HOUSER, J.

By an information filed by the district-attorney of Orange County defendant was charged with having committed the crime of sex perversion, as denounced by section 288a of the Penal Code, in “that the said George W. Fellows, on or about the 22nd day of December, 1922, at and in the county of Orange, state of California, . . . did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously participate” in the act of which complaint is made.

The evidence showed that the crime was committed on board a passenger-car of a railroad train which was traveling between the city of Los Angeles and the city of San Diego. Defendant was convicted and he appeals to this court from the judgment, as well as from the order denying his motion for a new trial; he also appeals from the order by the court denying his motion in arrest of judg-! ment.

Section 783 of the Penal Code provides, in part, that “when the offense is committed in this state, on a railroad train or ear prosecuting its trip, the jurisdiction is in any

[559]

county through which the train or car passes in the course of her trip, or in the county where the trip terminates”; and in that connection it is contended that the information is faulty in its failure to contain appropriate allegations showing the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the superior court of Orange County. Defendant also contends that under the provisions of section 777 of the Penal Code (except as otherwise in the Penal Code provided) every public offense is punishable in the county wherein it is committed. In view of the fact that the information directly charges the commission of the offense in Orange County, it becomes immaterial that the venue might also have been laid in any other county through which the train passed.

(People

v.

Moore,

103 Cal. 508 [37 Pac. 510].)

It is further objected that the evidence does not show that the offense was committed in Orange County. An eye-witness to the act of which complaint is made testified: “Q. And what did you see? A. That man [defendant] was going on his knees. Q. And where was your train at that time, if you know about where it was? A. We was at Northrup; right at Northrup. Q. Northam? A. Yes, Northam.”