People v. Singh

MAR.KS, J.

The district attorney of Fresno County filed two informations in the court below charging Mangal Singh with felonies. One charged the defendant with committing the crime of sodomy upon a fifteen year old boy whom we will hereafter refer to as Vernon. The other information contained two counts, the first of which charged him with attempting to commit sodomy upon a boy whom we will refer to as Boyd, who was thirteen years old at the time of the commission of the offense, and the second charged the commission of the same crime upon a boy whom we will refer to as Clarence. The cases were consolidated and tried together and are before us on a single record.

At the close of the People’s case the charge involving the boy Clarence was dismissed. The defendant then moved the trial court to peremptorily instruct the jury to acquit him because each boy was shown to be an accomplice and there was no evidence corroborating his testimony as required by section 1111 of the Penal Code. The motion was granted and the jury instructed accordingly. The jury refused to

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follow the instructions and found the defendant guilty of both offenses. On motion for new trial the court below granted the motion in the case where sodomy was charged and denied the motion where the attempt only was involved, and pronounced judgment therein. The People are before us as appellants from the order granting the new trial, and the defendant is here as appellant from the judgment and the order denying a new trial. The evidence is particularly revolting and we will only summarize such portions of it as are necessary to an understanding of the questions of law involved.

Vernon was over the age of fourteen years at the time the crime was committed and was an accomplice to the act of sodomy committed upon him. (Secs. 26 and 1111, Pen.

Code; People

v.

McCollum,

214 Cal. 557 [7 Pac. (2d) 301].) , The only question for us to consider on the appeal by the People is whether or not there is evidence in the record corroborating the testimony of Vernon that the sodomy was committed. Under the rules of law governing the question in California, we have reached the conclusion that there is not, and that the trial court correctly granted this motion for new trial.