People v. Espalian

[611]

HOUSER, J.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction of the crime of burglary and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The principal contention of appellant is that the evidence was insufficient to prove the

corpus delicti.

In brief, the evidence showed the presence of defendant in one of the corridors on the second floor of a lodging-house at the hour of 4:30 o’clock A. M. One of the witnesses testified that “he (defendant) ran around the corner (of the corridor) and I knew he didn’t belong in the house and I stopped him and wanted to know what he was doing in the house.” At the time defendant was discovered, he was standing within two feet of the door of one of the rooms in the lodging-house, which door was then slowly closing. On being questioned, defendant stated that he was a roomer in the lodging-house, and that he was “looking for a toilet.” He was not a roomer there; nor did it appear that he used the toilet after his discovery. On the trial he admitted that before the time in question he had never been inside the lodging-house and had no personal knowledge of the location of any of the toilets therein. It was shown that in order to arrive at the place at which defendant was discovered it would have been necessary that he pass at least four different toilets. Following his arrest defendant made conflicting statements regarding the place of his residence. More particularly with reference to the room in the lodging-house which defendant claimed to occupy, one of the witnesses testified:

“Well, then I questioned him and he said, ‘I live there,’ and I says, ‘Where?’ And we went to the end of the hallway, and there is a stairway there, and then he took a look and sneaked down the stairs as fast as he could run, and we went right after him. . . . Why, I was going to question him, and all of a sudden he went down the back stairs and we went after him. He went out the door and slammed the door.” (The court ordered stricken from the record the words “as fast as he could run” and “sneaked.”) The witness continued: “Mr. Watt and myself were right behind him, and finally Mr. Watt caught up to him at Second and Bunker Hill, and he turned around and flashed a big knife right about like that (indicating).