People v. Foster

HART, J.

The defendant was indicted by the grand jury of Sacramento County for the crime of attempting to escape from the state prison, at Polsom, in said county, he then being a prisoner confined in said prison for a term less than for life. (Pen. Code, sec. 106.) Ills trial upon said indictment resulted in a verdict of guilty, and he prosecutes this appeal from the judgment of conviction and the order refusing to grant a motion made by him for a new trial.

[552]

It appears from, the evidence that the locomotive engine which is used in hauling freight-cars from the prison to the town of Folsom and there connecting with the Southern Pacific Company’s road was, on the twenty-ninth day of June, 1919, in charge of a guard named Lucas, whose particular duties then were those of a locomotive engineer on said engine. The fireman of the engine at the time mentioned was a convict named Cody. On the afternoon of said day, while the engine was being used in the prison yard in switching freight-cars, the defendant, together with two other convicts, St. Clair 'and Heath by name, jumped upon the engine and into the cab thereof, and St. Clair, holding a knife over and against the body of Lucas in a threatening manner, said: “We are going to take a little ride with you, boys,” at the same time ordering Lucas to “open up” the engine and start it toward the gate leading into the prison yards. The defendant also had a knife in Ms hand and stood on the cab near St. Clair. Lucas opened the throttle and started the engine, but said to the prisoners that it could go no farther than the gate because it (the gate) was locked. St. Clair replied: “Go on, anyway,” and Lucas permitted the engine to move on and it struck the gate, breaking it down, and the engine passed through and about four car-lengths beyond the gate, when the engine was stopped. Cody, the fireman, was taken oif the engine by the defendant and his companions, and Lucas was ordered by them to alight, which he did, and thereupon with much haste started back to the prison yards in the direction of the gate through which the engine was forced. The prisoners, including the defendants, were promptly halted by the prison guards and confined in the prison.

The foregoing facts are taken from the testimony of the witness, Lucas, the engineer in charge of the engine at the time of the attempted escape. There was other evidence, circumstantial in character, introduced by the people, which was corroborative of the testimony given by Lucas. The cause was not orally argued before this court, but the defendant has filed a brief, which was evidently prepared by himself, although it seems to have the sanction of two lawyers, who immediately following the subscription of the defendant’s signature- to the document appear to have subscribed theirs as “His late attorneys.” The defendant, in