People v. Lew Hoe

LANGDON, P. J.

This is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment upon a verdict- of a jury finding him guilty of murder. Appellant’s statement of facts fairly summarizes the outstanding features of the record, which are:

Lum Wing Lock, the deceased, lived in a room on the second floor of a building on Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California. Another room close by was occupied by his son, Lum Sing Gum, and a companion, Mock Jim. In another room, No. 35, upon the same floor, lived the defendant and appellant. At about 6 o’clock on the morning of March 8, 1924, the deceased was shot while ne was in a kitchen upon the same floor, but at a little distance' down the hall from the room of the deceased. This was a community kitchen and not directly connected either with the sleeping-room of the deceased or of the appellant.

The deceased was shot twice in the back, the bullets penetrating the abdomen and passing through the body. The weapon with which the shooting was done was held so close to the body of the deceased as to leave powder burns upon his clothing. He died within a few hours.

Mock Jim, the young Chinese who occupied the same room with Lum Sing Gum, the son of the deceased, testified that on that morning he had left his room to go to a toilet situated on the opposite side of the hallway from where the kitchen was located. He saw the deceased walking ahead of him in the hallway and saw him enter the kitchen. Mock Jim entered the toilet and while there he heard someone walking in the hall and then he heard a pistol shot. He put his head outside the door of the toilet and saw the defendant a few steps away from him firing his revolver into the kitchen. He heard three shots fired and retreated again into the toilet as the defendant turned and started back to his room. While the shots were being fired, Mock Jim heard the deceased call out: “Save my life, Lew Hoe is shooting me.” After the defendant re-entered his room,

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Mock Jim went to the kitchen and assisted the son of deceased in carrying the wounded man into the hall.

The testimony of Mock Jim is corroborated by the testimony of Lum Sing Gum, son of deceased, who stated that while he was still in bed, Mock Jim left the room which they were occupying together; that shortly afterward the witness heard a shot; that he jumped out of bed and heard two other shots fired in rapid succession and heard his father ,cry out: “Save my life, Lew Hoe is shooting me.” Lam Sing Gum ran into the hallway in time to see the defendant walk rapidly down the hall and enter his own room. He did not see any weapon in the hands of defendant, but stated that defendant had his hand in his coat pocket. ,