People v. Sartori

NOURSE, J.

Defendant was charged, together with his codefendants Sasselli and Gatti, with the crime of robbery, by taking from the possession of one Joe Ponti a certain sum of money by force and fear. Defendants Sasselli and Gatti both entered pleas of guilty. The defendant Sartori stood trial, was convicted by the jury, and prosecutes this appeal. The sole ground for reversal urged in his behalf is that the evidence is insufficient to justify the verdict of conviction.

The undisputed facts are that this defendant first met Ponti in a saloon in Fresno one evening at about 6:30 o ’clock; that

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Ponti had just recently arrived from Stockton; that the two had several drinks together at the bar, where Ponti displayed considerable money; that the other two defendants were in the same saloon drinking at the same bar; that defendant Sartori left Ponti for a short time and went out to the sidewalk, where he met Sasselli, to whom he said he “had a friend inside, from Stockton; he has eighty dollars; saw him buy a drink, and he changed a twenty dollar gold piece.” It then appears that after more drinks were had Sartori suggested to Ponti that they go out and have some tamales. As they stepped outside of the saloon he urged Ponti to get into Sasselli’s automobile, which was standing near by, saying he would follow on his bicycle. Ponti, Sasselli, and Gatti drove off in the automobile and Sartori followed for a few blocks on his bicycle. Sasselli, driving the machine, turned into the country, and when several miles out of town he and Gatti forcibly took Ponti’s money from him, put him out of the machine and turned back to town.

On their way back Gatti gave Sasselli fifty dollars, telling him he had taken seventy-five dollars from Ponti and that twenty-five dollars, half of that given to him, was for Sartori and half for himself. When they reached town Gatti got out of the machine and Sasselli proceeded a few blocks until he picked up Sartori, to whom he handed twenty-five dollars, telling him that Gatti had taken seventy-five dollars from Ponti and had given him fifty dollars to be divided between Sartori and himself. Thereafter Sartori went to the saloon where he first met Ponti, and, as he entered, overheard Ponti relating his experiences to the proprietor and accusing “the man with the bicycle.” Sartori stepped up, and as to what then occurred the testimony of the proprietor of the saloon shows: “Sartori comes in and he says to Ponti, ‘I am the man with the bicycle’; and so Ponti says, ‘I will go up to make my own complaint and to fight it out,’ and Ponti asked me what place was the police headquarters, and I show him; and Sartori says, ‘If you want to go out there, I will show you; I will go with you.’ And so when it started that way and Sartori says, ‘If you put me in the complaint, I will fix you’; and Ponti says, ‘Never mind,’ he says, ‘I am going to make my own complaint’; and so Sartori tells him again, ‘I will fix you.’ At the same time he hit him and he fell on the floor. ’ ’