People v. Seawright

CRAIG, J.

Appellants and one Kent were charged with the crime of robbery, a felony. Three separate verdicts were returned by a jury, convicting each defendant of robbery in the first degree. Seawright and Eberle appeal from orders denying their motions for new trial, and from the judgments based upon said verdicts.

The three defendants were tried jointly, and each one testified upon the trial. A written confession of the defendant Kent was introduced in evidence, but the jury were instructed to regard it only as against him, and that nothing therein contained should be considered as evidence against these appellants. The latter appeal upon the ground of alleged insufficiency of evidence to sustain a conviction of robbery in the first degree, as defined by section 211a of the Penal Code. Bobbery, as denounced by the statute, is defined and classified as follows:

“See. 211. Robbery is the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear.”

“Sec. 211a. All robbery which is perpetrated by torture or by a person being armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon is robbery in the first degree. All other kinds of robbery are of the second degree.”

It is contended by appellants that the. evidence was not sufficient to warrant the jury in finding that they .committed the offense charged; that if committed by them they used the firearms which were introduced in evidence; or, that if appellants were believed by the jury to have committed the robbery with firearms, the guns were loaded at the time of the holdup.

[416]

The principal facts presented to the jury were as follows: On July 4, 1924, at about 11:30 P. M., one Myron Gr. Stevens and a Miss Beyerie were seated in a coupe, parked near the curb at the Pasadena hospital, in Los Angeles County, where the latter was employed; two men, later identified as defendants Eberle and Kent, approached the car, pointed guns at the occupants, and ordered them to get out, which they did; Eberle started to search Miss Beyerle, but when assured by her that she had nothing, he desisted; Kent searched Stevens ’ pockets and took from him a watch, wallet, and money, a bank-book, some keys, and certain papers. Witness Enders testified that as he drove through Fair View Avenue he saw a Ford standing with lights out, just south of the front door of the hospital, and that it was occupied by one man, who was wearing a straw hat; that two other straw hats had been placed up in the back of the machine so that they were visible through the small window, from the rear; the witness made several tours around the block and on one of these occasions saw two men in the shadows of some trees near said hospital, one of whom wore a cap; he notified the Pasadena police department of the occurrence, and upon his return to the scene the Ford was moving away, in a southerly direction. At about 12:15 or 12:30 A. M. a Ford car was stopped at North Broadway bridge in a direct route southerly from Pasadena, by Officers Dunn and Hackett, and the occupants thereof, who proved to be the defendants Eberle, Kent, and Seawright, were there arrested and the automobile was searched. At the time of such arrest all three men were wearing straw hats, and in their machine were found two caps, an automatic pistol, and a revolver, both of which were loaded, and the property which had about an hour previously been taken from Stevens.