People v. Marui

LAWLOR, J.

An information was filed against appellant, T. Marui, in the superior court of the county of Monterey charging him with the crime of murder. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and upon the trial the jury rendered a verdict of murder in the first degree, calling for the death penalty. In due course a motion for a new trial was interposed in his behalf and denied, whereupon judgment of death was pronounced upon him. He has appealed from the order denying his motion for a new trial and from the judgment of conviction. We have made a careful examination of the record with the view of determining whether there is any reason why the judgment of death should not be affirmed.

It appears from the record that at about 2:30 P. M. on October 28, 1921, in the city of Monterey, appellant shot Tsunematsu Shintani and his wife. The wife apparently was instantly billed and the husband lingered for about two hours, when he died from the effect of the bullet wounds. Hemorrhage of the liver and kidneys was given as the cause of his death. This prosecution is alone for the killing of the husband.

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The principals to the tragedy and many of the witnesses are Japanese. The testimony of the Japanese witnesses was taken through the medium of Japanese interpreters and because of this some difficulty has been experienced in following the testimony, as it is not always clear whether the interpreter simply repeated the declarations of the witnesses or gave his own understanding of what the witnesses meant to. .convey. We think, however, the evidence we shall touch upon is correctly stated, is fairly reflective of the record as a whole and is sufficient for the purposes of the appeal.

The tragedy occurred at the home of the Shintanis, which for the preceding ten months, had been on Foam Street in the city of Monterey. Appellant had been a lodger in the Shintani household for some three years, but three or four weeks before the fatal meeting changed his abode and took lodgings in the residence of Mrs. Merrill at No. 525 Lake Street, in the same city. Appellant was forty-three years of age and Shintani two years his senior. The slain couple had four children.

Two of the principal witnesses were Mrs. Mitzi Natsuda and Mrs. Max Kozeni, the former residing on the opposite side of Foam Street from the Shintani home and the latter in the adjoining house nearer Pacific Grove. They were friends of Shintani and his wife and acquaintances of appellant. .