People v. Botkin

[232]

GAROUTTE, J.

— Defendant has been convicted of the crime of murderj and .prosecutes this appeal. The charge of the court given to the jury upon the law contained declarations which were held to be unsound in

People

v.

Vereneseneckockockhoff,

129 Cal. 497. In view of the decision in that case, the attorney-general concedes that the judgment should be reversed and the cause remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. But defendant claims that she is not triable at all by the courts of this state, and this contention should now be passed upon. For if maintainable, a second trial becomes a useless expenditure of money, time, and labor, and necessarily should not be had.

For the purposes of testing the claim of lack of jurisdiction in the courts of California to try defendant, the facts of this case maybe deemed as follows: Defendant, in' the city and county of San Francisco, state of California, sent by the United States mail to Elizabeth Dunning, of Dover, Delaware, a box of poisoned candy, with intent that said Elizabeth Dunning should eat of the candy and her death be caused thereby. The candy was received by the party to whom addressed, she partook thereof, and her death was the result. Upon these facts may the defendant be charged and tried for the crime of murder in the courts.of the state of California? We do not find it necessary to declare what the true rule may be at common law upon this state of facts, for, in our opinion, the statute of this state is broad enough to cover a case of the kind here disclosed. There can be no question but that the legislature of this state had the power to declare that the acts here pictured constitute the crime of murder in this state, and we now hold that the legislative body has made that declaration.

Section 27 of the Penal Code reads as follows: —

“ The following persons are liable to punishment under the laws of this state: —

“1. All persons who commit, in whole or in part, any crime within this state;

“2. All who commit larceny or robbery out of this state, and bring to, or are found with the property stolen, in this state;