People v. Jung Sam

WILBUR, C. J.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. Soo Hoo Kay was murdered between 10 and 10:30 P. M. on the evening of May 20, 1922, at the old American Hotel, in the town of Castroville, Monterey County, California. A dozen or more shots were fired into the body of the deceased. These shots were heard by people in the neighborhood, and almost immediately after the shooting three Chinamen were seen to come out of the alley leading from the rear of the hotel and jump into an automobile. This same automobile was finally stopped near San Jose after an exciting chase, during which the automobile was driven almost sixty miles an hour. At the time of the arrest three Chinamen were found in the machine. The defendant Jung Sam was lying in the rear of the machine. He was wounded by a bullet in his right arm near the elbow, another in his breast, and the third in his right side near the edge of the rib. These three Chinamen were arrested for the murder and were tried jointly. Wong Yuen and Lee Sing were acquitted.

It is unnecessary to state in detail the many circumstances leading to the conclusion that the three defendants were the same persons who fled from the rear of the American Hotel immediately after the shooting. Suffice it to say that at the time of the arrest some loose Smith and! Wesson 38-ealiber cartridges were found in' the automobile and were of the same caliber as those extracted from the body of the deceased; that a pair of tennis shoes were found in the machine and that these fitted the tracks found in the rear of the American Hotel at Castroville immediately after the murder, and that the defendant had on a pair of unlaced leather shoes.

[541]

The only matter complained of by the appellant is the introduction of a statement made by him while he was in the hospital, and it is claimed that the injurious character of this evidence is made manifest by the fact that Ms co-defendants were acquitted while he was convicted. It should be noted in this connection that the fact that the defendant was wounded by bullets and that he was wearing unlaced .shoes tended more definitely to connect Mm with the murder than the evidence with reference to his codefendants. However that may be, it is clear that the evidence was amply sufficient to sustain Ms conviction, and this is not seriously controverted by the defendant.