People v. Gomez

SHENK, J.—

John Gomez and George Ryley were charged by indictment in the county of Alameda with the murder of George Jones. They were tried together, the jury returned verdicts of guilty as charged, without recommendation, and judgments of death were pronounced against them. Appeals from the judgments of conviction and from the orders denying their motions for a new trial are prosecuted on one record.

[298]

No point is made that the evidence is insufficient to justify the verdicts of murder of the first degree. Indeed, no other conclusion would have been warranted under the evidence. (Sec. 189, Pen. Code.) The defendants were young men who had lived at or in the vicinity of Liver-more and had known each other for many years. The deceased, at the time of the murder, was a man about seventy years of age. He was the proprietor of a taxicab service which had its headquarters in a pool-hall, also conducted by the deceased. The defendants had known him also for several years.

Prior to the night of May 18, 1929, the defendants deliberately conspired to rob the deceased, “Dad” Jones, as he was familiarly known. In concert they conceived the plan of luring the deceased, by a false telephone call in the night-time, to a point outside of Livermore, knock him unconscious with a gas-pipe, rob him of the cash on his person and return to the pool-hall, there to loot the place before the deceased could recover consciousness and return to his place of business. They consummated their purpose on the night of May 18th. The deceased was by telephone requested to perform taxicab service at Olivina Gates, a spot some two or three miles from Livermore, and he responded to the call. Failing conveniently to find a gas-pipe, the defendants acquired a hammer with which to assist them in perpetrating the crime. When the deceased arrived at the place appointed one of the defendants struck the deceased in the head with the hammer, immediately depriving him of consciousness, which he never regained. There Avas no evidence of resistance on the part of the deceased. The autopsy disclosed that the skull had been fractured by a blunt instrument in several places. In some places the skull bone had been driven into the brain tissue as much as two inches. The jaw was also fractured and the scalp and face were otherwise contused. The defendants divided equally between themselves the $23.20 in cash found upon the person of the deceased and threw away his wallet, which contained checks.