People v. Holmes

GRAY, C.

—The defendant was convicted of the crime of grand larceny for having feloniously taken from the person of L. H. Poston one certain twenty-dollar bill. The crime was committed in the city of Sacramento, at the defendant’s place of business, known as the Eeal Thing saloon.

1. The most of the evidence against the defendant came from said Poston, two women who accompanied him to the saloon, and from the defendant himself. It would serve no useful purpose to either state or analyze this evidence; we deem it sufficient to say that the verdict of the jury finds ample support in the testimony, both as to the money having been feloniously taken from the person of Poston, and as to defendant’s complicity in such taking.

2. When the court had concluded the instructions to the jury and had told the clerk to swear an officer to -take charge of the jury, a juror asked, “May I ask one question for information, whether a certain amount has to be taken to compose grand larceny?” To which the court replied, “Ho, sir. As I instructed you, grand larceny is of three kinds. I will read it to you again, and if it comes within any of those degrees it constitutes grand larceny. Grand larceny is larceny committed in either of the following cases: 1. When the property taken is of a value exceeding fifty dollars; 2. When the property is taken from the person of another; any property of value taken from the person of another is grand larceny, without regard to its value.” The court in an instruction previously given had properly defined larceny to be “the felonious stealing, taking,

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carrying, leading, or driving away the personal property of another,” and had also given the full statutory definition of grand larceny. In view of these previous instructions, we see no error in the court’s reply to the juror except, perhaps, in the use of the word “degrees,” and that is immaterial.

3. At the request of defendant, the court instructed the jury as follows: “The defendant has been examined as a witness in his own behalf. This is his right, and you will consider his testimony as you would that of any other witness in determining the weight and effect to he given to it, and to he taken into consideration with other evidence in the case. You will carefully determine the amount of credibility to which his testimony is entitled, and thoroughly and impartially consider his testimony, together with all the other evidence in the case.” The court refused to give the following instruction offered by defendant, to wit: “The jury have no right to disregard the testimony of the defendant on the ground alone that he is the defendant, and stands charged with the commission of a crime.” The court committed no error in refusing this latter instruction. The instruction given was fair and full and substantially covered the point contained in the rejected instruction.