People v. Gray

ANGELLOTTI, J.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree in the superior court of Sacramento County, upon an information filed by the district attorney of that county, charging him with the killing of Wong Koung, a Chinaman. His motion for a new trial was denied, and he was sentenced to suffer the penalty of death. From the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial the defendant prosecutes this appeal.

The killing of deceased was done in the perpetration of the crime of robbery. There was no claim that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict. The only points made in behalf of the defendant on this appeal are as to alleged errors in the rulings of the trial court in reference to the admission and rejection of evidence. There was no eye-witness of the commission of the crime which resulted in the death of the deceased. The deceased, under a sense of impending death, gave to his friend Chin Coy and another Chinaman a partial description of his assailant, which, as testified to by Chin Coy, was as follows, viz.: A “nigger” man, big like Chin Coy, with a light hat and light sweater, a vest, and no coat. This was the extent of the description given by deceased, as testified to by Chin Coy, and Chin Coy had no other knowledge as to the description or identity of the assailant. The defendant is a negro, and there is nothing in the record showing how he in other respects answered the description testified to.

1. It was attempted by defendant to show that upon the description given by Chin Coy to the authorities another negro was arrested prior to defendant’s arrest, on suspicion of having committed this murder. The court refused to admit this evidence. In this there was no error. There was no pretense that the negro so arrested did not answer the vague

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and uncertain description testified to by Chin Coy as well as did the defendant, so that, even if a proper foundation for the impeachment of Chin Coy had been laid, which was not the case, the proposed testimony could not have tended to show, so far as appears, anything inconsistent with the testimony of Chin Coy in regard to the description given by the deceased. We can conceive of no other ground upon which such evidence would have been admissible. Certainly, it cannot be held that the mere arrest of one person on suspicion of having committed a crime is material upon the question as to whether or not another person committed that crime.