People v. Walker

BARNARD, P. J. The appellant Walker, R. A. Skeels and R. F. Lemon were jointly charged with the crime of grand theft committed by taking a Ford coupe and, in a second count, with taking a Chevrolet coach. Prior convictions charged against each defendant were respectively admitted. While his codefendants were convicted on both counts the appellant was convicted on the second charge only. This is an appeal from the judgment entered against him.

The Chevrolet car in question was stolen in the city of San Diego between 5:30 and 9:30 P. M. on the evening of October 29, 1934. Somewhere around 7 o’clock on that evening two boys observed two men fixing the hinges on the doors of a private garage in the rear of a vacant house which had been unoccupied for at least a year. One of the boys held a flashlight for the men so they could see to put in some screws, and at this time he “went a little ways in” the garage and saw a Chevrolet coach. He later saw this car when the officers came to the garage on November 1st. At the trial this boy identified Lemon as one of the men he saw that night, and while he thought the appellant was the other he was not certain of this. Between 4 and 5 o’clock on the afternoon of November 1, 1934, these boys saw the appellant and his codefendants enter this garage and saw one of them take a green tool kit from a Ford coupe parked in the alley and carry it into the garage. They noticed that all three of the men were wearing gloves, that the garage door was kept shut and they heard sounds “like somebody hitting something” coming from the garage. They reported the matter to the police and several officers arrived within a few minutes.

[292]These officers found all doors to the garage locked on the inside and after gaining admittance they found the three men with the stolen Chevrolet referred to. One wheel had been taken off, one side of the hood was up, the engine number was nearly obliterated showing fresh file-marks, fresh filings were directly underneath the number and a file was laid against the fender on that side, with numerous other tools scattered around. A false and forged registration certificate was in the ear and there were two license plates w'hich, it developed, had been taken from another ear in another part of the city. The entire locking mechanism had been taken out of the switch and there was a box with wires attached thereto, known as a “hot shot” or coil jumper, which is used in driving away an automobile when the ignition is locked. The Ford parked in the alley was the stolen car involved in the first count of the complaint and after the officers arrived Skeels took a tool which he had in his hands to the Ford and placed it therein and took his coat therefrom. The wheels on that Ford had been changed and replaced with wheels of another color and the engine number thereon had been completely changed, as had also the license plates and the registration slip. In that car was also found a complete set of dies appropriate for stamping such engine numbers on an engine after the original numbers have been removed. While the numbers on both of these engines had been removed the cars were fully identified by secret numbers placed therein by the manufacturers.