People v. O'Connor

SPENCE, J. Defendant was found guilty by a jury of a violation of section 288 of the Penal -Code and a violation of section 702 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. He appeals from the judgment of conviction and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

In his briefs, his argument is divided under seventeen numbers but there are no headings showing the nature of the questions to be presented or the points to be made. Under each of several numbers, defendant merely makes the assertion in two or three lines that the trial court erred in a certain respect but he makes no argument and cites no authority in support of such assertion. Under each of certain other numbers, it is impossible to ascertain the claim of error which defendant is attempting to present. An appellate court should not be called upon to speculate with respect to the points which an appellant desires to present and such court is ordinarily justified in ignoring bald assertions of error which are not supported by argument or citation of authority. (People v. Foss, 7 Cal. (2d) 669 [62 Pac. (2d) 372]; Bradley v. Butchart, 217 Cal. 731 [20 Pac. (2d) 693]; People v. Spahn, 28 Cal. App. (2d) 294 [82 Pac. (2d) 474]; People v. Epstein, 21 Cal. App. (2d) 488 [69 Pac. (2d) 454].) We have nevertheless reviewed the record and find no prejudicial error.

A reading of the record leaves no doubt whatever concerning the guilt of the defendant. The alleged acts were [303]committed in the room of the defendant upon a young girl of the age of six and one-half years. He gave the child thirteen cents and told her not to tell anyone. The child immediately returned to her home crying very hard and related what had happened. A woman friend of the family asked the child to take her to the room of the man who had committed the acts and she did so. There was no response to the knock at the door of the room and the woman and child left. The police were notified and the child was immediately given a physical examination. Her private parts were found to be inflamed and irritated. Shortly thereafter the police accompanied the child and her parents to the room where the child had stated that the man had committed the acts. The defendant was identified by the child and all of the story previously told by the child to her parents and the police and later told by the child on his trial was borne out by the situation found to exist in said room. The child had previously described the clothing and underclothing worn by the defendant, the furniture in the room, the presence of a bottle of whiskey, the presence of a bottle of “white medicine” which was used upon her and which proved to be vaseline, and the fact that she had gotten wet and the bed had gotten wet. A wet stain was found on the sheet which was later found upon examination to contain epitheleal cells and spermatozoa. One of the officers said to the defendant on that evening “If you had to see a woman, for goodness sakes, why did you pick out a six year old girl when there is many other women running around the streets.” Defendant said, “I have been drinking for the past two or three days and I don’t know just what I have been doing.” The officer said, “That is no excuse for a thing like this”, and the defendant made no reply. It would serve no useful purpose to relate the testimony in greater detail. Defendant denied practically everything at the trial and produced certain friends in an attempt to establish an alibi and to establish his good reputation. The alibi testimony was far from convincing and the character testimony proved disastrous. It appeared from the cross-examination of the character witnesses that defendant had on various occasions discussed with them his previous criminal record.