Watkins v. Roth

BARNARD, P. J. This was a proceeding in mandate to compel the auditor of the county of San Bernardino to issue a warrant in payment for services performed by the petitioner in preparing a transcript used on a criminal appeal.

There is little or no dispute as to the facts. The petitioner has for many years acted as stenographic reporter in Department One of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. In July, 1940, a case was tried in that department in which John Reed and John Thurman were charged with murder. The trial judge ordered a daily transcript and ordered five copies made so that three copies would be available in the event of an appeal. Because of the absence of the petitioner the testimony and proceedings in this case up to the time the jury went out were taken down by two reporters who regularly acted in other departments of this court and by another reporter who had been assisting from time to time in all three departments. The petitioner, having returned to duty, took down and reported the proceedings in connection with the pronouncing of judgment and also those relating to Thurman’s motion for a new trial.

A jury returned a verdict of guilty as to both defendants with a recommendation of life imprisonment for Thurman and without recommendation as to Reed. There was an automatic appeal to the Supreme Court as to Reed. (See, People v. Reed, 17 Cal. (2d) 405 [110 Pac. (2d) 394].) The three extra copies of the daily transcript were used in making up the transcript on that appeal, together with a transcription of that portion of the proceedings which was reported by this petitioner, the three copies of the transcript thus compiled being forwarded to the Governor, the Attorney-General and the Supreme Court, respectively. All four reporters were paid for their respective services in connection with that transcript and no question in that connection is involved here.

[695]A motion for a new trial was made on behalf of the defendant Thurman and denied after which he appealed to this court. This appeal was for good cause transferred to the Supreme Court and there decided (People v. Thurman, 17 Cal. (2d) 873 [110 Pac. (2d) 395]). A written application for a transcript to be used on that appeal was duly filed and on the same day the trial judge signed an order at the bottom thereof “Let a transcript be prepared as requested.” A few minutes after signing this order the trial judge orally instructed this petitioner, who was his regular reporter, to prepare a transcript to be used on the Thurman appeal, telling him, in effect, to copy the main portions of the transcript in the Reed appeal since the testimony and proceedings in both matters were identical.