People v. Walton

BARNARD, P. J. The defendant was charged with burglary and with rape. A jury found him guilty of burglary of the first degree, and of assault with intent to commit rape. He has appealed from an order denying his motion for a new trial and from the judgment.

The complaining witness, Mrs. Mustin, lived at the intersection of two roads about ten miles west of Lemoore. Her husband was employed as an' irrigator in a field some distance away, working nights from 7 p. m. to 7 a. m. Her husband’s cousin, with his family, lived in a house about 100 yards to the rear of complainant’s home.

On the night of Monday, July 16, 1951, Mrs. Mustin was in bed with her three children, aged 3 years, 2 years, and 4 months, respectively. The baby lay with its head beside the mother and the other two children were at the foot of the bed. About 3 a. m. Mrs. Mustin was awakened and found a man standing beside the bed with a knife in his hand. This man, threatening to kill her and choking her, overcame her struggles and raped her. During the struggle the older child and the baby woke up and cried, but the 2-year-old did not awaken. The man was barefooted and left through a window on the west side of the house, going out to a car which was parked on the road in front. It was a clear moonlight night and there were no curtains on the windows. Mrs. Mustin was able to see her assailant in the room, and after he left she saw him go by her window and out to the ear. She saw him get in the car and drive away without turning on its lights. She saw that the car was one which “sloped off the back,” and she testified that [873]it started off with a roar as if it had one of those “smitties” on it. She immediately went to the home of her husband’s cousin about 100 yards away, arriving there about 3:15 a. m. She had bruises on both sides of her neck. He took her to town where they reported to the officers about 4 a. m.

The next morning the officers found bare footprints leading from the point where the car had been parked to a window at the southeast corner of complainant’s home, which appeared to be the point of entry since that window had a defective screen on it. These footprints indicated that the person making them had been walking on tiptoe. Another line of footprints, indicating that the person had walked flatfooted, led from the west window of the house, where the attacker had emerged, back to the point where the car had been parked. The officers took a plaster impression of some of the footprints.