People v. Reynoso

SCHOTTKY, J. Appellants Reynoso and Martinez and Luis Romero and Antonio Segura were charged with the crime of robbery. Romero pleaded guilty but Segura and appellants entered pleas of not guilty, and, following a trial before a jury, all three were found guilty of robbery in the second degree. Reynoso and Martinez made a motion for a new trial which was denied, and they have appealed from the judgment entered upon the verdict.

It appears from the record that at about 2 o’clock iu the morning of May 28, 1952, Fausto Valoría was walking down a street in Stockton when he was hit over the head by two assailants and robbed of clothing and a wallet containing $40 and pictures. The victim had spent the evening with his former wife and their friend, Mrs. Cordova, and when they left his apartment to walk home he decided to follow them for their protection. When the two women had gone about a block and a half, they noticed an old Ford or Chevrolet ear with three men in the front seat circling the block three times, and at about the same time two men walked past them. They became frightened and hurried to Mrs. Cordova’s house. Shortly thereafter Mr. Valoría, who had been about a block and a half behind them, arrived and told them he had just been beaten and robbed. His head was bloody and his shoes, jacket, money and wallet were gone. The police were called and went to the Cordova home and arranged for Valoría to be taken to the emergency hospital.

On the sidewalk in front of the Cordova home they observed a large clot of blood extending several inches. There was a gravel driveway covered with a flower-type pollen which had deep indentations about 10 to 14 inches long and about 2 or 3 inches deep. There was also blood mixed in with the gravel on the driveway and a large deposit of blood on the sidewalk as well as blood that had been tracked on the sidewalk in a southerly direction. Samples of pollen or the small leaf particles were taken from the tree in the Cordova driveway as well as a sample from the live branch of the tree.

[89]The defendants were apprehended about 3:10 a. m. near the vicinity of the robbery in Stockton. Romero, Segura, Martinez and Reynoso were in an old Ford car which Romero was driving. Reynoso was sitting next to Romero in the front seat and Segura and Martinez were in the back seat. When a search was made of the car, the officers removed a wallet and clothing which were later identified as Valeria’s. These articles were on the floor of the car between the front and back seats, but no money was found in the ear. The defendants were taken to the hospital and while in the patrol car the defendant Reynoso was observed licking his right hand where it appeared that he had blood between the knuckles.