People v. Russell

BARNARD, P. J. The defendants Russell and Shear were jointly charged with a violation of section 470 of the Penal Code (forgery). A jury found them both guilty and Russell’s motion for a new trial was denied. Judgment was pronounced sentencing Russell to state prison, the sentence being suspended and probation granted to him. In addition to the usual and ordinary terms of probation he was ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 at the rate of $25 per month. He has appealed from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

There is no dispute as to the general facts involved. One Curtis Hight was an engineer working in various oil fields throughout the world, including Saudi-Arabia. He maintained a bank account in Riverside and returned there from Saudi-Arabia in February, 1954. Shortly thereafter, he bought a used car from the defendant, Abe Shear, a used car dealer in Riverside, paying for it with a check. Thereafter, he frequently dropped in at Shear’s place and chatted with him. He told Shear about his business trips and, later in May, told Shear that he was leaving soon for a protracted visit to [808]Ethiopia. About that time, Shear cashed a check for $2.50 for Hight.

The defendant Russell was a private investigator in Riverside. As a part of his business he also operated a patrol service. He had a contract with Shear to patrol Shear’s place of business, and one of his employees, Andrew Cocas, did the actual patrolling. Russell did not know Hight.

Around the 8th or 10th of June, 1954, Russell and Cocas went into the Riverside postoffice and accidentally met Shear. Shear called Russell aside and showed him a check for $884.59 purportedly signed by Hight, and payable to cash. Shear told Russell that he could not run this check through his own bank account because the tax officials would think it was a car deal and charge him sales tax on it; and he offered Russell half the proceeds of the check if Russell would run it through his own bank account. Cocas saw Shear hand Russell the check but did not hear the conversation. Russell then discussed the transaction with Cocas and offered to let Cocas handle the matter, but Cocas refused, saying that the deal “smelled.”

Shear told Russell that Hight would be out of town, and told him to hold the check for a few days. Some 10 days later Shear told Russell over the telephone that the check was good, and told him to call the bank and confirm it. Russell called the bank and was told that such a check would be good. Russell then placed his business endorsement stamp on the back of the check, deposited the check to his own account in another bank, and his account was credited with that amount. The next day Shear phoned Russell and told him not to deposit the check, explaining that Hight had come back to town. When Russell told him he had already deposited the check Shear told him he had better leave the money there for two months “just in the event there is some trouble.”