People v. Hamilton

WOOD (Parker), J. Defendant Stewart and Leroy Hamilton were accused of unlawfully possessing heroin. In a non-jury trial they were convicted. Stewart appeals from the judgment. (There was no motion for a new trial. Probation was denied.)

Appellant contends that the evidence was not sufficient to support the judgment.

Officer Abbot testified that on August 30, 1957, about 5 a.m., he and Officer Ward were in a police car at the intersection of Normandie Avenue and Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles; he (witness) saw Leroy Hamilton, in front of a bar, on the southeast corner of that intersection, and at that time Hamilton was “jumping around and jigging like, very similar to a jitterbug, bouncing around”; the officers stopped and asked him what he was doing; he replied that he was just standing around and had nothing to do; the officers asked him for permission to search him; Hamilton turned all his pockets inside out; they searched him, and he did not have any narcotics; then the officers went across the street to a sandwich stand on the southwest corner of the intersection ; soon thereafter, he (witness) saw defendant Stewart come from the bar (on the southeast corner of the intersection) and saw him meet Hamilton; then Stewart and Hamilton started east on the sidewalk on the south side of Adams Boulevard; he (witness) watched Hamilton all the time after he first saw Hamilton, and he watched Hamilton and Stewart all the time after Stewart came out of the bar; the street was well lighted; no one else was on the south side of the street from the time Hamilton was first observed until after the arrest; after Hamilton and Stewart had walked about 50 or 60 feet, he (witness) saw Stewart pass a package to Hamilton—they grasped hands; at that time they were about 110 feet east of the place where the officers were standing; then Hamilton put his hand in his right coat pocket; the officers followed them in the police car, and when the car was about 15 feet [444]back of them, Hamilton whirled to his right side, pulled his hand out of his right coat pocket and dropped a package (Exhibit 1) into the street gutter; the police car was stopped immediately, and Officer Abbot picked up the package and went to Hamilton and stopped him; Officer Ward stopped Stewart who was then about 15 feet farther down the street; the defendants were arrested; Officer Abbot picked up the package within half a minute after it was dropped in the gutter; the officers searched Stewart and found that he had $124, but he did not have any narcotics.