People v. Jeffery

FOURT, J. This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction for occupying a place where bookmaking is carried on.

In an information filed in Los Angeles County the defendant was charged in three counts with violating Penal Code, section 337a, subdivisions 1, 2 and 4 and also that he had suffered a prior conviction of violating the same code section in 1957. Defendant pleaded not guilty and denied the prior conviction. A jury trial was duly waived and it was stipulated that the ease might be submitted on the testimony taken at the preliminary hearing with the right to submit other evidence. The defendant admitted the prior conviction to the trial judge. The court found defendant guilty of count 2 which charged in effect that the defendant had occupied a place where bets were made and further found him not guilty as to counts 1 and 3. A motion for a new trial was made and denied. Defendant has appealed from the order denying his motion for a new trial and from the judgment.

A résumé of the facts is as follows:

On February 5, 1959, Officer Yorkovich who had prior [675]information, went to 6405 S. Vermont Avenue where on the front window thereof appeared the words “Watkins Maintenance.” Officer Hand was with Yorkovich and they entered the front door of the place at about 12:45 p. m. and found a small office divided by a partition. The defendant was seated at a desk in the front portion of the room with a lead pencil in his hand. In front of defendant on the desk lying open was a copy of the National Daily Reporter for that date. Another copy of the National Daily Reporter paper was found close by. On top of the National Daily Reporter in front of the defendant was a small piece of white paper which contained certain pencil notations at the upper left hand corner namely the figures 1, 3 and 8.

It was stipulated that Officer Yorkovich was an expert in the ways and means, books, papers and paraphernalia commonly used in Los Angeles County in bookmaking. The officer stated that bets are commonly recorded by symbols and figures which can be coded from the National Daily Reporter. It was the opinion of the officer as an expert that the numeral “1” upon the white sheet of paper indicated the first race, the numeral “3” would, by reference to the National Daily Reporter, refer to a horse by the name of Space Race and that the figure “8” indicated an $8.00 win-wager on the race horse named.

On the right hand corner of the paper were a series of numerals which “would indicate, possibly, results.” There was a telephone bill found by the officer made in the name of James Jeffery at 6405 S. Vermont Avenue.