People v. Renkin

JEFFERSON, J. Defendant was charged, by information, with grand theft in violation of section 487 of the Penal Code. The information also alleged a prior felony conviction. During the course of the trial, and out of the presence of the jury, defendant admitted the prior conviction to be true. The jury found the defendant guilty as charged. Probation was denied and he was sentenced to state prison for the term prescribed by law. Defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction. A summary of the evidence is as follows:

Miriam Miller, the victim of the offense, was an unmarried school teacher, 31 years of age. She was introduced to defendant on September 10,1963, at a bowling alley in Oxnard. This introduction led to an association between them which lasted until October 3, 1963. During this time they saw each other frequently. On September 21, defendant brought up the subject of marriage. On September 26, he formally proposed marriage, and Miss Miller accepted. Miss Miller knew defendant only by the name of Scott Renkin, the name by which he was introduced to her, although his true name was “E. W. Singer’' or “E. Wayne Singer.” Defendant told Miss Miller he had been married only once before, and was divorced. Defendant had in fact been married twice. He was divorced from his first wife in 1962. Defendant testified that he “heard” his second wife had filed for divorce. On cross-examination however, he disclosed that he had not been served with a divorce complaint nor had been in communication with his second wife.

Defendant and Miss Miller discussed the question of where they would live after they were married. They “house-hunted” from September 23 to September 27 in the Malibu area and “settled” on purchasing a house for $32,000, which required a down payment of $4,000. Defendant suggested that each of them put in $2,000, and that the title would be taken in Miss Miller’s name. On September 27, at defendant’s request, Miss Miller withdrew from her savings account the sum of $2,000. With this money she purchased a cashier’s cheek, payable to E. W. Singer, and gave it to defendant to use in the real estate transaction. Defendant told Miss Miller to purchase the cashier’s check in the name of E. W. Singer because E. W. Singer was one of the owners of the house they were purchasing. Miss Miller never saw the check again. The house was [330]never purchased and no further negotiations were undertaken concerning it. Her $2,000 was not returned to her. Defendant testified he was “fairly sure” he cashed the $2,000 check the day it was issued. He further testified that he offered the real estate saleswoman a large cash deposit but the transaction was never completed because of access and water problems.