People v. Graves

JEFFERSON, J. Defendant was convicted by the court of two counts of burglary. One count charged that he burglarized the residence of Bertha Ross on or about May 3, 1962; the other count alleged the burglary of the Al-Ray Manufacturing Company on or about May 11, 1962. On appeal this court affirmed the judgment in an opinion filed on July 27, 1964, and certified for nonpublication in the official reports pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 976. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of California granted a hearing [351]and retransferred the case to this court for further consideration in the light of the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 [84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977].

In Escobedo, which was decided on June 22, 1964, subsequent to the date of the trial herein, it was established that an accused has a right to counsel at the pre-arraignment accusatory stage of the proceedings and that statements obtained in violation of this right must be excluded. Following Escobedo, our Supreme Court held in People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338, 353-354 [42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361], “. . . that defendant’s confession could not properly be introduced into evidence because (1) the investigation was no longer a general inquiry into an unsolved crime but had begun to focus on a particular suspect, (2) the suspect was in custody, (3) the authorities had carried out a process of interrogations that lent itself to eliciting incriminating statements, (4) the authorities had not effectively informed defendant of his right to counsel or his absolute right to remain silent, and no evidence establishes that he had waived these rights.”

In the instant case evidence was introduced of defendant’s confession that he broke into the residence of Bertha Ross on May 3, 1962, and took certain items including blank checks with her name and address printed on them; and of his confession that, on May 11, 1962, he burglarized the Al-Ray Manufacturing Company, taking several of the company’s blank checks.

Concerning these confessions, Officer Hovard testified that he was an investigator for the Pasadena Police Department. On March 3, 1963, at approximately 1 p.m., he had a conversation with defendant in the Lincoln Heights jail. One other police investigator was present during this conversation. Initially, Officer Hovard told defendant that he had found an envelope containing defendant’s identification and some checks belonging to Bertha Ross and to the Al-Ray Manufacturing Company, in the possession of a person named Charles Cook. The officer then told defendant that Cook had said that he had obtained these items from defendant; that he and defendant were in a car together on May 17, 1962; and that defendant had left the envelope containing the checks in this car. Officer Hovard further testified that he then asked defendant if he had burglarized the Al-Ray Manufacturing Company; that defendant replied, “Yes.” The officer then