People v. English

FOURT, J. This is an appeal by each of the defendants from a judgment of conviction of robbery in the first degree.

In an information filed in Los Angeles County on February 24, 1965, defendants, with Javanee Fields, were charged in count I with robbing Bettie E. Mason on December 31, 1964, of $52.50 in money; it was further charged that at the time of the commission of the offense the defendants were armed with a deadly weapon, a revolver, and that at the time of arrest of English for the above offense he was armed with a concealed deadly weapon, a revolver. In count II defendants were charged with conspiring to commit robbery in that on or about January 25, 1965, they conspired and agreed to commit the crime of robbery. It was further charged that Cooksey had been convicted of robbery in San Diego County on April 23, 1958, and had served a term of imprisonment therefor in the state prison.

Appellants pleaded not guilty and the prior was denied. Because of a conflict of interest, on April 27, 1965, attorney Bubriek was appointed to represent Cooksey. The public defender continued to represent English and another attorney was appointed to represent Fields. Upon motion of one of the defendants on May 3, 1965, count I was ordered severed from count II and each count was to be tried separately, count I to be tried after the trial with reference to count II. By stipulation on May 17, 1965, the matter of count II was called for [72]trial and the cause was submitted upon the transcript of the proceedings had at the preliminary hearing. Each defendant was found not guilty as to count II and Fields was released. The matter of the charge against English and Cooksey as to count I was set for trial June 22, 1965. On June 22, 1965, a trial of English and Cooksey as to count I was started before the court without a jury and concluded on June 23, 1965. Each defendant was found guilty of robbery in the first degree. It was further found that English was armed with a deadly weapon at the time of his arrest and each defendant was found to have been armed with a dangerous weapon at the time of the commission of the robbery. The charged prior conviction of Cooksey was found to be true. Each defendant was sentenced to the state prison for the term prescribed by law.

A timely notice of appeal was filed by each of said defendants, English and Cooksey.

A review of some of the evidence is as follows: Bettie Mason was employed at T’s Drive-In on December 31, 1964. At about 9 p.m. appellants walked into the establishment and ordered something to eat. The appellants then demanded money from Miss Mason, English saying: “ 'I am not kidding’ . . . ‘Put the money in another bag.’ ” She complied by putting the money (about $80 or $90) in a bag and delivered it to English. She did so because English had a gun pointed at her. That gun resembled the gun which English had in his waistband when he was arrested. Miss Mason told the officers that she thought the gun was a .45 caliber. It developed that the gun which was found on English was a loaded .38 caliber. Miss Mason positively identified appellants as the persons who had robbed her.