People v. Hawkins

FOURT, J. —This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of robbery.

In an information filed in Los Angeles on December 23, 1965, defendant was charged in count I with codefendants Arthur Bacon and Ernest Walters with robbing Glenn Wilder of a revolver and money in excess of $34,775 on November 26, 1965; in count II with murdering Ronald W. Davis on the date in question, in count III with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to commit murder and in count IV with another and different assault with -a deadly weapon. Counts [409]II, III and IV, insofar as this appeal is concerned, were disposed of other than by verdict. Trial by jury was had and defendant was found guilty of robbery in the first degree as charged in count I. Defendant was sentenced to the state prison.

A résumé of some of the facts is as follows: On November 26, 1966, two employees of Armored Transport Incorporated, namely, Jerome Jacobson and Glenn Wilder, while in the course of their employment, drove an armored truck in the vicinity of the Midway Shopping Center in Los Angeles. Jacobson was the driver of the truck and Wilder occupied that portion of the truck in the rear which is divided from the driver's compartment. At the shopping center Wilder got out of the truck and went into a drug store in the area. Jacobson then proceeded westerly with the truck to Scott’s Hamburger Stand which was the next stop for the truck in the conduct of business. Jacobson saw defendant Hawkins with the two codefendants at the stand and noticed that codefendant Bacon had a newspaper folded in his hand in a fashion which appeared out of the normal way of holding a newspaper. The defendants were talking with each other. Jacobson thereupon locked the compartment which separated the driver’s compartment from the passenger compartment, removed a 30-30 caliber rifle from a stand and activated it. Jacobson opened a small gun port and placed the barrel of the rifle through the porthole.

In about two minutes Wilder returned to the truck and Jacobson activated the release which opened the door to the end that Wilder could enter the passenger compartment of the truck. Wilder started to enter at which time defendant and codefendant Bacon displaying firearms came from behind him and said, “This is a holdup.” Hawkins directed Jacobson to drop the rifle, which by then was pointed at Hawkins, saying, “Drop that gun or I’m going to shoot him,” meaning Wilder. Jacobson dropped the rifle and Hawkins entered the money-carrying compartment of the truck, pushed his shotgun through a port which he had opened and pointed and “covered” Jacobson with such shotgun. Jacobson grabbed at the barrel to stop Hawkins from pointing the shotgun at him. One of the co defendants, who had a gun pointed at Wilder, stated that if Jacobson did not release his hold on the shotgun of Hawkins, they were going to shoot Wilder. Jacobson released the shotgun hold.