Court Opinion

ID: 9844150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:58:18.545985+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:28.773699
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I dissent.
While the evidence purporting to show that defendant killed Elvira in the course of committing or attempting to commit an act with her prohibited by section 288 of the Penal Code is much stronger than the evidence relied upon by the prosecution in the recent case of People v. Craig, ante, p. 313 [316 P.2d 947], as showing that the killing there was in the course of committing or attempting to commit rape, and the author of the majority opinion here joined with two of his associates in a dissenting opinion in that case, I am nevertheless of the opinion that there is insufficient evidence in the case at bar to show that the killing here was in the course of committing or attempting to commit an act prohibited by section 288 of the Penal Code.
I do not, however, agree with the conclusion reached by the majority that the evidence fails to establish the crime of murder of the first degree or that the prosecution relies solely upon the contention that the verdict of murder of the first degree can be sustained solely on the theory that defendant killed Elvira in the course of committing or attempting to commit an act with her prohibited by section 288 of the Penal Code. In this connection I will quote the following excerpt from the brief of the attorney general: “While the Court instructed the jury that murder which is committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any act punishable under Penal Code Section 288 is murder of the first degree, the Court also instructed that murder perpetrated by any kind of wilful, deliberate and premeditated killing is murder of the first degree. . . . We submit that there are circumstances reasonably supporting a finding that the killing was wilful, deliberate and premeditated. The machete ... is a heavy instrument. The fact that it was found near the body and appeared to be in a bloody condition, and the fact that there were wounds on the body which could have been inflicted by such an instrument, support the conclusion that it was wielded by appellant. . . . There was evidence that it was about the premises prior to Elvira’s death. . . . The autopsy testimony disclosed that the body of the deceased was brutally hacked. *499The jury could reasonably conclude that the machete was used in a manner indicative of an intent to inflict death. Other significant evidence includes appellant’s sending Eaul away shortly prior to the killing and of the threat he made previously against Elvira and the other members of the Minjarez family. We submit that by analogy this language in People v. Stroble, 36 Cal.2d 615, 619-620 [226 P.2d 330], is pertinent: “ . . Here, five different implements were used, each in a manner evidencing an intent to inflict death, not merely injury or random mutilation. There is evidence apart from defendant’s confessions that before the child’s death the implements were at various places about the premises. An inference can be drawn that the killer who collected and used the implements had determined that he wished to bring about death and carried out that determination. This, in the light of the other circumstances including the charges against defendant which were then pending, is a sufficient prima facie showing of deliberation and premeditation.’
“For the foregoing reasons, we submit that the verdict of the jury in the case at bar was a proper one.”
The foregoing recitation of facts is in accordance with the record in this case, and in my opinion fully supports the verdict of murder of the first degree.
It also appears that the trial court correctly instructed the jury on the issues of premeditation and deliberation and there can be little doubt that the verdict of first degree murder was based upon a determination that the murder was the result of a wilful, deliberate and premeditated killing.
I do not agree with the holding of the majority that the testimony of Elvira’s mother relative to a threat made by the defendant in September, 1953 to kill her and her two children was admissible as constituting an accusatory statement as such testimony has none of the characteristics of an accusatory statement (People v. Simmons, 28 Cal.2d 699 [172 P.2d 18]). Such testimony was, however, admissible for the purpose of showing threats made by defendant toward decedent and his state of mind and motive which abundantly supports the determination by the jury that the murder was the result of a wilful, deliberate and premeditated killing.
For the foregoing reasons I would affirm the judgment.