Court Opinion

ID: 9844151
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:58:18.548935+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:28.874279
License: Public Domain

SPENCE, J.
I dissent.
The prosecution has contended throughout the trial and appeal that the brutal murder of the 13-year-old girl consti*500tuted murder of the first degree upon two theories: First, that there had been a “willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing”; and, second, that the murder had been committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, an “act punishable under section 288.” (Pen. Code, § 189.) The trial court gave instructions upon both theories, and, in my opinion, there was ample evidence to sustain the conviction upon both.
With respect to the second theory, it is well established that the “lewd and lascivious” acts proscribed by section 288 of the Penal Code need not involve rape, attempted rape, violence or physical injury of any kind, but may consist of a mere touching or handling of the body or clothing of the child with the requisite lustful intent. (People v. Coontz, 119 Cal.App.2d 276 [259 P.2d 694]; People v. Lett, 69 Cal.App.2d 665 [160 P.2d 112]; People v. Lanham, 137 Cal.App. 737 [31 P.2d 410]; People v. Rossi, 37 Cal.App. 778 [174 P. 916]; People v. Dabner, 25 Cal.App. 630 [144 P. 975]; see also People v. Batsford, 91 Cal.App.2d 607 [205 P.2d 731]; People v. Hartshorn, 59 Cal.App.2d 285 [138 P.2d 782]; People v. Bronson, 69 Cal.App. 83 [230 P. 213].) It is further significant that murder committed either in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any act proscribed by section 288 constitutes murder of the first degree.
In my opinion, it may be reasonably inferred from all the evidence that defendant’s acts immediately preceding the killing were sex motivated, and that the murder was committed when the girl repulsed defendant’s attempts to commit lewd acts “with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying [his] lust or passions or sexual desires.” (Pen. Code, § 288.) It is therefore wholly immaterial that no rape had actually been committed or, as stated in the majority opinion, that “The testimony of the autopsy surgeon disclosed no evidence of contusion or laceration on the private parts of decedent’s body, and a microscopic examination disclosed no spermatozoa. ”
As I am convinced from my review of the entire record that there was ample evidence to sustain the conviction of first degree murder, and that there was no prejudicial error, I would affirm the judgment and the order denying a new trial.
Shenk, J., concurred.