People v. Miller

Defendant Miller appeals from judgments of conviction of four connected offenses, burglary, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was jointly charged with John Frieholtz, Vernon Geske and Bobert Mario Flores. Frieholtz pleaded guilty to the charges and testified for the People at the trial of the other three.

The evidence showed that the four defendants agreed to rob the till in the candy counter of the Alexandria Theater in San Francisco. Appellant Miller had a .45 caliber automatic pistol which he gave unloaded to Geske and Flores for use in the robbery. He had the use of an automobile belonging to a Mrs. Upshaw which the four used to get to and from the theater. In the early morning of November 21, 1953, Miller drove the other three to the theater. The other three entered a side door while Miller waited outside in the car. Two janitors, Beynolds and McGibbony, were working in the theater. Flores and Geske seized Beynolds and struck him over the head with the gun. Frieholtz assaulted McGibbony, who was using a vacuum cleaner, struck him three times with a metal part of the cleaner and finally kicked him in the head. Frieholtz then went to…