Copeland

A jury found defendant guilty of assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 245). The trial court entertained a doubt as to defendant’s sanity and suspended proceedings pending trial of the sanity issue (Pen. Code, §§ 1368, 1369). A second jury found defendant sane, and judgment committing him to prison was thereafter pronounced (Pen. Code, § 1370). Defendant appeals.

The prosecution’s evidence showed that the weapon used was a “policeman’s club,” about a foot long. Appellant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict, in that a club of this sort is not an inherently deadly weapon, and did not become so in fact when used by the 65-year-old appellant upon complainant, a delivery man 27 years old. The testimony shows that the left rear side of complainant’s head was struck with sufficient force to cause a cut which required two sutures. Whether the club was a deadly weapon was at most a mixed question of law and fact, to be determined by the jury upon proper instructions (People v. McCoy, 25 Cal.2d 177, 189 [ 153 P.2d 315 ]; People v. Valliere, 123 Cal. 576 [ 56 P. 433 ] ; People v. Petters, 29 Cal. App.2d 48 [ 84 P.2d 54 ] ; People v. Raleigh, 128 Cal.App. 105…