Nieves

Officers James Cooke and David Schwartz of the Sacramento Police Department were on patrol car duty on the night of March 13, 1968. As the officers approached the intersection of Sixth and “J” Streets in Sacramento at approximately 11:45 p.m., they observed four persons of Mexican descent, all bending over a man lying on his back, later identified as Philip Joseph Taylor, holding and hitting him. When the patrol car came to a stop the assailants jumped up and walked away in several directions. Appellant and one Charles Garcia were apprehended at the scene, but the other two men, both in their twenties, escaped. Taylor then informed the officers that he had been robbed of his wallet containing $160. Appellant and Garcia were searched, but neither had the victim’s money or wallet in his possession; Taylor’s empty wallet was later found in the men’s room at the G & M Club in Sacramento.

Appellant and Garcia were charged with robbery in violation of Penal Code section 211 and tried at the same time. At the conclusion of the trial the jury returned a verdict finding appellant guilty of robbery in the second degree; however, because the jury could not agree on the guilt of…