Towery

The Case

Six defendants were charged in a twenty-six-count information with conspiracy (Pen. Code, § 182, subd. 1) to commit thefts of oil in Kern County. Defendant Lail Johnson was also charged with 12 counts of grand theft (§ 487, subd. 1) and 12 counts of receiving stolen property (§ 496). In addition to the conspiracy charge, defendant Jerry Towery was charged with two counts of grand theft, and defendant Joe Tony Samora was charged with six counts of grand theft. Of the remaining defendants, one pleaded guilty before trial, one was acquitted, and the charges against the third were dismissed; these three defendants are not involved in this appeal.

Following a jury trial, defendant Johnson was convicted of conspiracy and 12 counts of receiving stolen property; the jury found him not guilty of the 12 counts of grand theft. Defendant Samora was found not guilty of conspiracy but was convicted of six counts of grand theft. The jury found defendant Towery not guilty of conspiracy but guilty of two counts of grand theft.

The trial court granted defendant Johnson a new trial on the conspiracy charge, and the district attorney later dismissed that count. Defendant Johnson…