People v. Jackson

By information, appellant Jackson was charged with six counts of violation of Business and Professions Code section 4390, passing of a forged prescription; three counts of violation of Penal Code section 496, receiving stolen property; one count of violation of Health and Safety Code section 11368, possession of a narcotic by use of a forged prescription; and one count of violation of Penal Code section 475a, possession of a completed check with intent to defraud. The Penal Code section 475a count and one of the Penal Code section 496 counts were dismissed pursuant to a Penal Code section 1118 motion after trial. Jackson’s motion for severance of his trial from that of his codefendant was denied by the trial court. Extrajudicial statements of codefendant Hattaway were admitted into evidence over Jackson’s objections and a motion for a mistrial based on the admission of those statements was denied. Jackson was convicted of all the remaining counts.

Appellant Hattaway was charged by information with one count of violation of Business and Professions Code section 4390, three counts of violation of Penal Code section 496, and one count of violation of Penal Code section…

I dissent. I cannot conclude that the record contains sufficient substantial evidence to uphold the conviction on count 4—the count involving the Emerson prescription: there simply was no evidence that the prescription was other than genuine. (Cf., People v. Kurland (1973) 33 Cal.App.3d 197, 200-201 [ 108 Cal.Rptr. 874 , 117 Cal.Rptr. 216 ].)

The majority bases its conclusion that the evidence was sufficient on three bits of circumstantial evidence: (1) the discovery in Jackson’s car of *564 “stolen” items apparently belonging to an S. Y. Emerson; (2) the extrajudicial admissions of Hattaway; and (3) the cooperation between Hattaway and Jackson who had just engaged in a transaction involving prescriptions which were proved to have been forged. None of these, considered alone or in the aggregate, constitutes substantial evidence that the Emerson prescription was false.

1. There was no evidence that the Emerson passport, credit cards and checks were stolen. Indeed, the prosecutor conceded that fact when the receiving stolen property charge based on those documents was dismissed.

2. While Hattaway’s extrajudicial admissions implicated him in some sort of nefarious dealings with…

By information, appellant Jackson was charged with six counts of violation of Business and Professions Code section 4390, passing of a forged prescription; three counts of violation of Penal Code section 496, receiving stolen property; one count of violation of Health and Safety Code section 11368, possession of a narcotic by use of a forged prescription; and one count of violation of Penal Code section 475a, possession of a completed check with intent to defraud. The Penal Code section 475a count and one of the Penal Code section 496 counts were dismissed pursuant to a Penal Code section 1118 motion after trial. Jackson's motion for severance of his trial from that of his codefendant was denied by the trial court. Extrajudicial statements of codefendant Hattaway were admitted into evidence over Jackson's objections and a motion for a mistrial based on the admission of those statements was denied. Jackson was convicted of all the remaining counts.

Appellant Hattaway was charged by information with one count of violation of Business and Professions Code section 4390, three counts of violation of Penal Code section 496, and one count of violation of Penal…