People v. Williams

Defendant was convicted after a non jury trial of a charge of indecent exposure in violation of subdivision 1 of section 311, Penal Code, with a prior conviction under the same subdivision of section 311. He appeals from the judgment and his counsel urge the single argument that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the finding of identity of defendant as the offender. This contention, raised first on appeal, is without merit.

The offense occurred on February 2,1959, at a parking lot located at Ocean Front Walk and Venice Boulevard, in the Los Angeles area. Mrs. Mabel L. Bender and her cousin, Mr. James G. Taitt, were seated in his automobile parked in the same lot. She happened to be looking through the rear window and saw defendant, whose car was parked some 30 to 40 feet behind Mr. Taitt’s, commit the offense in question. His body was so positioned with respect to the car that his head was inside while the lower portion of the body was outside, hence she did not see the culprit’s face and could not identify him; she saw no one else in that car. Mrs. Bender called Mr. Taitt’s attention to the episode, he saw like public exposure, but could not see the person’s face or later…