People v. Smith

Appellant Russell Smith was jointly charged with Mark Godfrey and Roy Smith, by an indictment returned by the grand jury of Los Angeles County, with the crime of robbery. Roy Smith, not having been apprehended at the time of trial, the case proceeded against defendants Mark Godfrey and Russell Smith. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty as to defendant Mark Godfrey and a verdict of guilty against defendant Russell Smith. From the judgment of the court upon the verdict of guilty, and the order of the court denying his motion for a new trial, appellant Smith prosecutes this appeal.

This, in effect, is a companion case to that of People v. Hovermale, ante, p. 91 [ 243 Pac. 878 ], which was decided by this court on the thirtieth day of December, 1925. The robbery in question occurred on the evening of November 7, 1924, between the hours of 7 and 8 o’clock. A Pacific Electric Pasadena Short Line car en route to Pasadena stopped at Valley Junction, an outlying station in a sparsely settled portion of Los Angeles city, and was boarded by three men. One of these men went to the front end of the car, the other two remaining upon the rear platform. Shortly after the car got under way…