Espalian

People v. Espalian

Good Law
1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 891·92 Cal. App. 610·268 P. 702
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaJune 19, 1928Docket No. 1666.California735 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

Houser, J.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction of the crime of burglary and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The principal contention of appellant is that the evidence was insufficient to prove the corpus delicti. In brief, the evidence showed the presence of defendant in one of the corridors on the second floor of a lodging-house at the hour of 4:30 o’clock A. M. One of the witnesses testified that “he (defendant) ran around the corner (of the corridor) and I knew he didn’t belong in the house and I stopped him and wanted to know what he was doing in the house.” At the time defendant was discovered, he was standing within two feet of the door of one of the rooms in the lodging-house, which door was then slowly closing. On being questioned, defendant stated that he was a roomer in the lodging-house, and that he was “looking for a toilet.” He was not a roomer there; nor did it appear that he used the toilet after his discovery. On the trial he admitted that before the time in question he had never been inside the lodging-house and had no personal knowledge of the location of any of the toilets therein. It was shown that in order to arrive at the place at which…

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