People v. Smith

The appellant, Henry J. Peterson, together with Hoyt W. Smith and Thomas I. Boreman, was charged with burglary in an information filed by the district attorney of Los Angeles County. Peterson was found guilty of burglary in the second degree and Smith and Boreman were acquitted. This appeal is taken from the order denying Peterson’s motion for a new trial and from the judgment of conviction.

Immediately prior to and at the time of his arrest Peterson was engaged in the business of repairing and renewing auto tops in the town of Sawtelle. Smith and Boreman were inmates of the Soldiers’ Home at Sawtelle and were daily visitors at Peterson’s shop, Martis Smith, a brother of the defendant Hoyt Smith, being employed by Peterson. Martis Smith owned a Chevrolet automobile which he sometimes used in running errands for Peterson. On April. 13, 1928, Peterson asked the defendant Hoyt Smith to drive him to Santa Monica to look at a hair-picker, a machine used for renovating mattresses. Boreman asked if he might go along, and the three left in the Chevrolet. After looking at the hair-picker, which was in a garage in Santa Monica, Peterson procured the address of the owner of the machine and…