People v. Williams

The defendant was convicted on a charge of larceny from the person. She has appealed from the judgment entered upon a verdict.

There is no contention that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. The principal question presented is whether the court committed prejudicial error in permitting, over the objection of the defendant, evidence relating to prior attempts by the defendant to commit similar offenses. It is claimed that the evidence was inadmissible because it amounted to proof of offenses not charged in the information.

The prosecution sought to prove that a coin purse, containing money and found in the defendant’s possession, was taken by her with the intent to steal it from the handbag carried by a Mrs. Henig while the latter was marketing in the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles. It was shown beyond contradiction that the coin purse belonged to Mrs. Henig and that it was in the defendant’s possession when she was apprehended in the market by an officer from the police department. The defendant denied stealing the purse and testified that she stumbled over it and then picked it up from the floor of the market.

One witness testified that he and another…