People v. Miller

In a jury trial, Jean Pierre Miller was convicted of two offenses of second degree burglary and probation was granted on condition that he serve one year in the county jail. Miller appeals from the judgment.

*660 There was evidence of the following facts. On the morning of April 2, 1958, two cameras were found to be missing from the Baldwin-Gruber camera store in Los Angeles; on the morning of April 6th, an expensive camera and some camera accessories were found to be missing from the Bel Air camera store in Westwood. In each case, entry had been effected by throwing a rock through a display window.

At about 3:30 a. m. on the morning of April 7th, Officer Bolander of the Beverly Hills Police Department was on duty in a patrol car at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. He saw a 1941 Plymouth sedan going west on Wilshire; the car had no front license plate and no 1958 tag on the rear license plate. There were two men in the Plymouth, Miller and his codefendant Lowell Akui, who subsequently pleaded guilty to the Baldwin-Gruber burglary.

Officer Bolander testified that as he approached the car the occupants appeared to be struggling. He asked…