People v. Johnson

Charged with burglary (Pen. Code, § 459) and receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496), defendant was found guilty by jury only of the second count. The burglary count was dismissed, he was sentenced on the receiving charge, and appeals.

Defendant was arrested when he attempted to sell a stolen watch in a pawnshop. His use of a fictitious name on the bill of sale form provided by the pawnbroker and his conflicting explanations of acquisition of the watch concededly support the verdict.

Defendant asserts that the verdict is fatally uncertain because the information’s second count charged that he “did *513 receive” stolen property “knowing the same to have been stolen, and did conceal and withhold such property from the owner.”

Concealing stolen property is not the same offense as receiving it (People v. Feldman, 171 Cal.App.2d 15, 24 [ 339 P.2d 888 ]; see also People v. Scaggs, 153 Cal.App.2d 339, 360 [ 314 P.2d 793 ]), even though both are defined by the same section (Pen. Code, § 496). We need not consider the question (see People v. Frank, 28 Cal. 507, 513 ; Bealmear v. Southern Cal. Edison Co., 22 Cal.2d 337, 341-343 [ 139 P.2d 20 ]) whether the information is defective…