George Vv was born in Austria in 1890. His last name may have been spelled wrong, it might be Vevee, although I haven't found any information under that name.
Inmate: #33916 San Quentin Prison
Rec: 18 July 1920
Crime: Manslaughter
Term: 1-10 Yrs
Here are some newspaper articles I found.
On 28 Mar 1920 on a Sunday, he was driving his automobile down Chicago Street in Los Angeles going South and at the intersection of Chicago & First Street and George B Wood who was on a motorcycle was struck by George Vv and thrown about 15 feet, his skull fracturing and causing him instant death.
Here is his story from the court records:
At about 3:30 on the afternoon of March 28, 1920, defendant was driving a machine down Chicago street in the city of Los Angeles in a southerly direction approaching the intersection of Chicago and First Street, which at this point runs in an easterly and westerly direction. It was Sunday. While the evidence of the witnesses varies somewhat, it was Judge Willis' conclusion that defendant was approaching said intersection at the speed of about 30 miles an hour. The evidence showed that he was blowing a Klaxon horn at a point over one block north of the intersection and continued to blow the same until within probably a half a block of the intersection. As he approached the intersection, his view to the west was up secured by a brick building situated on the corner; but he slackened his speed little, if any, upon approaching the intersection, but proceeded to cross it at substantially the same rate of speed. At the same time there was approaching from the west a young man named George B. Wood, riding a motorcycle at an estimated speed of about 15 miles an hour, and that owing to the speed at which the automobile was traveling, and also the speed of the motorcycle, a collision occurred in which the deceased was thrown some 15 feet, his skull fractured, causing almost immediate death. The street at this point is 52 feet between curbs. The automobile, traveling at the rate of 44 ft./second, would give the defendant less than 2 seconds to observe the motorcycle rider and avoid the collision. There was some testimony that defendant endeavored to increase the speed of his automobile to avoid the collision, but not sufficient to make that a factor in determining the result. The negligence of the defendant consisted in approaching the crossing at too high rate of speed, especially where the building was liable to cut off the view of approaching travelers. The evidence adduced at the trial showed that the defendant was an Austrian and a sober and industrious laborer employed by Llewellyn Brothers at their steelworks in Torrance, California. There is not the slightest evidence of any malice or intentional injury, but the occurrence is one of many instances happening every day.
REMARKS: In a letter to Governor Stephens, dated August 24, 1920, Judge Frank R. Willis, who tried Vv says: "The jury recommended leniency in the case and in the transcript 1192A forwarded to the State Board of Prison Commissioners, I recommended an early parole. As a deterrent this sentence probably had its effect and defendant would be more useful to himself in society by having him either paroled or Pardoned immediately."
Under date of July 15, 1920, seven of the trial jurors have written letters to the Governor recommending a pardon for the reason that the evidence disclosed the fact that while defendant was technically guilty, that deceased was also guilty of contributory negligence and took a chance; that defendant is an exemplary young man and that the publishing of the jury's verdict in the press has had a beneficial effect, and that justice would be subserved now by pardoning defendant. An application for pardon has been prepared by the law firm of Haas & Dunnigan of Los Angeles, and signed by Reese Llewellyn, President of the Llewellyn Iron Works. It is stated in this application that the circumstances and facts surrounding the accident indicated it was purely accidental and unfortunate for the prisoner; that this is not one of those aggravating cases which would show a part of the defendant to drive an automobile in wanton disregard of life and limb, and it appearing from the evidence that the point where the accident occurred was not a crowed thoroughfare, and was not at the time of the accident extensively used by the traveling public, and that defendants automobile and deceased on his motorcycle were at the time the only travelers on the street.
October 21, 1920: Advisory Pardon Board recommends a denial.
Not present in the 1930 San Quentin Prison Census.
MacPherson, Richard. Mugshots & Crime Files From The Gangster Era- Volume 2 (Mugshots & Case Files From The Gangster Era) . Kindle Edition.
October 21, 1920: Advisory Pardon Board recommends a denial. Not present in the 1930 San Quentin Prison Census.
Take from the following book:
MacPherson, Richard. Mugshots & Crime Files From The Gangster Era- Volume 2 (Mugshots & Case Files From The Gangster Era) . Kindle Edition.
It's a very sad case, many lives messed up and lost because of an auto accident.
There are no records of George after he asked for a parole, not even in the 1930 census. He just disappears, although his last name may have been misspelled, which was very common as the person doing the records wrote names as they sounded if the person couldn't spell it for them.
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