(HC)Burnett v. Robertson

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMay 30, 2023
Docket2:22-cv-00223
StatusUnknown

This text of (HC)Burnett v. Robertson ((HC)Burnett v. Robertson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(HC)Burnett v. Robertson, (E.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ANGEL BURNETT, No. 2:22-cv-0223 DJC KJN P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 14 JAMES ROBERTSON, 15 Respondent. 16 17 I. Introduction 18 Petitioner is a state prisoner, proceeding with counsel, with an application for a writ of 19 habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner challenges his 2019 conviction for assault 20 to commit sexual penetration during the commission of a burglary, first degree burglary, forcible 21 sexual penetration, and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine. Petitioner was sentenced 22 to 25 years to life in state prison. Petitioner’s sole claim is that the trial court’s failure to give a 23 voluntary intoxication jury instruction prejudicially violated his rights to due process and a jury 24 trial. (ECF No. 1.) After careful review of the record, this Court concludes that the petition 25 should be denied. 26 II. Procedural History 27 On June 14, 2019, a jury found petitioner guilty of assault to commit sexual penetration 28 during the commission of a burglary (Cal. Pen. Code § 220(b)), first degree burglary (Cal. Pen. 1 Code § 459), forcible sexual penetration (Cal. Pen. Code § 289(a)(1)), and misdemeanor 2 possession of methamphetamine (Cal. Health & Saf. Code § 11377(a)). (ECF No. 10-1 at 240- 3 44.) On July 26, 2019, petitioner was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for forcible 4 sexual penetration, staying the sentences for assault and first degree burglary. (Id. at 274-75.) 5 Petitioner appealed the conviction to the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate 6 District. The Court of Appeal dismissed the first degree burglary charge, but otherwise affirmed 7 the conviction and sentence. (ECF No. 10-8.) Petitioner then filed a petition for review in the 8 California Supreme Court, and the court denied his petition. (ECF No. 10-9.) 9 Petitioner filed the instant petition on February 2, 2022. (ECF No. 1.) Respondent filed 10 an answer, and petitioner filed a traverse. (ECF Nos. 11 & 12.) 11 III. Facts1 12 After independently reviewing the record, this Court finds the appellate court’s summary 13 accurate and adopts it herein. In its unpublished memorandum and opinion affirming petitioner’s 14 judgment of conviction on appeal, the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District 15 provided the following factual summary: 16 The victim, a business traveler, arrived in Sacramento on the evening of July 18, 2018. She made her way to an Airstream trailer she had arranged 17 as accommodation for the night. She locked the doors and readied herself for bed. She then went to sleep, activating a sleep tracking application on 18 her phone. 19 The victim was awakened sometime later by a man in the trailer. The man, later identified as defendant, climbed on top of the victim and held 20 her down. A struggle ensued. The victim screamed, but defendant placed his hand over her mouth. He repeatedly referred to the victim as 21 “Ma’am,” and urged her to “Listen.” He also repeatedly told the victim, 22 “I have a weapon.” When the victim continued to scream and call for help, defendant said, “Now you’re getting loud. Now you got me mad.” 23 The sounds of the struggle—including defendant’s statements—were captured by a recording feature on the victim’s sleep tracking application. 24 The recording was played for the jury.1 25 [N.1 It was stipulated that the male voice on the recording was defendant’s. The victim testified that defendant repeatedly said, “Listen” 26

27 1 The facts are taken from the opinion of the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District in People v. Burnett, No. C090076, 2020 WL 5036284 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 26, 2020), 28 which respondent lodged as ECF No. 10-8. 1 and “Let me explain.” However, the transcript of the recording indicates that defendant repeatedly said, “Listen,” but did not offer to “explain.”] 2 During the struggle, defendant, still on top of the victim, placed his hand 3 inside her pants and digitally penetrated her vagina. Moments later, the victim managed to wriggle out from under defendant. She retrieved her 4 phone and glasses, despite an attempt by defendant to prevent her from doing so. She fumbled with her phone for a moment, and then succeeded 5 in dialing 911. Defendant hesitated, and then fled. 6 Police officers arrived on the scene. Defendant was long gone, but police found a silver necklace and green lighter in the trailer, neither of which 7 belonged to the victim. Police also found a syringe cap on the ground 8 outside near the trailer door, and a latent fingerprint, later matched to defendant, on the interior side of the frame of the door. 9 The victim underwent a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) 10 examination. The examining physician collected swabs from the victim’s body and scrapings from her fingernails. DNA analysis showed that the 11 samples contained a mixture of defendant’s DNA and the victim’s. 12 Defendant was arrested in downtown Sacramento on July 30, 2018. A search of defendant’s backpack revealed burglary tools. Police also found 13 a baggie containing methamphetamine in defendant’s sock. A syringe containing liquid methamphetamine was found in the car used to 14 transport defendant to jail. 15 Defendant was charged by amended complaint with assault with intent to commit forcible sexual penetration during the commission of a burglary 16 in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 220, subd. (b)—count one),2 first degree burglary (§ 459—count two), forcible sexual penetration (§ 289, subd. 17 (a)(1)—count three), and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine 18 (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)—count four). With respect to count two, the amended complaint alleged that another person, other than 19 an accomplice, was present in the residence during the commission of the burglary. (§ 667.5, subd. (c)(21).) With respect to count three, the 20 amended complaint alleged that the offense took place during the commission of a burglary within the meaning of sections 667.61, 21 subdivision (d)(4) and 667.61, subdivision (e)(2). Defendant pled not 22 guilty and denied the allegations. [N.2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.] 23 The matter was tried to a jury in June 2019. The prosecution’s witnesses 24 testified substantially as described ante. Defendant did not testify or present a case in chief. The jury found defendant guilty on all counts, and 25 found true the allegation that another person, other than an accomplice, 26 was present in the residence during the commission of the burglary charged in count two. The jury also found true the allegation that 27 defendant committed the offense of forcible sexual penetration of the victim during the commission of a residential burglary, with the intent to 28 1 commit sexual assault upon entry, within the meaning of section 667.61, subdivision (d)(4). 2 The trial court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of 25 years 3 to life on count three, stayed the sentences on counts one and two pursuant to section 654, and deemed him “time[ ]served” on count four. 4 5 (ECF No. 10-8 at 2-4.) 6 IV. Standards for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 7 An application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody under a judgment of a 8 state court can be granted only for violations of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United 9 States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a).

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Bluebook (online)
(HC)Burnett v. Robertson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hcburnett-v-robertson-caed-2023.