In re Christine C. CA4

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 3, 2013
DocketF065466
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re Christine C. CA4 (In re Christine C. CA4) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Christine C. CA4, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 9/3/13 In re Christine C. CA4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

In re CHRISTINE C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

THE PEOPLE, F065466

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Madera Super. Ct. No. MJL016948A) v.

CHRISTINE C., OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Madera County. Thomas L. Bender, Judge. Carey D. Gorden, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Louis M. Vasquez and Rebecca Whitfield, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

* Before Poochigian, Acting P.J., Franson, J. and Peña, J. -ooOoo- INTRODUCTION A juvenile wardship petition (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 § 602, subd. (a)) was filed in the Superior Court of Madera County alleging appellant Christine C., who was 17 years old, committed count I, felony assault with a deadly weapon, a knife, upon S.A., during an altercation at a party (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)). After a contested jurisdictional hearing, the court found the allegation true. Appellant was declared a ward of the court, ordered to serve time in custody, and placed on probation under various terms and conditions. On appeal, appellant contends the prosecutor failed to comply with his statutory duties of notice and determination of her eligibility for the Deferred Entry of Judgment (DEJ) program. Appellant also contends that one of the terms of probation is unconstitutionally overbroad. We will modify the probation condition and otherwise affirm. FACTS On the evening of January 16, 2012, about 25 to 30 young people responded to a Facebook post and attended a party for S.A. at Bass Lake. They sat around a campfire and drank beer and hard liquor. The guests included M.W. and his friend, appellant, who arrived together in M.W.‟s truck. S.A., who was 20 years old, testified she knew M.W. from school, but she had never met appellant. Around 10:30 p.m., S.A. saw one of her girlfriends walk out of the woods. The young woman‟s pants were down to the ankles, and she said that M.W. tried to rape her. Some of the young men attacked M.W. and beat him up. S.A. testified that one man pulled a knife, but he did not use it. S.A testified she tried to calm everyone down and

1 All further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.

2. stop the fight. S.A. told M.W. that he and appellant needed to leave. M.W. and appellant got into the truck to leave, and everyone calmed down. S.A. testified that a few minutes later, she realized M.W.‟s truck had traveled about 25 feet from the campfire and stopped. S.A. went to the truck, and found M.W. in the driver‟s seat and appellant in the front passenger seat. S.A. asked M.W. why he was still there and yelled at him that he needed to leave. M.W. did not respond. S.A. testified that as she tried to talk to M.W., she heard some noises behind her, like someone was walking. S.A. turned around and saw appellant. Appellant did not say anything to her. S.A. testified appellant suddenly stabbed her in the arm with a pocketknife. S.A. testified they were face-to-face and “rolling around on the ground, and then I remember blood, there was blood everywhere.” After she was stabbed, S.A. tried to get back to her friends, but she tripped and fell to the ground. S.A. hit her head and passed out. When she woke up, the truck was still there, but M.W. and appellant were gone. S.A.‟s friends took her to the hospital and called the police. After S.A. was stabbed, one of the party guests used a baseball bat to smash M.W.‟s truck. S.A. suffered eight different stab wounds to her left hip, left and right chest, and right arm. She was in the hospital for two days. S.A. testified she did not speak to, threaten, or strike appellant prior to being stabbed. S.A. admitted she had consumed a large amount of hard liquor and smoked marijuana, and she was under the influence that night.2 The investigation Around 11:45 p.m. on the night of the stabbing, Madera County Sheriff‟s Deputy Colleen Weisert contacted appellant at her residence. Appellant spontaneously said she

2 S.A. testified she had previously been on probation for petty theft. She had been in fights before, the most recent occurring when she was 14 years old and beat up a girl who hit her brother.

3. was probably the person that Weisert was looking for because she had stabbed a girl. Appellant said she had gone to a party with M.W., and they had been chased. Appellant said someone hit her and she felt she had to defend herself. Appellant said she stabbed a girl with a pocketknife. Appellant had seen the girl before but she did not know her name. Deputy Weisert advised appellant of the warnings pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436, and she agreed to answer questions. Appellant said someone accused M.W. of trying to rape a woman, and they were told to leave. When they tried to leave, they couldn‟t drive away because the truck had a flat tire. Appellant said a group of people “swarmed” the truck as they remained inside. Appellant took out her knife because she felt she needed to defend herself since there were “a couple of big guys” that were on her side of the truck. Appellant said she got out and tried to push the truck. Appellant said S.A. punched the back of her head. Appellant dropped her knife and tried to pick it up. S.A. jumped on appellant and pushed her down. Appellant admitted she stabbed S.A. a couple of times, but she had to defend herself. Appellant suffered cuts and scratches, and she said the injuries happened when she stabbed S.A. Deputy Weisert testified appellant said she had been drinking that night, but she did not appear intoxicated. Appellant was taken to the hospital and needed stitches for an injury on her hand. M.W.‟s truck was towed from the camping area. There was damage to the truck‟s body, the windows were smashed, and one of the tires had been slashed with a knife.

4. M.W.’s testimony At the contested jurisdiction hearing, M.W. testified for appellant and explained that everyone at the party was drinking, and S.A. appeared drunk. A girl claimed M.W. tried to rape her. M.W. testified he did not know the girl and he never touched her. 3 M.W. testified he tried to leave, but appellant did not follow him to his truck. M.W. decided he could not leave without her. Some men pulled M.W. out of the truck and beat him up. One man pulled a buck knife, held it to M.W.‟s throat, and then slashed one of the truck‟s tires. M.W. testified that he did not see what happened to appellant, but he believed she stopped the men from beating him. The assailants backed away, and they let appellant and M.W. get into the truck. As M.W. drove away, some people threw bottles at the truck. M.W. testified he did not get far because of the slashed tire, and his truck was stuck on the road. S.A. repeatedly walked up to the truck, cursed at them, and told them to leave. M.W. thought S.A. was acting crazy, aggressive, and angry, like she was on drugs. M.W. was afraid he was going to be assaulted again and decided to walk away to get help. Appellant stayed with the truck but M.W. did not know why. M.W. did not know what happened between appellant and S.A. after he left the area.

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In re Christine C. CA4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-christine-c-ca4-calctapp-2013.