People v. Andrews CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 12, 2024
DocketE080840
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Andrews CA4/2 (People v. Andrews CA4/2) 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
People v. Andrews CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Filed 7/12/24 P. v. Andrews CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E080840

v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF2102616)

SOLOMON ANDREWS, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Rene Navarro, Judge.

Affirmed.

Alex Coolman, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina and

Elizabeth M. Renner, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 While being pursued by Jerry Garrison, a security guard from a Days Inn Hotel in

Riverside, defendant and appellant Solomon Andrews threw glass beer bottles and bricks

at Garrison and swung a concealed knife at Garrison and another man (referred to in the

record as John Doe). A jury convicted Andrews of assault with a deadly weapon on

Garrison (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1); all undesignated statutory references are to the

Penal Code) and of carrying a concealed dirk or dagger (§ 21310), and it found true that

Andrews had suffered two prior convictions, which the trial court found were “strike”

priors. The trial court sentenced him to state prison for 25 years to life for the assault and

a consecutive term of four years for the concealed weapon possession.

On appeal, Andrews contends: (1) his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon

must be reversed because the record does not contain substantial evidence that he used

the bottles and/or bricks in such a manner that it was likely to produce death or great

bodily injury; (2) the trial court erred by not instructing the jury that it had to

unanimously agree whether throwing the bottles or the bricks constituted an assault with

a deadly weapon; and (3) he was prejudiced when the trial court admitted his statement

during the pursuit that he was a member of the Hoover criminal street gang.

We conclude the record contains substantial evidence that the manner in which

Andrews threw the bottles and bricks at Garrison was likely to produce great bodily

injury, and the trial court was not required to instruct on unanimity because the record

does not reflect two discrete assaults—one with the bottles and one with the bricks—but

instead reflects one continuous assault during which Andrews used two different types of

2 weapons that were at his disposal. Finally, we need not decide whether the trial court

erred by concluding Andrews’s statement of gang membership was sufficiently relevant

to proving the charges against him. Andrews suffered no prejudice so the error, if any,

was harmless. We affirm.

I.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In a first amended information, the People charged Andrews with one count of

assault with a deadly weapon for his use of bottles and bricks against Garrison (§ 245,

subd. (a)(1), count 1), two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for his use of a knife

(§ 245, subd. (a)(1), counts 2 & 3), and one count of possessing a concealed dirk or

dagger (§ 21310, count 4). The People alleged Andrews suffered two prior convictions

that were “strikes” and serious prior offenses for purposes of sentencing. (§§ 667,

subds. (a), (c), (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1).)

A jury found Andrews guilty on counts 1 and 4 and found true the allegations that

he suffered two prior convictions. In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found the

prior convictions were “strikes.” The trial court declared a partial mistrial because the

jury was unable to return unanimous verdicts on counts 2 and 3, and the court

subsequently granted the People’s motion to dismiss those counts in the interest of

justice. (§ 1385.) The trial court sentenced Andrews to state prison on count 1 for 25

years to life and a consecutive determinate sentence of four years on count 4.

Andrews timely appealed.

3 II.

FACTS

Garrison, a security officer at a Riverside Days Inn on Magnolia Avenue, was

sitting at an outside table on his break when Andrews and a companion approached and

sat down. After finishing his meal, Garrison got up and went back to his duties but soon

realized he left his keys on the table. When he returned, Garrison saw the keys were

gone. Footage from a security camera showed Andrews had taken the keys, so Garrison

drove down Magnolia Avenue and found Andrews pushing a shopping cart about a block

away. Andrews said he found the keys, tried to find Garrison, and placed the keys on top

of an ice machine at the hotel. The two went back to the hotel but Garrison was unable to

find the keys on or near the ice machine. Andrews denied that he had taken the keys and

walked away. Garrison once again checked the footage from the security camera and the

footage did not show that Andrews had walked to the ice machine.

Garrison followed Andrews down Magnolia Avenue on foot and asked about the

keys. Andrews became agitated and started to swear, and he told Garrison to stop

following him or he would “fuck [him] up.” Andrews was standing about six feet away

from Garrison, “hunched his shoulders up,” “balled up his fists,” and approached

Garrison. Garrison started to walk away backward, and Andrews said he was from

“Hoover,” which Garrison knew was a criminal street gang in Los Angeles. Concerned

for his safety, Garrison kept his distance as Andrews continued to walk down the

sidewalk pushing his shopping cart. Garrison said he was going to call the police, but

4 Andrews said he did not care and continued to curse and look back at Garrison as he

walked down the street.

Garrison followed Andrews for another block, at which point John Doe, who was

frequently at the hotel, approached and asked what was happening. Doe offered to help

retrieve the keys. Andrews stopped, grabbed glass beer bottles from the shopping cart,

“cocked back his arm,” and threw at least two of them at Garrison. Garrison “jerked” or

“moved to the side just out of [the] way” and the bottles hit the ground and shattered.

Andrews was about 26 feet away when he threw the bottles. After throwing the second

bottle, Andrews stopped and said, “I told you to stop following me.” Garrison said he

just wanted his keys.

“A little bit later,” Andrews reached into the shopping cart and grabbed some

bricks.1 Andrews walked back, “[a] little bit closer” to Garrison, “cocked back his arm,”

and threw about three bricks at Garrison. One “full brick” hit Garrison on his left

shoulder and bicep. Garrison testified the brick did not hurt “too much” because he was

“a big guy” (6 feet 1 inch tall, 340 pounds). However, Garrison testified Andrews was

also a “big guy,” and he threw the bricks “pretty hard” and with “some strength.”

Doe told Andrews to give the keys back, and Andrews said to mind his own

business. Andrews continued to walk more quickly down Magnolia Avenue. Doe and

Garrison continued to follow Andrews.

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People v. Andrews CA4/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-andrews-ca42-calctapp-2024.