People v. Blankenship

167 Cal. App. 3d 840, 213 Cal. Rptr. 666, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 2031
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 2, 1985
DocketDocket Nos. E000231, E001175
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 167 Cal. App. 3d 840 (People v. Blankenship) 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. Blankenship, 167 Cal. App. 3d 840, 213 Cal. Rptr. 666, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 2031 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Opinion

RICKLES, J.

Defendant Anthony Dean Blankenship was convicted by jury verdict of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) and attempted second degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187-189, 664). As to each offense, allegations of firearm use (Pen. Code, § 12022.5) and infliction of great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 12022.7) were found to be true. An allegation of a prior serious felony conviction (Pen. Code, § 667) was bifurcated, tried to the court, and found to be true. Defendant was sentenced to state prison for a term of 19 years.

Defendant has appealed from the judgment and has also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus which has been consolidated with the appeal. The only contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in excluding evidence that a third party orally confessed to the crimes of which defendant was convicted. The writ petition is based on a written declaration by the same third party confessing to the crimes.

*845 Facts

Our statement of facts is based on the evidence received at defendant’s trial.

Catherine Long, age 59, was the owner of a gas station in Lucerne Valley. On January 31, 1983, she opened the station at 7 a.m. Defendant was her first customer, arriving at approximately 7:30 a.m. in a blue Ranchero-type pickup with one red toolbox and one blue toolbox. Long recognized defendant because she had seen him about 50 times either as a customer of the gas station or as an employee working at the Country Kitchen. She knew defendant’s last name only. In November or December of 1982, after a period of some months in which Catherine Long had not seen defendant, he had come to the gas station and asked if she remembered him. He had told her he was looking for work.

Defendant pumped $19.25 worth of gas into his vehicle. Catherine Long asked defendant if he was working and he said he was. Defendant was wearing tan corduroy pants and a tan jacket. Defendant asked for Marlboro 100 cigarettes. After looking in the office, Long told defendant she only had regular Marlboros. Defendant agreed to take them and followed Long into the office. When she told defendant what he owed, defendant pulled a pistol from his right pocket and said: “Mrs. Long, go sit in the chair.” She sat down and held the leash of her 16-month-old German shepherd, a friendly dog which sometimes jumped on people. Defendant removed $60 in currency from the cash register and asked if there was more. “I don’t know,” she said. Defendant opened a small suitcase on a shelf under the cash register and removed an additional $150 in currency. Defendant then raised the pistol and fired once. The bullet struck Long in the left temple. She fell motionless to the floor.

Catherine Long may have passed out briefly. She waited until she thought defendant must have gone, then telephoned the sheriff’s office. The call was received at 8:05 a.m. Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the gas station within a few minutes. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the deputies obtained a description of defendant and his vehicle from Long. At that time she was unable to remember defendant’s name but one of the deputies recognized defendant from the description.

At approximately 10 a.m., defendant’s vehicle, a blue 1968 Ranchero with blue and red toolboxes, was spotted by aircraft at a residence two miles from Catherine Long’s gas station. Defendant was inside the residence and was arrested. He waived his Miranda rights and told the deputies about his movements that morning. He said he went to a market at 8:15 or 8:30, then *846 to Catherine Long’s station where he bought $19.25 worth of gas and cigarettes, after which he went to his own residence, then to the residence where he was arrested. He consented to a search of the Ranchero. Nothing was seized from the car although two packages of Marlboro cigarettes were observed in the glove box.

At 12:48 p.m., defendant’s hands were tested for gunshot residue. Later analysis of the swabs revealed high levels of antimony and barium consistent with having fired a .22 caliber pistol within the preceding six hours.

Defendant was booked into jail. In his pockets were found $25 in currency and a single live round of Federal .22 caliber ammunition. An expended cartridge of the same caliber and brand was found in the office of Catherine Long’s station. Defendant was wearing a blue vest and blue jeans.

A photograph of defendant taken at the booking was placed in a display card with approximately nine similar photographs. At 2 p.m. the display card was shown to Catherine Long at the hospital. After two or three seconds she pointed to defendant’s photograph. She remembered his name was Blankenship and said he was the one who shot her.

On the following day, sheriff’s deputies searched the trailer where defendant had been living. They seized a tan jacket, about 35 rounds of Federal .22 caliber ammunition, and a box for a Sterling .22 caliber auto-loader pistol.

Defendant’s vehicle was stored in a privately owned impound yard. On February 4, the owner’s son happened to look under the hood to see whether anything was missing because there had been thefts from the yard. He noticed the top of the air cleaner was loose. When he removed it, he found a roll of currency wrapped in aluminum foil. The discovery was reported to sheriff’s deputies who counted the currency and found it amounted to $185. A report of the discovery was written but was somehow lost, the loss being discovered five months later, shortly before defendant’s trial was scheduled to begin.

The bullet which struck Catherine Long fractured the zygomatic arch (the bone between cheek and ear) in many places and also fractured the upper portion of the lower jaw at the joint. There was no brain damage but there was some damage to a facial nerve. Catherine Long was hospitalized from January 31 to February 7 and returned to the hospital on February 22 for an operation in which the bullet was removed. The bullet proved to be consistent with the Federal .22 caliber ammunition found in defendant’s pocket.

*847 I

Before defendant’s trial began, the prosecutor requested a hearing to determine the admissibility of evidence purportedly showing the charged offenses were committed by a third person named Gary Hahn. The prosecutor said defendant was intending to call Hahn as a witness and a hearing was necessary to determine whether Hahn would claim the privilege against self-incrimination. The prosecutor said defendant was also intending to introduce hearsay statements allegedly made by Hahn and a hearing was necessary to determine whether they should be excluded under Evidence Code section 352. The court ruled that a hearing would be held before introducing any evidence regarding Gary Hahn’s possible guilt of the charged offenses.

The trial commenced with Catherine Long testifying as the prosecution’s first witness.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 Cal. App. 3d 840, 213 Cal. Rptr. 666, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 2031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-blankenship-calctapp-1985.