People v. Bon CA5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 22, 2021
DocketF078752
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Bon CA5 (People v. Bon CA5) 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. Bon CA5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 6/22/21 P. v. Bon CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THE PEOPLE, F078752 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. MCR040757) v.

OSCAR ABRAHAM BON, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Madera County. Mitchell C. Rigby, Judge. Diane Nichols, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Chatman and Angelo S. Edralin, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- Oscar Abraham Bon appeals after remand, in which the trial court exercised its discretion and maintained various gun enhancements as previously ordered. On appeal, Bon argues that the scope of the remand allows him to now contest the applicability of the kill zone theory of attempted murder at his 2014 trial. Respondent contends the issue is not properly before this court and that, in any event, substantial evidence supported the kill zone theory of liability. We address the issue on the merits and find no error. We agree with the parties that the abstract of judgment must be corrected. In all other respects, we affirm. STATEMENT OF THE CASE1 Bon was charged in counts 1–8 with attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187)2 and in counts 9 and 10 with discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle (§ 246). It was further alleged that Bon committed all of the counts for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(5)); that these offenses were committed while on bail or a grant of release on his own recognizance (§ 12022.1); that he personally discharged a firearm which proximately caused great bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)); that he personally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)); and that he personally used a handgun (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subd. (b)). A jury found Bon guilty of all counts as charged and all allegations were found true. Bon was sentenced to an aggregate term of 320 years to life in state prison: 15 years each on counts 1–8, plus an additional 25 years on each count, pursuant to section 12022.53, subdivision (d). He was further sentenced to 20 years each on counts 1–8, pursuant to section 12022.53, subdivision (c), which was stayed pursuant to section 12022.53, subdivision (f). Sentencing on the section 12022.5, subdivision (a)(1) enhancements was imposed but stayed on counts 1–10. Bon appealed, and on September 12, 2017, this Court issued its original opinion, which ordered clerical corrections to the abstract of judgment, striking the section

1 On the court’s own motion, pursuant to Evidence Code section 459, we take judicial notice of the record in appellant’s previous appeal (People v. Bon (Aug. 16, 2018, F070490) [nonpub. opn.].) 2 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2. 12022.5, subdivision (a) firearm enhancements as to counts 9 and 10. In all other respects, the judgment was affirmed. On December 13, 2017, the California Supreme Court denied Bon’s petition for review, and the following day, this Court issued the remittitur. On April 27, 2018, this Court granted Bon’s motion to recall the remittitur and reinstated the appeal on the sole issue of whether it should remand the case to the trial court to determine whether one or more of the firearm enhancements should be stricken due to recent statutory amendments which conferred discretion on the trial court to do so. Respondent conceded that remand was appropriate. In its August 16, 2018 opinion this Court remanded the case to the trial court for the sole purpose of holding a resentencing hearing to allow the trial court to exercise its discretion under the amendments to the firearm enhancements statute (§§ 12022.5, subd. (c), 12022.53, subd. (h)). This Court affirmed the judgment in all other respects. On November 14, 2018, the California Supreme Court denied Bon’s petition for review, and the following day, this Court issued the remittitur. On January 18, 2019, on remand, the trial court exercised its discretion and maintained the gun enhancements as previously ordered. The trial court reiterated Bon’s sentence as a total aggregate indeterminate term of 320 years to life in state prison as follows: 15 years to life on counts 1–8, plus an additional 25 years to life on each section 12022.53, subdivision (d) enhancement to run consecutively. On January 24, 2019, Bon filed a notice of appeal. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS Victim and Eyewitness Testimony On April 21, 2011, between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m., Police Officer Michael Kutz saw Bon, whom he knew from prior contacts, with two women in a faded black Nissan Altima, license plate No. 3EGE248, near 6th and E Streets in Madera. Bon was not the driver. Officer Kutz followed the Altima into an AM/PM parking lot, where one woman

3. got out and entered the store, while the vehicle drove to the air pumps area. The store’s video surveillance showed these movements occurring at 5:35 p.m. Around 7:00 p.m. that same day, Alejandro Salas, his wife, Julieta Ochoa, and five children were stopped in their vehicle in the right lane at Riverside Drive and D Street in Madera. According to Salas, a faded black Nissan Altima was in the left lane, although Ochoa thought that they were at the intersection before the black car pulled up next to them. Both Salas and Ochoa saw one Hispanic woman driving, another Hispanic woman in the front passenger seat, and a light-skinned Hispanic man, in his late 20’s or early 30’s with “really short” hair and a mustache, in the back seat. Both Salas and Ochoa identified the man as Bon in a photo line-up four days after the incident, as well as at trial. Salas also identified Bon at the preliminary hearing. The two vehicles were side by side for three seconds. Salas made eye contact with Bon, whom he described as “real fidgety,” with his right hand tucked away on his left side. Ochoa, who also made eye contact, described Bon as leaning over and moving a lot. As Salas turned right onto D Street, the Altima cut in front of him and Salas followed the car down the street. Salas saw Bon going from side to side in the car, ducking his head down. Ochoa testified the car was driving “crazy,” in and out, “very fast” and cutting off cars. Near the intersection of Yosemite Avenue and E Street, Salas heard five or six shots. He did not see a gun but saw Bon’s position and the muzzle flash. Ochoa heard shots, looked up, and saw the black car and a white SUV next to each other. In the white SUV, a Chevy Suburban, Mario Lopez, Sr. was driving his family to dinner. Lopez’s wife, Elsa Hernandez, was in the front passenger seat. Alexis, Andrew, and Veronica were in the second row; Mario Jr., Manuel, and Lyana were in the third row. The Lopez family were Dallas Cowboy fans; their car had a Cowboys license plate frame and Lopez was wearing a blue Cowboys hat.

4. Driving west on Yosemite Avenue near Gateway Drive, Lopez heard shots and Hernandez pulled him down. Hernandez recalled hearing something loud and telling everyone in the car to get down, but she did not see the shooting. Alexis, age 14, and Veronica, age 19, were hit by bullets. Lopez drove to the hospital, where Officer George Yang spoke to the children. A bullet went through Alexis’s bicep. She heard the gunshots but did not see the shooting. Veronica, who heard five to six gunshots, was hit by a bullet that went through the back of her neck.

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People v. Bon CA5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bon-ca5-calctapp-2021.