People v. Bonilla CA2/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 2, 2014
DocketB249622
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Bonilla CA2/2 (People v. Bonilla CA2/2) 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. Bonilla CA2/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 12/2/14 P. v. Bonilla CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, B249622

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA399015) v.

MANUEL BONILLA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Henry J. Hall, Judge. Affirmed with directions.

Thomas T. Ono, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Margaret E. Maxwell and Peggy Z. Huang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_________________________ A jury convicted appellant Manuel Bonilla of six felony counts: First degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), count 1);1 possession for sale of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11378, count 2); possession for sale of cocaine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351, count 3); possession for sale of cocaine base (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351.5, count 4); and possession of a firearm by a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1), counts 5 & 6). The jury also found true the allegations in count 1 that appellant personally used and discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury and death within the meaning of section 12022.53, subdivisions (b), (c) and (d). Appellant was sentenced to a total of 57 years to life in state prison, calculated as follows: On count 1, 25 years to life for murder plus 25 years to life for the greatest firearm enhancement (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)); on count 2, a consecutive eight months; on count 3, a consecutive one year; on count 4, a consecutive four years; on count 5, a consecutive eight months; and on count 6, a consecutive eight months. Appellant contends (1) there was insufficient evidence to support some of his convictions, (2) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury; (3) section 654 precluded imposition of the consecutive sentence on count 5; and (4) he is entitled to one extra day of presentence custody credit. While we agree with the final contention, we find no merit to the others. FACTS Prosecution Case The Murder On May 8, 2012, between 12:45 a.m. and 1:00 a.m., the body of Rene Miranda (the victim) was found by a driver lying on the street at the corner of Normandie Avenue and 20th Street in Los Angeles. Autopsy reports revealed the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was shot in the right jaw, right upper back, and right hand.2

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. 2 Two of the three gunshot wounds were fatal.

2 A large caliber bullet was recovered from his body.3 The victim had marijuana and cocaine in his system, but the drugs did not contribute to his death. Background Events Appellant was a drug dealer for the Harpys gang and the victim had a drug habit. During the month of January 2012, calls on appellant’s phones were wiretapped pursuant to a court order. Portions of recorded calls were played for the jury. In the first recording, the victim told appellant he would pay extra money on his drug debt. Appellant demanded that he be paid immediately because he had not told “the homie,” who thought the victim had already paid for the drugs. In the second recording, the victim told appellant that he had not paid because he got off work late. He agreed to pay extra and said it would be the last time appellant had to cover for him. In the third recording, the victim told appellant that he was fired from his job, but would go to appellant’s house to pay. The parties stipulated that on May 7, 2012, the day before the murder, appellant was at the Los Angeles Gun Range, a shooting range for target practice. All visitors were required to complete a questionnaire about their firearm experience before being permitted to shoot at the range. Appellant completed the questionnaire. When a group of people came to the range together, their questionnaires were stapled together. One of the questionnaires stapled to appellant’s indicated that one of his companions bought 50 rounds of .40-caliber bullets for a handgun. There was no requirement that bullets purchased at the range had to be fired at the range. The victim’s relatives testified that between April 28 and May 7, 2012, he acted nervous, kept looking over his shoulder, and asked to borrow $100. Investigation The victim’s cell phone was recovered at the scene. His wife confirmed that a number on the phone belonged to appellant, who was known as “Chito.” Cell phone records for appellant’s cell phone number indicated that the victim called appellant’s cell

3 The parties stipulated that the shell casings and expended bullets recovered at the scene and the bullet in the victim’s body were .40-caliber ammunition.

3 phone eight times between 12:33 a.m. and 12:43 a.m. on May 8, 2012, just before he was killed. Four of the calls were answered by voicemail and the remaining calls were unanswered. Appellant’s cell phone connected to the same tower for all eight calls and did not leave the tower’s mile and one-half range. The crime scene was within the range of the cell phone tower. On the day of the murder, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detectives Matthew Gares and Herman Frettlohr went to appellant’s apartment. Detective Gares saw a shadow at the bottom of the door and heard what sounded like someone running through the apartment. Appellant’s girlfriend opened the door. Detective Gares saw drugs in the apartment and an open window. He looked out the window and saw appellant standing near a wooden ladder. When Detective Gares asked appellant to come inside the apartment, appellant said “yeah,” then fled. The detectives searched the area outside the apartment building and found a backpack with the “Angry Birds” logo on it. The backpack contained $368 in cash, a digital scale, and bags of drugs. The parties stipulated that the drugs recovered included 117.7 net grams of methamphetamine; 1.9 net grams of powder cocaine consisting of 11 individually wrapped bags; 78.4 net grams of crack cocaine consisting of nine individually wrapped bags; 1.4 grams of crack cocaine; 14.8 grams of powder cocaine; 3.5 grams of methamphetamine; and 0.14 grams of methamphetamine. Detective Frettlohr explained that these were large quantities of methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and powder cocaine. A usable amount of methamphetamine and crack cocaine was dependent on a user’s tolerance, but could be less than 0.03 grams. The amount of drugs necessary for filing criminal charges was 0.03 grams. Detective Timo Illig searched appellant’s apartment and found the following: a closed circuit surveillance monitor in the bedroom; a nine-millimeter handgun in the bedroom closet; a square plate with a razor blade; two scales, one of which contained white residue; a toiletry bag containing two bags of methamphetamine and a glass pipe; three glass jars containing individual bags of marijuana; more than one cell phone; a binder with a calendar on the outside flap; and sheets of paper. One sheet of paper had

4 numbers written on it and the words “paid” and “owe.” Another sheet had “I.O.U.” written on it with six names. The third name on the I.O.U. list was “Rana,” which was the victim’s nickname. The number 170 was crossed out next to his name, and the number 100 was written, followed by 870. Detective Illig agreed that the sheet of paper was a “pay owe” sheet in which a drug dealer kept a list of people who owed money.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Bonilla CA2/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bonilla-ca22-calctapp-2014.