People v. Callahan CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 16, 2022
DocketD080019
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Callahan CA4/1 (People v. Callahan CA4/1) 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. Callahan CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 8/16/22 P. v. Callahan CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D080019

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SWF1907227)

MICHAEL JOSEPH CALLAHAN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Timothy F. Freer, Judge. Affirmed. Stephen M. Hinkle, 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, and Melissa Mandel and Seth M. Friedman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Michael Joseph Callahan was convicted of second degree murder for crashing his car into California Highway Patrol (CHP) Sergeant Steve Licon while driving intoxicated at 65 miles per hour on the shoulder of I-15. On

1 appeal, Callahan argues: (1) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser offenses of gross vehicular manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192,

subd. (c)(1)),1 involuntary manslaughter (id., § 192, subd. (b)), and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (id., § 191.5, subd. (a)); (2) the trial court abused its discretion under Evidence Code section 352 by admitting a photograph of the victim while alive and autopsy photographs of the victim’s uniform, helmet, and body; and (3) the trial court erred by imposing $4,500 restitution fines without determining that Callahan had the ability to pay. We find no error and affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Callahan’s Prior DUI and Knowledge of Dangers of Driving While Intoxicated In 2004, Callahan pled guilty to a prior DUI charge. As part of his sentence, he completed a first offender alcohol program and attended classes sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In those classes, people shared personal experiences regarding the dangers of drunk driving, including vivid stories about people who had lost loved ones. Sometime around 2010, Callahan drove home intoxicated and parked on the curb. He characterized this as a “reality check for [him].” Callahan’s wife also warned him about the dangers of drunk driving and told him not to do it. Callahan had discussed his DUI conviction with coworkers at Costco, where he worked as a manager. About a month before the charged crime, Callahan told a coworker that he was glad the police had stopped him in 2004, “ ‘as opposed to [him] hurting somebody.’ ”

1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 B. Callahan Gets Intoxicated Celebrating a Job Transfer with Coworkers On Saturday, April 6, 2019, Callahan finished his usual early morning shift at Costco and went to Big Al’s in Ontario to celebrate a job transfer. Big Al’s is a family entertainment center with a sports bar. Callahan entered Big Al’s around 10:35 a.m. and took a seat in the bar area with two coworkers. Several more coworkers arrived later. Over the next few hours, Callahan consumed approximately three shots of tequila and four 22-ounce beers with high alcohol content. He got progressively more intoxicated and unruly. Among other things, Callahan repeatedly pressed his pelvis against the buttocks of a female coworker, grabbed another female coworker, and had to be restrained from taking food from someone else’s table. At some point before leaving Big Al’s, Callahan talked with a coworker about the fact that they both had prior DUIs. They agreed “it wasn’t worth it” to drink and drive. C. Callahan Insists on Driving Home Intoxicated Shortly after 3:00 p.m., Callahan went out to the parking lot with other members of his group. He was visibly swaying. He also had trouble tying his shoe. Callahan’s companions were concerned about the possibility he might try to drive himself home to the Lake Elsinore area, which was about an hour away. One of them, Josue E., asked his girlfriend Jennifer to give Callahan a ride, and she agreed. But Callahan protested, “ ‘No, I’m fine. I can drive home.’ ” Josue and another coworker, Cesar V., persisted, telling Callahan, “ ‘[D]on’t drive home. You’re not safe.’ ” Callahan did not want to listen. Josue offered to let Callahan stay at his house or get him an Uber. He asked Callahan to hand over his car keys and said he would call Callahan’s

3 wife to come get him. Callahan would not turn over his keys or provide his wife’s phone number. Josue and Cesar walked Callahan over to Jennifer’s car. Cesar put his arm around Callahan to make sure he did not fall, since he had already “stumble[d] a few times.” Josue and Cesar did their best to coax Callahan into Jennifer’s car, but he refused, and instead went back inside Big Al’s. At 3:17 p.m., Callahan reentered Big Al’s, swaying as he walked. A minute later, he took food from someone else’s table, which resulted in a Big Al’s manager ejecting him. The manager could see that Callahan was too intoxicated to drive and urged his friends to take care of him. Callahan exited to the parking lot, walking with an unsteady gait. Josue and Jennifer were still worried about Callahan driving himself home. Jennifer asked if she could call Callahan’s wife or get him an Uber, and she tried in vain to take his keys away. Josue told Callahan, “ ‘Don’t drive,’ ” and urged him to accept a ride, but he still refused. Callahan became more belligerent. He snapped, “ ‘Just leave me alone, bitch. I got it. Take your fucking girlfriend out of here. I don’t need you guys. I can fucking drive home by myself.’ ” Callahan took a swing at Josue, but missed and fell backward to the ground. Josue helped Callahan up and continued trying to convince him not to drive. Callahan insisted he was fine and wanted to prove it by driving to Starbucks. Josue and Jennifer agreed to ride with him. Callahan managed to make a roundtrip drive to a Starbucks in the same parking lot. After they returned to Big Al’s, Callahan continued his verbal abuse, especially toward Jennifer, and he also hit Josue in the head. Josue finally decided “ ‘[e]nough is enough’ ” and gave up trying to persuade Callahan not to drive. Josue and Jennifer got out of Callahan’s car, and he drove off.

4 D. Callahan Strikes and Kills CHP Sergeant Steve Licon Around 3:45 p.m., Callahan drove his Toyota Corolla onto southbound I-15. It was sunny with scattered clouds and “100 percent” visibility. The freeway was clear, and traffic was lighter than usual. Despite the conditions, Callahan was driving erratically. He alternated between driving too slow or too fast for the flow of traffic, frequently changed lanes, had trouble staying in his lane, straddled lanes, swerved into the median to pass other vehicles, twice nearly sideswiped another car, and repeatedly forced other vehicles to honk or take evasive action to avoid colliding with him, resulting in at least one person calling 911. At approximately 4:25 p.m., near the Nichols Road exit in Lake Elsinore, Callahan sped up and veered onto the right shoulder of the freeway, with his vehicle partially in the gravel beyond the paved portion of the shoulder. There was no apparent reason for Callahan to be driving on the shoulder. According to one witness, he was “just driving like 60 miles an hour on the shoulder like it was nothing.” Farther ahead, CHP Sergeant Licon had pulled Raymundo R. over onto the southbound shoulder for speeding. Sergeant Licon was off his motorcycle, standing on the shoulder behind Raymundo’s car, writing the ticket. Callahan’s car accelerated as it approached Sergeant Licon.

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