People v. Cantrell CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 21, 2016
DocketE064076
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Cantrell CA4/2 (People v. Cantrell 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. Cantrell CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 7/21/16 P. v. Cantrell 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, E064076

v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF1402281)

DONNIE LUCKY CANTRELL et al., OPINION

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. David A. Gunn, Judge.

Affirmed.

James R. Bostwick, Jr., under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant

and Appellant Cantrell.

Barbara S. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant Wicker.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Peter Quon, Jr., Randall D.

Einhorn, and Anthony Da Silva, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. 1 I

INTRODUCTION1

Donnie Lucky Cantrell and his girlfriend, Catherine Wicker, threatened their

neighbor who had cooperated with the investigation of a criminal case against Cantrell.

A jury convicted defendants on three counts of threatening and intimidating a witness2

The trial court sentenced Cantrell to 13 years in prison3 and granted Wicker formal

probation for three years.

On appeal, defendants argue the trial court should have granted a mistrial after an

investigating officer testified he had contacted Cantrell’s parole officer at one point.

Defendant Cantrell also contends that section 654 required a stay of his sentences on

counts 1 (making a criminal threat) and 3 (threatening a witness), which were concurrent

to his 13-year sentence on count 2 (intimidating a witness), because his offenses were

based on a single course of conduct which had the same criminal purpose: to dissuade

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise. 2 Both defendants were convicted of making criminal threats (§ 422; count 1); intimidating a witness or victim by using force and threatening to use force or violence (§ 136.1, subd. (c)(l); count 2); and threatening a witness or victim (§ 140, subd. (a); count 3). The jury also found true that Cantrell committed the charged felonies while released from custody (§ 12022.1), had a strike prior (§§ 459, 667, subds. (c) and (e)(l)), and 1170.12, subd. (c)(l)), served a prior prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)), and had a prior serious felony. (§ 667, subd. (a)). In a bifurcated proceeding, Cantrell admitted the prior strike, prison prior, and prior serious felony. 3 The trial court sentenced Cantrell as follows: as to count 2, the midterm of three years doubled to six years by the strike prior, plus five years for the prison prior and two years for the out-on-bail enhancement for a total of 13 years; as to count 1, a concurrent midterm of two years; and as to count 3, a concurrent midterm of three years.

2 the victim from providing information to investigators about Cantrell’s pending criminal

case.

We reject defendants’ contentions and affirm the judgment.

II

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Sergio Rodriguez, the victim, testified that he has used crutches his whole life

because he had contracted polio as a child, causing atrophy of his left leg, and a car

accident had damaged his hip when he was seven years old. Rodriguez and defendants

were neighbors in San Jacinto but they were not friendly.

A. Previous Events

In September 2013, Mark Magill, an investigator with the Riverside County

District Attorney’s Office, contacted Rodriguez about being a potential trial witness in a

criminal case against Cantrell.

Another time Magill tried to interview Cantrell, whom Magill believed was living

at Wicker’s residence. When Magill arrived at the residence, Cantrell evaded him.

Magill asked Rodriguez to call him if he saw Cantrell. A few minutes later, Rodriguez

reported that Wicker and Cantrell were leaving in a blue van. Magill went to Wicker’s

residence and encountered Wicker driving a blue van towards Magill’s car with a man in

the front passenger seat. The blue van swerved, accelerated and departed.

B. Jailhouse Calls

In December 2013 and January 2014, Magill monitored about 20 hours of

Cantrell’s jailhouse calls, mostly with Wicker, concerning Rodriguez being a witness.

3 During the calls, Cantrell and Wicker referred to Rodriguez many times using the term

“snitch,” as well as other pejorative terms. Magill counseled Rodriguez to call him or

911 if there were any problems when Cantrell moved back in with Wicker.

C. June 5, 2014

On June 5, 2014, Magill called Rodriguez to check on him. At noon, Rodriguez

was in his garage preparing lawn fertilizer. Wicker was driving her white car with

Cantrell in the front passenger seat when she backed up and stopped in front of

Rodriguez’s driveway. Cantrell rolled down the window and told Rodriguez to mind his

own business and called him a “snitch ass n----.” Wicker added, “F--- snitches.” Cantrell

told Rodriguez that he would not wake up the next day if he continued to snitch. Wicker

said, “That’s on 30’s, you won’t wake up,” which Rodriguez understood to be a gang

reference.

Rodriguez felt vulnerable because he realized defendants were mad at him for

speaking with the police and trying to prevent him from testifying. Rodriguez feared for

his life and thought that he could possibly be shot, injured, or attacked. He warned

defendants he would call the police if they did not leave. Eventually, defendants drove

away and Rodriguez thought the interaction was over.

After Rodriguez finished mixing fertilizer, he fertilized the grass with a spreader

while using crutches. A few minutes later, Wicker’s car reappeared and pulled into the

driveway of Rodriguez’s residence. Rodriguez was standing in the middle of his lawn,

on crutches and holding the fertilizer spreader. Wicker and Cantrell left the car and

approached within eight feet of Rodriguez. Cantrell clenched a fist and took a fighting

4 stance. Wicker and Cantrell directed more profanities at Rodriguez and warned he was

going to get what was coming to him.

Rodriguez told Wicker to shut up. Although Rodriguez claimed he was going to

call Cantrell’s parole officer, he was bluffing because he did not have the parole officer’s

phone number. Cantrell continued to yell and curse at Rodriguez. Wicker said that she

was not on parole and she could act however she wanted. Wicker repeated, “[i]t’s on

30’s,” that Rodriguez “would not wake up,” was “done,” and that “snitches get what they

get.” Wicker also called Rodriguez a “faggot.” Cantrell repeated his earlier verbal

attacks.

Rodriguez was afraid his life was in danger. It was difficult for him to maneuver

with crutches on the grass, and he could not defend himself if defendants attacked him.

After Rodriguez said he was going to call the police, defendants walked away.

Another neighbor, Heather Tapia, was working in her home office. She overheard

an argument between Rodriguez and two people who were occupants in Wicker’s car.

Tapia did not identify defendants as the occupants.

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