People v. Chamale CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 3, 2021
DocketD079039
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Chamale CA4/1 (People v. Chamale 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. Chamale CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 11/3/21 P. v. Chamale 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D079039

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. C1504430) MARCO CHAJON CHAMALE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Monterey County, Shelyna V. Brown, Judge. Affirmed. Gordon S. Brownell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey M. Laurence, Assistant Attorney General, Amit Kurlekar and Christen Somerville, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Six months after his driving privileges were suspended for driving under the influence, defendant Marco Chajon Chamale again drove while under the influence. This time, he hit a car head-on, injuring its two occupants; veered off the road into a fruit stand, killing one vendor and injuring the other; and then fled the scene, crashing into a fence, a tree, and a parked car before being apprehended. A jury found him guilty of second degree “Watson murder” and other related offenses.1 The trial court sentenced him to consecutive terms of 15 years to life, and three years eight months. The court also ordered him to pay $913 in fines, fees, and assessments,2 and about $49,558 in direct victim restitution. Chamale argues on appeal that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury that gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Pen.

Code, § 191.5, subd. (a))3 is a lesser included offense of Watson murder, and by failing to consider his inability to pay when imposing the assessments. For reasons we will explain, we find no error and affirm the judgment.

1 “Watson murder” is the colloquial term for a murder in which the implied malice element is based on the defendant’s subjective awareness of the risks of driving under the influence. (See People v. Watson (1981) 30 Cal.3d 290 (Watson); People v. Alvarez (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 781, 785 (Alvarez).)

2 Our analysis will not require us to distinguish among the nature of fines, fees, and assessments. Therefore, for readability, we will refer to them collectively as “assessments.”

3 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Chamale’s Prior Conviction In August 2014, Chamale pleaded no contest to violating Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (b) by driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more. As part of his plea process, Chamale signed a “Watson admonishment” acknowledging that driving under the influence “is extremely dangerous to human life,” and that if “someone is killed” as a result of him doing it again, he “can be charged with murder.” As a result of this conviction, Chamale’s driving privileges were suspended and he was placed on probation. Chamale’s probation conditions prohibited him from driving without a valid driver’s license and insurance. Chamale’s Current Convictions About six months later, on the evening of February 20, 2015, Chamale drove to a taco truck outside a gas station in the area of South White Road in San Jose (about 1.5 miles from where he committed his prior offense). Chamale was intoxicated, and the taco truck operator lectured him for about 30 minutes on the dangers of drinking and driving. Chamale responded, “I don’t care,” and said he “drove better drunk than when he was not under the influence,” but he also admitted he had recently been in a crash. Chamale drove away in his car. The next day (February 21, 2015) at about 1:15 p.m., Chamale entered a restaurant and ordered food and several beers. Afterwards he “stagger[ed]” into a liquor store next door and bought a 24-pack of beer. Chamale then got into his car and drove out of the liquor store parking lot into heavy traffic on South White Road. Chamale immediately crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into a car. The driver of the other car sustained

3 bruises and her body ached for several months, and the passenger’s neck and shoulder ached for a few days. Chamale did not stop at the scene; instead, he backed up and drove away, swerving in and out of oncoming traffic. Chamale veered off the road and crashed into a fruit stand operated by Francisco Hernandez-Juarez and his wife. Chamale’s car struck Hernandez- Juarez and dragged his body about 30 or 40 feet, killing him. The fruit stand fell on the wife, fracturing her arm and collarbone. The taco truck operator who had spoken to Chamale the night before saw the incident and jumped in front of Chamale’s car and told him to stop. Another bystander also ran up and told Chamale to stop. Chamale glared at the bystander, backed up his car, and drove off, nearly running over the taco truck operator. Chamale sped away from the scene and crashed into a residential fence across the street. He backed up and drove off again, crashing into a tree on the right side of the road, and then into a parked car on the left side of the road. Chamale got out of his car and tried to run away, but he was detained by bystanders until police arrived and arrested him. Blood samples obtained from Chamale about two hours after the incident revealed his blood alcohol concentration was about 0.272 percent at the time of the blood draw. A jury found Chamale guilty of second-degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1); three felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury or death (Veh. Code, § 20001, subds. (a), (b)(2); counts 2, 7, and 8); two felony counts of driving under the influence causing injury (Veh. Code, § 23153, subd. (a); counts 3 and 5); two felony counts of driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more, causing injury (Veh. Code, § 23153, subd. (b); counts 4 and 6); two misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an

4 accident involving property damage (Veh. Code, § 20002, subd. (a); counts 9 and 10); and one misdemeanor count of driving while his driving privileges were suspended due to a prior conviction for driving under the influence (Veh. Code, § 14601.2, subd. (a); count 11). As to counts 3 through 6, the jury found true the allegation that Chamale had a blood alcohol level of 0.15 percent or more during the commission of the offense. (Veh. Code, § 23578.) As to counts 3 and 4, the jury also found true the allegation that Chamale proximately caused injury to another person. (Veh. Code, § 23558.) Sentencing At the sentencing hearing, the trial court found Chamale had suffered a prior conviction for driving under the influence. The court sentenced Chamale to consecutive terms of 15 years to life on the murder conviction, and three years eight months on the convictions for driving under the influence causing serious injury or death (three years on count 3, eight months on count 5). On Chamale’s other convictions, the court either ran the sentences concurrently, or stayed them under section 654. The court also ordered Chamale to pay $913 in various assessments, and about $49,558 in direct victim restitution. DISCUSSION I. No Instructional Error Before and during trial, Chamale requested that the trial court instruct the jury on gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as a lesser included offense of the charged Watson murder offense. The trial court denied the request. Chamale contends this was error. We disagree.

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People v. Chamale CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chamale-ca41-calctapp-2021.