People v. Chavez

73 Cal. Rptr. 3d 189, 160 Cal. App. 4th 882, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 318
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 4, 2008
DocketB185907
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 73 Cal. Rptr. 3d 189 (People v. Chavez) 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. Chavez, 73 Cal. Rptr. 3d 189, 160 Cal. App. 4th 882, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 318 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

Opinion

JACKSON, J. *

INTRODUCTION

In an amended information, the People charged defendant Orlando Chavez with two sets of crimes. The first set of crimes was committed on April 24, *885 2001; the second set of crimes was committed on November 19, 2001, while defendant was in county jail. As to all crimes, defendant pled not guilty by reason of insanity.

With regard to the April 2001 offenses, a jury convicted defendant of three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, 1 § 245, subd. (a)(1); counts 1, 4 & 5) committed because of the victim’s race or color (§ 422.75), vandalism resulting in more than $400 in damage (§ 594, subd. (a); count 6), exhibiting a deadly weapon to a police officer to resist arrest (§ 417.8; count 7) and resisting an executive officer while personally using a deadly and dangerous weapon (§§ 69, 12022, subd. (b)(1); count 8). 2

With regard to the crimes alleged to have been committed in November 2001, the jury convicted defendant of assault upon a peace officer during which he personally inflicted great bodily injury (§§ 245, subd. (c), 12022.7, subd. (a); count 9), battery with injury upon a peace officer (§ 243, subd. (c)(2); count 10) and battery with serious bodily injury (§ 243, subd. (d); count 11).

Defendant waived his right to a jury trial on the prior conviction allegations contained in the amended information. Following a court trial on these allegations, the court found that defendant suffered a prior felony strike conviction (§§ 667, subd. (b), 1170.12), a prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)), and served four prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)).

During the sanity phase of the trial, conflicting evidence was received. The jury found that defendant was insane at the time he committed the April 2001 offenses (counts 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8) but found him sane at the time he committed the November 2001 offenses (counts 9, 10 & 11).

The trial court selected count 9 as the principal base term and ordered the sentences on counts 10 and 11 to run concurrently to that imposed on count 9. For these counts, the court sentenced defendant to state prison for a total term of 20 years. 3 On counts 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, the court committed defendant to a state mental hospital, calculated his maximum term of *886 commitment to be 16 years four months 4 and ordered this commitment to be served after completion of his state prison term.

On appeal, defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s determination that he was sane at the time he committed the November 2001 offenses and the trial court’s order directing him to serve his state prison sentence before his state hospital commitment. He contends that the court should have committed him to the state hospital first and ordered his state prison sentence to run concurrently with that commitment. He further maintains that the sentences imposed on counts 10 and 11 should be stayed under section 654 and that the trial court violated Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296 [159 L.Ed.2d 403, 124 S.Ct. 2531] and his constitutional right to a jury trial and due process when, in calculating his maximum term of commitment, it imposed consecutive sentences for all but one of his November 2001 offenses. We agree with defendant that the sentences imposed on counts 10 and 11 must be stayed pursuant to section 654 and that the trial court should have ordered him to serve his state hospital commitment first, but we reject defendant’s other contentions.

FACTS

Guilt Phase

April 24, 2001 Offenses—Counts 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

Around 6:30 p.m. on April 24, 2001, Francisco Blackwood (Blackwood) was driving his Honda Accord. His wife and two minor daughters accompanied him. While Blackwood was stopped at a red light at the intersection of *887 El Molino Avenue and Mountain Street in Pasadena, defendant, who was carrying a metal pole, passed in front of Blackwood’s car, looking “kind of crazy.”

Defendant approached Blackwood, yelled, “Is this your car? Is this your car?” and jabbed the pole into the car. Blackwood grabbed the pole, which hit him in his left arm. Blackwood’s wife and children were screaming and crying. After speeding away, Blackwood called 911.

Around 6:45 p.m. on April 24, 2001, Stalaus Grundy (Grundy) was in his Ford Mustang behind two other cars waiting for the red light at El Molino Avenue to turn green when he saw defendant step off the sidewalk and walk toward him with a pipe. Defendant looked angry and stared at Grundy as if Grundy had done something. When defendant raised the pipe, Grundy drove out of the line of waiting cars. Defendant managed to hit the window of Grundy’s car, however.

Frank Phillips (Phillips) also had stopped for the red light at the intersection of Mountain Street and El Molino Avenue. As he sat in his Cadillac, he observed defendant run kitty-comer across the intersection toward him, holding a metal pipe. Believing defendant was “evil looking” and was going to hit him with the pipe, Phillips quickly drove away against the red light. Defendant managed to hit the rear window of the Cadillac as Phillips drove away. Defendant did not say a word to Phillips.

Also on April 24, 2001, Owen Murray (Murray) was at a stop sign at Madison Avenue, preparing to turn right onto Mountain Street, when the back window of his Honda Accord shattered. He turned and saw defendant holding “a black pipe of some sort” and preparing to hit his car again. Murray yelled at defendant who looked angry and enraged. Defendant then stmck Murray’s car a second time, after which Murray drove away. Defendant never said anything to Murray.

Pasadena Police Officer Grant Curry responded to a report of vandalism at the intersection of El Molino Avenue and Mountain Street. Blackwood and Grundy flagged him down and reported that they had been attacked by someone with a pipe. They identified defendant as their assailant after he walked out of a yard on El Molino.

Officer Curry drove toward defendant. When the officer got out of his car, defendant began to approach. Officer Curry drew his baton and ordered defendant to stop when he saw that defendant was carrying a pipe. Defendant did not heed Officer Curry’s command and continued to approach while holding the pipe like a baseball bat. At this point, Officer Curry drew his handgun.

*888 Officer Curry repeatedly ordered defendant to stop and put down the pipe, but these orders fell on deaf ears. When defendant was 10 to 15 feet away, defendant told Officer Curry to shoot him as he was going to smash him with the pipe. Officer Curry was prepared to fire, when defendant stopped and began walking away. Police backup then arrived.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
73 Cal. Rptr. 3d 189, 160 Cal. App. 4th 882, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chavez-calctapp-2008.