People v. Debato CA2/7

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 2025
DocketB335444
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Debato CA2/7 (People v. Debato CA2/7) 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. Debato CA2/7, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 2/11/25 P. v. Debato CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, B335444

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA034413) v.

HANEZE L. DEBATO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Hector E. Gutierrez, Judge. Affirmed. John Steinberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Chung L. Mar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

__________________________ Heneze Debato appeals from a postjudgment order denying his Penal Code former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6)1 petition with respect to his convictions for one count of first degree murder and three counts of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder. Debato contends the superior court erred in denying his petition at the prima facie stage because the jury could have convicted him “based upon a theory of imputed malice.” We reject his contention and affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND2

A. Evidence at Trial3 “Leuders Park Piru and Elm Lane Piru are Blood street gangs claiming territory within the City of Compton. Blood gang

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered to section 1172.6 with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) 2 The People filed a request for judicial notice of the clerk’s transcript from Debato’s direct appeal and portions of Debato’s trial transcript. The People argue these records are “relevant to [h]is appeal because [they] explain[] the circumstances and findings related to [Debato’s] . . . convictions.” Because we reach the same conclusion as the People without considering these records, we deny the People’s request as unnecessary. 3 We recite facts from the opinion on Debato’s direct appeal. (People v. Debato (Sept. 3, 1997, B104425) [nonpub. opn.].) We provide a summary of the relevant facts for background purposes only. (See People v. Flores (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 974, 988 [“the factual summary in an appellate opinion is not evidence that may be considered at an evidentiary hearing to determine a petitioner’s eligibility for resentencing” under § 1172.6]; People v.

2 members wear red to denote their gang affiliation. Southside and Santana Block are rival Crip street gangs also claiming territory in Compton. An ‘O.G.,’ or original gangster, member of Elm Lane Piru was killed during the summer of 1995. The Blood gangs suspected a Southside Crip was responsible for the killing. In August 1995, several shootings occurred involving members of the Leuders Park Piru, Elms Lane Piru and the Southside Crips. “[Debato] is a member of the Leuders Park Piru. “On the night of August 21, 1995, Donnell Perry, a Santana Crip gang member, was walking in the area of Alondra and Mayo in Compton. Two cars approached—a burgundy Cutlass with a white top followed by a gray Toyota. All of the occupants of both cars were wearing red. Perry recognized [Debato] in the gray car and ‘Tricon,’ another member of the Leuders Park Piru, in the burgundy Cutlass. The cars made U-turns and drove toward Perry. Perry began to run. [Debato] fired several shots at Perry as he fled. Perry was not hit. “Perry ran toward Stefan Stokes and Corey Cotton. Perry yelled out a warning that ‘Lenders Park Piru was coming and they just shot at me.’ Perry ran into some bushes and hid. “The gray Toyota approached Stokes and Cotton who were standing side by side on the sidewalk. The Toyota stopped about two feet away. [Debato], who was seated in the rear of the vehicle, leaned over and said, ‘Check it out, homie.’ [Debato] pointed a .380 caliber revolver and began firing in the direction of Stokes and Cotton. Stokes and Cotton ran. They were not hit by the shots.

Lee (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 1164, 1183 [“By logical extension, the factual summary also may not be used to determine a petitioner’s eligibility at the prima facie stage” under § 1172.6].)

3 “After the shooting the gray car appeared to break down. Its occupants exited the car and fled on foot. Police arrived shortly thereafter. Police made sure no one was hurt and arranged to have the gray car towed away. Neither Perry, Stokes, nor Cotton spoke to police at the scene. “The next day on August 22, 1995, Perry returned to the scene of the shooting around 9:00 p.m. to meet some friends. He recognized the same burgundy Cutlass with the white top he saw the night before make a U-turn at Alondra and Mayo. Perry walked to the corner of Mayo and Alondra and saw the Burgundy Cutlass make another U-turn in order to drive toward the location where Perry’s friend, Maurice Miles, stood. Perry heard shots coming from the location where Miles had been standing. Perry heard as many as ten shots fired from an automatic weapon. Perry ducked into some bushes. The burgundy Cutlass turned the corner past Perry at Alondra and Mayo. From Perry’s vantage point he saw two people inside the car. He saw [Debato] sitting in the front passenger seat holding a black semi-automatic 9 millimeter gun on his lap. “Schemaj Gray, a Front Hood Compton Crip gang member, was standing several feet from Maurice Miles. Gray saw [Debato] and another person drive past. He saw [Debato] lean his upper torso out of the passenger side window and fire several shots at Maurice Miles. “Gray and Perry ran to Miles’ assistance. Miles had been hit several times by the gunfire. Miles’ friends took him to the hospital where he died of multiple gunshot wounds. “Police investigators found several 9 millimeter shell casings and bullet fragments at the scene.

4 “Several weeks later Perry gave a taped interview to police investigators. At the interview he identified the shooter as ‘Haneze from Leuders Park Piru.’ ” (People v. Debato, supra, B104425.)

B. Relevant Jury Instructions The trial took place in 1996. As relevant here, the trial court instructed the jury with CALJIC Nos. 8.20 (deliberate and premeditated murder), 8.25.1 (drive-by murder), 8.66 (attempted murder), 8.67 (premeditated attempted murder), 3.00 (definition of principals), 3.01 (aiding and abetting), and 17.19 (personal use of a firearm). The court also instructed the jury on the special allegation that Debato discharged a firearm from a vehicle with the intent to inflict great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.55). CALJIC No. 8.20 provided, in relevant part: “All murder which is perpetrated by any kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing with express malice aforethought is murder of the first degree.” Former CALJIC No. 8.25.1 (5th ed., 1994) provided: “Murder which is perpetrated by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle intentionally at another person outside of the vehicle when the perpetrator specifically intended to inflict death, is murder of the first degree.” CALJIC No. 8.66 provided, in relevant part: “In order to prove [the crime of attempted murder,] each of the following elements must be proved[:] [¶] 1. A direct but ineffectual act was done by one person towards killing another human being; and [¶] 2. The person committing such act harbored express malice aforethought, namely, a specific intent to kill unlawfully another human being.”

5 CALJIC No.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Debato CA2/7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-debato-ca27-calctapp-2025.