People v. Delacruz CA5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 22, 2022
DocketF082583
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Delacruz CA5 (People v. Delacruz CA5) 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. Delacruz CA5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 4/22/22 P. v. Delacruz CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F082583 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Kern Super. Ct. No. BF151443A) v.

GUSTAVO DELACRUZ, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Michael G. Bush, Judge. Derek K. Kowata, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Peña, Acting P. J., Smith, J. and De Santos, J. INTRODUCTION In 2016, appellant Gustavo Delacruz was convicted of second degree murder for causing a fatal collision while driving under the influence of alcohol and narcotics. He had prior convictions for driving under the influence and had been warned that he could be charged and convicted of second degree murder if he again drove under the influence and caused a death. After his conviction in this case, he was sentenced to 15 years to life. In 2021, Delacruz filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1170.95, and alleged he was not the actual killer, and his murder conviction was based on the felony-murder rule and/or the natural and probable consequences doctrine. The superior court denied the petition. On appeal, his appellate counsel has filed a brief which summarizes the facts with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) We affirm. FACTS2 At approximately 4:19 a.m. on October 17, 2013, a collision occurred on Comanche Drive, north of Breckenridge Road, in Kern County, involving Taylor Embree, who was driving a 2010 gray Chevrolet truck, and Delacruz, who was driving a 1998 Ford Explorer.

1 All further statutory citations are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. 2 In response to Delacruz’s petition, the People filed opposition, with this court’s prior opinion that affirmed his convictions as a supporting exhibit. Delacruz filed a reply to the opposition but did not object to the People’s reliance on this court’s opinion. Given this background, we take judicial notice of the appellate record and this court’s nonpublished opinion in People v. Delacruz (Feb. 19, 2019, F073639) for the factual background in this case. (Evid. Code, § 450, § 452, subd. (d), § 459; In re W.R. (2018) 22 Cal.App.5th 284, 286–287, fn. 2.) We recite these facts to provide context for the court’s ruling and the parties’ arguments. As will be explained below, we do not rely on this factual summary in resolving the issues presented in this appeal. (See § 1170.95, subd. (d)(3).)

2. Officer Evans of the California Highway Patrol arrived at the scene around 4:40 a.m. or 4:45 a.m. Emergency personnel were already there. As a result of the collision, the cab portion of Embree’s truck had detached from the chassis and the bed. Embree was still in the driver’s seat of his truck, wearing his seat belt, and pronounced dead at the scene. Delacruz’s Ford Explorer was on its roof and against an embankment. There were several beer cans in and around the vehicle, along with an 18-pack box for Coors Light beer. Officer Evans contacted Delacruz after he was placed into an ambulance. Evans smelled a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage inside the ambulance. Delacruz’s eyes were red and watery, there was a strong alcoholic odor from his breath, his eyes were red, bloodshot, and watery, and he had slurred speech. Delacruz was taken to the hospital. About an hour and a half later, Officer Evans contacted Delacruz at the hospital. Evans conducted the horizontal gaze and vertical gaze nystagmus field sobriety tests, concluded Delacruz was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, and arrested him for driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. At 6:45 a.m., about two hours after the collision, a sample of Delacruz’s blood was collected at the hospital. He tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine. His blood-alcohol level was 0.10 percent. There was no evidence that Embree was under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, and his wife testified he had never used such substances in his life. A few days after the accident, Officer Evans returned to the hospital to question Delacruz. Delacruz said he had left his home around 11:00 p.m. in his Ford Explorer and had gone to Breckenridge Road. He had two Coors Light beers before leaving. Delacruz explained that he liked “ ‘to go up there because it overlooks the city and he likes to sometimes get away and think about things.’ ” He had been feeling “ ‘unhappy,’ ” and when he feels that way he “ ‘likes to “pop a few.” ’ ” He left the area of Breckenridge

3. Road between approximately 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. He was not sure which direction he went after leaving Breckenridge Road. (People v. Delacruz, supra, F073639, at p. 14.) Officer Michael Bright of California Highway Patrol was a traffic reconstruction specialist assigned to the central division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT), and the lead investigator into the fatal collision. Officer Bright testified that at the moment of impact, Delacruz’s Ford was traveling approximately 85 miles per hour, and Embree’s Chevrolet was traveling approximately 37 miles per hour. The speed limit was 55 miles per hour. The data recorder for Embree’s vehicle showed that five seconds before the crash, he was going 62 miles an hour, and slowed down and applied his breaks before the crash. Delacruz’s Ford was not equipped with a data recorder, but there was no evidence he slowed down or applied his brakes before the collision. Officer Bright testified the accident reconstruction investigation determined “ ‘the primary cause of the collision was Mr. [Delacruz] driving under the influence,’ ” and “ ‘the associated collision factor was his moving his vehicle to the left side of the solid and broken yellow line.’ ” (People v. Delacruz, supra, F073639, at p. 7.) Bright explained how he reached his opinion that Delacruz had moved his vehicle into Embree’s lane, thereby causing the accident:

“ ‘We looked at the orientation of the vehicles at impact.

“ ‘Mr. [Delacruz’s] vehicle was generally oriented in line with the center line of the road. His vehicle was straddling the road at impact and his vehicle was oriented in line with the center line of the road.

“ ‘Mr. Embree’s vehicle was straddling the center line of the road, but his vehicle was oblique. The oblique position of Mr. Embree’s vehicle was indicative of an evasive maneuver. That, coupled with the brake application that he did from two and a half seconds leading up to the crash all the way through impact, was all indicative of Mr. Embree trying to avoid something.

4. “ ‘Mr. [Delacruz’s] vehicle oriented straight down the middle of the road, no indication of braking on the part of Mr. [Delacruz]. Couple that with the roadway configuration. In the [northbound] direction of travel of Mr. [Delacruz], Mr. [Delacruz] is facing a right-hand curve in the road. Any failure to follow the road on his part would make his vehicle tend to drift to the left into the opposing lane. [¶] Mr. Embree’s vehicle, in the [southbound] direction that he’s proceeding, he’s in a left-hand curve. If there was a failure to negotiate the turn on his part, his vehicle would have drifted off to the right, off to the right shoulder, not into the opposing lane.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Delacruz CA5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-delacruz-ca5-calctapp-2022.