People v. Demond

59 Cal. App. 3d 574, 130 Cal. Rptr. 590, 1976 Cal. App. LEXIS 1633
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 28, 1976
DocketCrim. 27503
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 59 Cal. App. 3d 574 (People v. Demond) 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. Demond, 59 Cal. App. 3d 574, 130 Cal. Rptr. 590, 1976 Cal. App. LEXIS 1633 (Cal. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinions

Opinion

HANSON, J.

Richard Alan Demond appeals his conviction of murder in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 187).

The Facts

In September 1974, defendant Demond rented an apartment in a building managed by Cathleen Passen and told her that he would be living there with his girlfriend and her two children. On September 16, defendant Demond moved in with Lola Weisbach and her two children: three-year-old Robin and six-year-old Lisa. The children went to the local school and day care center while Lola worked during the Day. Defendant Demond, who was not working, remained at the apartment during the day and took care of the children there from the time the day care center [580]*580closed until their mother.returned home. Cathleen Passen saw defendant Demond in and around the apartment area every day from September 16 through November 6, 1974.

In the early afternoon of November 6, Cathleen Passen and her' husband, Terry, were in the apartment when defendant Demond came to the door carrying Robin and asked Mr. Passen to call an ambulance because “Robin has fallen down the stairs.” Robin’s hair was all wet and the Passens thought that she had fallen into the pool because they had not seen her near any of the outside stairs, had heard no cry, and knew there were no stairways within any of the apartments.

Robin was placed on the floor while Cathleen Passen called an ambulance, and Terry Passen lifted Robin’s cotton T-shirt up to check her heartbeat and breathing. He detected a heartbeat and noted that she made a gurgling sound which sounded as though she were breathing out rather than gasping or taking in breath. The defendant said that he thought she was having a fit. However, Cathleen Passen examined Robin and said that she did not appear to be having a fit because she was not swallowing her tongué. At that time Cathleen Passen noted that Robin had á severe bump in the center of her forehead, bruises on her face, and two black eyes. Her husband also noticed the injuries, some discolored marks and bruises, and blood on Robin’s lips.

The Passens were outside waiting for the ambulance when Mervil Dunham, ambulance attendant for the City of Los Angeles Fire Department, arrived. When they came in, defendant Demond said, “Her heart has stopped.” Then the defendant picked up Robin and handed her to the ambulance attendant. Cathleen Passen saw that Robin’s fingernails had turned purple and she believed she was dead. Mervil Dunham at first assumed Robin had been in the pool because her face and hair were wet but since her clothing was dry, he asked what had happened and was told that she had fallen down. At that time, she was not breathing and her heart was not beating. Despite Dunham’s best efforts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation, both at the apartment and in the. ambulance on the way to the hospital, Robin was dead on arrival at the hospital. David Wiley, the doctor on duty in the emergency room at Pacoima Lutheran Hospital, was present upon her arrival and pronounced her dead.

It was Dr. Wiley’s opinion that Robin had been beaten to death; he based this opinion upon the fact that there were so many wounds of [581]*581varying ages all over her body which could not have resulted from a single accident. He believed that the child exhibited the battered-child syndrome reflecting trauma which had been inflicted over a period of time by some other person. He found a depression on the back of Robin’s skull which appeared to be a fracture. He testified that the severe injury to Robin’s forehead and the bruises he saw on her abdomen and chest appeared to be caused by “deliberate beating over a period of one to two weeks.” He also observed severe massive bruises on Robin’s abdominal area and declared that it was impossible such injuries could result from grand mal seizures, as defendant had suggested.

Dr. Yacoob Mall of the coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Robin Weisbach. His examination revealed that she had multiple bruises of varying ages and he found a deformity of her lower right arm which was the result of a recent fracture of the bone. He testified that the little girl had suffered severe injuries to her head and to the abdominal cavity; these were the principal causes of her death which resulted from multiple traumatic injuries. She had suffered brain injury from a subdural hematoma and a serious injury to the pancreas which suggested that severe pressure had been applied externally to her abdominal area. The massive bruises on her abdomen were the result of the traumatic injury to the pancreas. Such an injury could have occurred accidentally only if the infant had fallen from a height of 20 feet striking a fixed object. Both injuries were very recent and Robin’s death had resulted within an hour of the head injury. The doctor found multiple bruises on the side of Robin’s face, most of them several days to a couple of weeks old, and multiple bruises of different ages on her torso. There were bruises on Robin’s legs and some old bruises on her buttocks.

Both Dr. Wiley and Dr. Mall characterized these bruises and injuries as typical of the “battered-child syndrome,” a condition which occurs when a child has been physically abused over a period of time. Both verified that a number of photographs which were introduced in evidence accurately portrayed the bruises and discoloration on and about Robin’s head and face.

Lisa Weisbach, age six, testified that she had observed defendant Demond do various things to Robin when he was caring for the children. Once Robin wet her pants, and he covered her head with the wet pants so that she stumbled around blindly and bumped into a wall. He had thrown Robin into the air on one occasion and let her drop on the bed without catching her. He had also hit Robin, and Lisa as well, on the [582]*582back with his belt. The marks on Lisa’s back were exhibited to the jury. On another occasion Robin had a bowel movement on the floor and defendant Demond made her eat it.

A school nurse who was on duty in the morning of November 4, 1974, when Robin was brought to the child care center, testified that she was not feeling well that day. The nurse examined her and found that she had a severe forehead injury and discolorations suggesting serious injury to the bridge of her nose and the corner of each eye. When the nurse asked if she felt any pain, Robin, who was completely nonverbal, did not respond but she did not cry. Robin seemed alert but apprehensive during the examination. The nurse sent to her home a form cautioning the parents about the head injury Robin had suffered.

Issues

Defendant Demond contends as follows: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) the trial court erred in giving an instruction on murder by torture; (3) the trial court committed prejudicial error in admitting the six photographs of Robin Weisbach in evidence; (4) the testimony of Mrs. Simmons and Dr. Mall was improperly admitted in rebuttal; (5) objections to Dr. Robinson’s testimony were improperly sustained; (6) the trial court erred in permitting the prosecution to display Lisa Weisbach’s back to the jury; (7) the trial court erred in admitting Lisa Weisbach’s testimony; (8) defendant Demond’s motion for judgment of acquittal (Pen. Code, § 1118.1) was improperly denied; and (9) the trial court erred in denying defendant Demond’s motion for new trial.

Discussion

I

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Bluebook (online)
59 Cal. App. 3d 574, 130 Cal. Rptr. 590, 1976 Cal. App. LEXIS 1633, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-demond-calctapp-1976.