People v. Evans CA5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 25, 2024
DocketF085206
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Evans CA5 (People v. Evans 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. Evans CA5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Filed 1/25/24 P. v. Evans 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, F085206 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CF92469952) v.

JAMES EDWIN EVANS, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Houry A. Sanderson, Judge. Sylvia W. Beckham, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Christopher J. Rench and Jamie A. Scheidegger, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- INTRODUCTION Petitioner James Edwin Evans appeals from the denial of a petition for resentencing pursuant to former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6) of the Penal Code,1 and a judgment following resentencing pursuant to section 1172.75. He contends (1) the court erred in denying his section 1172.6 petition at the prima facie stage because the record does not conclusively establish he was convicted under a valid theory of attempted murder; (2) the concurrent and consecutive terms imposed by the court are unauthorized and all but one of the terms must be stayed; (3) remand is required for the court to determine which of the terms to stay; (4) on remand, the court should be directed to conduct a full resentencing, to include application of amendments to sections 1170 and 1385; and (5) on remand, the court should calculate and grant credit for all days petitioner has served in custody through the date of resentencing. We conclude the record does not establish petitioner’s ineligibility for resentencing pursuant to section 1172.6 as a matter of law. Accordingly, we reverse the order denying the petition and remand with directions to issue an order to show cause. With regard to petitioner’s resentencing pursuant to section 1172.75, we accept the People’s concession that the court erroneously imposed concurrent terms on counts two and four. We conclude this error requires us to vacate the sentence on these counts and to remand for the court to determine which terms must be stayed. We also accept the People’s concession that, on remand, the court should recalculate petitioner’s custody credits. However, in light of our vacatur of the sentence on counts two and four and the remand for further resentencing proceedings, we decline to reach petitioner’s remaining

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. Former section 1170.95 has been renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) Except where otherwise noted, we refer to the current section 1172.6 in this opinion.

2. contentions, which were not previously raised in the trial court and which may be raised on remand. FACTUAL BACKGROUND We previously summarized the facts underlying petitioner’s offenses as follows.2 “In 1992, William [M.] and his father, Burl [M.], resided [on] North Chateau Fresno Avenue in Fresno County. At one time, Burl [M.] had been married to the mother of defendant Eric McGowan. William [M.] met McGowan around Christmas 1991. They got to know one another when McGowan would go to the [M.] house and visit. William [M.] and defendant McGowan treated each other like brothers. “On the evening of July 7, 1992, William [M.] was at home alone. He went to bed at 9:30 p.m. but was awakened by some banging on his bedroom window at about 12:45 a.m. [William] went to the window and saw defendant McGowan. McGowan jumped up and down and asked for entry. [William] told McGowan to go around to the back. [William] then left his bedroom, took a .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle from the hall closet, and met defendant [McGowan] outside a sliding door. “McGowan had a bandage on his arm and said he needed help because either his ex-girlfriend or girlfriend had cut him. [William] asked whether he needed to use the telephone and then walked into the house with McGowan behind him. [William] put the rifle back in the hallway closet and proceeded to his room to get the telephone. When he took the telephone from his bedroom, he saw defendant McGowan with a .22-caliber rifle. McGowan stated, ‘I’m gonna shoot ya.’ [William] said something and McGowan responded, ‘No, no, I was jokin’.’

2 We provide these facts for background purposes in relation to petitioner’s resentencing arguments arising under section 654 but do not rely on these facts in resolving issues relating to petitioner’s petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1172.6. (See § 1172.6, subd. (d)(3).) Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.90, we refer to some persons by their first names. No disrespect is intended.

3. “McGowan then ran toward [William]. [William] ran into his room and held the bedroom door closed with his body. McGowan tried to force open the door several times unsuccessfully. After a while, [William] opened the bedroom door to take a look. He saw McGowan and three masked . . . men in the hallway. The . . . men were wearing bandannas over their faces and McGowan was still holding the rifle. [William] ran back into his bedroom but the men in the hallway followed and jumped him as he tried to get outside through a bathroom door. “At this point, McGowan came up and put the rifle to [William]’s head, and said, ‘Freeze. Stop.’ [William] complied. The other . . . men pushed and tried to knock him down. They sprayed a substance in his eyes that smelled like Raid, Black Flag, or some other sort of insecticide. The men also told him to shut up. [William] continued to struggle and tried to keep moving toward the gate. However, the assailants were finally able to get him down to the ground. At this point, defendant McGowan was approximately five yards away. McGowan pointed the rifle at [William], called [him] . . . ‘[n]o good . . . ,’ and told the three males to kill him. [William] was on the ground at this time and felt something sharp go into his side. Someone also tried to cover his face with a handkerchief. [William] was scared and repeatedly tried to get away because he wanted to live. The men kicked and hit him numerous times and [William] felt another stab in his shoulder. “[William] pleaded with the men to stop their attack. He heard one of the assailants say, ‘I lost my glasses. I can’t find my glasses.’ [William] then said, ‘I’ll get you guys the money,’ and they stopped hitting him. [William] managed to stand up and they all started to push him. Defendant McGowan, who was in front of [William], pointed the rifle at him and tried to push him back into the house. The other assailants were behind [William] holding his hands. They all started walking toward the house. [William] then felt a stab to his kidney. He fell to his knees and said, ‘Let go of me.’ Defendant McGowan ran to the house. Once the assailants let go of [William], he

4. somehow ran to his neighbors’ house. As [William] was running, he could hear the assailants pursuing him. He said their pursuit sounded like a herd of deer running behind him. “Although [William] was losing oxygen, he ran through the north gate of his home and down the gravel driveway. He was barefooted and injured his feet as he ran. He eventually made his way to the home of neighbors and they called medical emergency. An ambulance came and rushed [William] to the hospital. He had been stabbed in four places, his lung had been punctured, his kidney had been cut, and he lost a substantial amount of skin from his feet.

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People v. Evans CA5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-evans-ca5-calctapp-2024.