People v. Farley CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 14, 2014
DocketD062857
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Farley CA4/1 (People v. Farley CA4/1) 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. Farley CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 11/14/14 P. v. Farley CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D062857

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD229026)

CRAIG FARLEY,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Michael T.

Smyth, Judge. Affirmed and remanded with directions.

Boyce & Schaefer and Laura Schaefer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal,

for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General,

Barry Carlton and James H. Flaherty III, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and

Respondent. I.

INTRODUCTION

A jury found Craig Farley guilty of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd.

(a))1 (count 1), robbery (§ 211) (count 2), and burglary (§ 459) (count 3). In addition, the

jury found that Farley committed the murder while engaged in a robbery and a burglary,

within the meaning of section 190.2, subdivision (a)(2). With respect to all three counts,

the jury found that Farley committed the offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang

(§186.22, subd. (b)(1)). The jury further found that Farley committed each of the

offenses while acting as a principal and another principal used a firearm (§ 12022.53,

subds. (b), (e)(1)); while acting as a principal and another principal personally discharged

a firearm (§ 12022.53, subds. (c), (e)(1)); and while acting as a principal and another

principal personally used a firearm proximately causing great bodily injury and death

(§ 12022.53, subds. (d), (e)(1)).2 Farley also admitted that he had suffered a prior strike

conviction.

On count 1, the trial court sentenced Farley to life in prison without the possibility

of parole, plus a consecutive determinate sentence of 25 years to life. The trial court

stayed execution of the sentences on the remaining counts pursuant to section 654.

1 Unless otherwise specified, all subsequent statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 The jury found not true allegations that Farley personally used a firearm as specified in section 12022.53, subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) (counts 1-3), and section 12022.5, subdivision (a) (count 3). 2 On appeal, Farley contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new

trial, which was based on defense counsel's alleged ineffective assistance. Farley also

contends that the trial court erred in permitting the People to present gang expert

testimony; failing to question a juror about a potential instance of juror misconduct;

permitting the People to present evidence of Farley's tattoos; and excluding potential

third-party culpability evidence. In addition, Farley claims that the abstract of judgment

should be amended to strike a parole revocation fine because Farley was sentenced to life

without the possibility of parole.

We affirm the judgment, but direct the trial court to prepare a new abstract of

judgment striking the parole revocation fine.

II.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. The murder

Victim Jonathan Pleasant sold marijuana from his apartment. He often possessed

considerable amounts of marijuana, which he kept in a backpack, as well as large

amounts of cash. Pleasant kept a gun by his bed, and sometimes carried the gun on his

person.

Pleasant spent the evening of June 28, 2010 at home with his girlfriend, Esther

Magnus. During the evening, Pleasant left the apartment with about $2,000 in cash. He

returned with several bags of marijuana. At about 10:30 p.m. that evening, Farley came

to Pleasant's apartment. While at the apartment, the two men smoked marijuana and

3 discussed a marijuana purchase. Farley said that he did not have money, but that he

would return. Ten minutes later, Farley returned and told Pleasant that he would come

back the following morning to buy the marijuana. Farley departed the apartment.

The next morning, Pleasant and Magnus discussed their plan to go out together

that day. At approximately 11:15 a.m., Magnus left Pleasant's apartment. The two

planned for Pleasant to meet Magnus at her residence just after noon. Magnus testified

that before she left, Pleasant told her that he was waiting for Farley to come to the

apartment. Pleasant also told Magnus that his friend, Corey Wishom, was planning to

stop by the apartment, as well.

As Magnus was leaving, Pleasant's neighbor, Mark Dobie, came to the apartment

and smoked marijuana with Pleasant. While the two visited, Pleasant received a phone

call. Dobie heard Pleasant tell the caller to "hurry up and come" because Pleasant had to

leave soon.

Soon thereafter, Wishom arrived at Pleasant's apartment. Dobie met Wishom and

then went back to his own apartment. Pleasant showed his marijuana to Wishom, who

purchased some. Following a short visit, Wishom said goodbye to Pleasant and began to

leave the apartment.

As Wishom was leaving, two men arrived at Pleasant's door. Pleasant said to one

of the men, "Oh, I've been waiting for you." One of the men stepped into the living room

and said, "This is my brother and he's cool." Wishom testified that both men were

African-American. The man who said, "[t]his is my brother and he's cool" was wearing

4 black Nike shoes, black basketball shorts, white socks pulled up to his knees, a black

hoodie, and a backpack strapped to his chest. The man had short clipped hair and a tattoo

on the top of one of his arms. Apart from his race, Wishom was unable to provide any

further description of the second man. After this short encounter, which occurred at

approximately 11:30 a.m., Wishom left the apartment.

Pleasant's neighbor, Lynshel Reid-Jones, testified that at about this time, she heard

a melee and a loud "boom" come from Pleasant's apartment. Reid-Jones then heard

Pleasant crying for help. Reid-Jones looked outside and saw two young African-

American males sprinting from Pleasant's apartment with a backpack that she believed

belonged to Pleasant.

At 11:44 a.m., Dobie received a phone call from his sister, Breanna Sandle, saying

that she had just seen two men running from the apartment complex and that it appeared

that someone had been robbed. Sandle testified that she saw two African-American

males, who appeared to be in their 20s, running from the apartment complex. One of the

men was wearing a backpack. When shown a photographic lineup by police, Sandle

focused on two of the photographs, one of which depicted Farley, before telling the

officer that she could not be sure whether he was one of the men she had seen fleeing the

apartment complex.

Immediately after the shooting, several neighbors attempted to help Pleasant, who

was bleeding profusely. Pleasant cried, " 'They shot me. They shot me. Oh, God, they

5 shot me.' " Emergency personnel responded to the apartment and pronounced Pleasant

dead at the scene.

B. The crime scene

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