People v. Fields

159 Cal. App. 3d 555, 205 Cal. Rptr. 888, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2451
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 23, 1984
DocketCrim. 15693
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 159 Cal. App. 3d 555 (People v. Fields) 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. Fields, 159 Cal. App. 3d 555, 205 Cal. Rptr. 888, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2451 (Cal. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

Opinion

COLOGNE, Acting P. J.

Sentarían Fields appeals convictions by his plea of guilty to charges of forcible oral copulation (Pen. Code, 1 § 288a, subd. (c)) and rape (§ 261), and his sentence.

*560 On August 31, 1982, while Ms. T. was watching television, Fields silently entered her condominium through a window and hid in the hallway near the bedroom. About 11:30 p.m., as Ms. T. was walking toward her bedroom, Fields grabbed her, blindfolded her and told her not to scream. She struggled, but stopped when he told her he had a knife. He then tied her hands, retied the blindfold and gagged her. He led her into the bedroom and, after a discussion of whether a man was coming, put a knife to her throat. He removed the gag from her mouth for awhile and asked if she had ever made love to a black man. He also told her he had been in jail since he was 20 for killing a man. 2

Over approximately the next hour and a half, Fields proceeded to fondle her, force her to orally copulate him, orally copulated her, raped and sodomized her. He then took some money from her purse and fled. Ms. T. then went to her neighbor’s and called the police.

The police arrived about 1 a.m. Ms. T. described her attacker as a slender, thin black male, young and possibly wearing jogging or warmup clothes. At the scene, the police found Fields’ fingerprints and a distinctively marked sock left by the attacker. Seven latent prints, later identified as those belonging to Fields, were taken: two from the phone, one from the exterior window, one from the window sill, one from the deadbolt latch and two from the top of the latch.

About 7 a.m., Officer Steven Bellizzi was on patrol in the vicinity. He had heard the radio report of the crime and the general description of the attacker. He saw a black male wearing jogging or sweat pants and a light blue jacket walking down the street about a block and a half from the scene of the crime. He noted the person appeared startled by the officer, showed a look of fear in his eyes and looked away. The officer thought Fields matched the description of the rape suspect so he radioed for additional information and a backup unit. Bellizzi then stopped Fields. He told Fields a rape had occurred in the neighborhood and that he matched the description of the person involved. Bellizzi patted him down for weapons. He did not find any weapons but did note Fields was wearing several shirts. Fields said he had just run up a hill, but Bellizzi did not believe him as Fields did not appear winded or perspiring nor did he have a rapid pulse. Fields said he was supposed to be at Sweetwater High School at 7:30, but the officer testified he intended to detain Fields until the investigating officers arrived. Bellizzi heard over the radio the officers had just left the scene and would be there shortly.

*561 Within five minutes after Fields’ stop, the officers investigating the rape, having heard Bellizzi’s broadcast of the stop, arrived at the place where Fields was being detained. They asked to see Fields’ socks. He had two on one foot and only one on the other. They discovered one of the socks he was wearing matched the one they had found at the scene. It had a blue stripe. At that point, they arrested him.

The total time which elapsed between the stop and the arrest was five minutes.

After Fields was transported to jail, booked and given his Miranda warning, he waived the rights and made a full confession admitting all the elements of the crimes of which he was charged. 3 He was accused by infor *562 mation of two counts of forcible oral copulation (§ 288a, subd. (c)), one count of sodomy (§ 286, subd. (c)), one count of forcible rape (§ 261, subd. (2)) and one count of robbery (§ 211). Burglary of a residence (§ 459) was alleged in separate counts, one with intent to commit theft and one with intent to commit rape. A knife-use allegation was added to the sex offenses (§ 12022.3), as well as to the burglary and robbery charges (§ 12022, subd. (b)). The information was later amended to combine the burglary counts alleging both intents and to add a third count of oral copulation.

Fields moved to suppress evidence under section 1538.5 and to dismiss the information under section 995. Both motions were denied.

Fields then entered a negotiated guilty plea to one count of forcible oral copulation and one count of rape, each with a knife-use allegation. He entered the plea pursuant to People v. West (1970) 3 Cal.3d 595 [91 Cal.Rptr. 385, 477 P.2d 409], without personally admitting the factual basis. The remaining counts were dismissed as part of the bargain.

Since Fields was only 17 years old at the time of the offense, he was committed to the California Youth Authority (CYA) for an evaluation and study concerning his amenability to treatment by the CYA. The trial court, after reading the CYA report, the probation reports and hearing testimony by a retired intake and court liaison supervisor for the CYA, the victim and Fields, sentenced Fields to twenty-two years in state prison: eight years (the upper term) on the forcible oral copulation count with a three-year enhancement for using a knife and eight years (the upper term) for the forcible rape with a three-year enhancement for using a knife.

On appeal, Fields contends his detention was illegal, and the court erred in not giving sufficient weight to the CYA’s finding of amenability, in using the same facts to enhance both counts, in failing to exercise its discretion to sentence under section 1170.1 rather than section 667.6, subdivision (c), and in imposing two knife-use enhancements.

I

Fields first contends his detention was unlawful.

A temporary detention for questioning or investigation is justified when the circumstances known or apparent to an officer include specific and *563 articulable facts which cause the officer to suspect (1) some activity relating to crime has taken place or is occurring or is about to occur, and (2) the person the officer intends to stop or detain is involved in that activity (People v. Aldridge (1984) 35 Cal.3d 473, 478 [198 Cal.Rptr. 538, 674 P.2d 240]). An officer’s mere curiosity or hunch, or a rumor is not sufficient to justify a detention (In re Tony C. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 888, 893 [148 Cal.Rptr. 366, 582 P.2d 957]). The officer’s suspicions must be objectively reasonable so if a reasonable officer were in a similar situation, then that officer would suspect the same criminal activity and the same criminal involvement by the person in question (People v. Loewen (1983) 35 Cal.3d 117, 123 [196 Cal.Rptr. 846, 672 P.2d 436]).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 Cal. App. 3d 555, 205 Cal. Rptr. 888, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-fields-calctapp-1984.