People v. Flores

246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 77, 34 Cal. App. 5th 270
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedApril 12, 2019
DocketD073215
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 77 (People v. Flores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Flores, 246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 77, 34 Cal. App. 5th 270 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

DATO, J.

*272It is a fact of human nature that people can be their own worst enemies. But in McCoy v. Louisiana (2018) --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 1500, 200 L.Ed.2d 821 ( McCoy ), the United States Supreme Court held *79that fundamental principles of personal autonomy inherent in the Sixth Amendment afford criminal defendants the right to tell their own story and define the fundamental purpose of their defense at trial, even if most other accused persons in similar circumstances would pursue a different objective and accordingly adopt a different approach. In this case, during his trial for the attempted murder of a police officer, defendant Roberto Ignacio Flores repeatedly objected to his counsel's decision to admit Flores was driving the car that seriously injured the officer. In his professional judgment, counsel elected to concede the act of driving and instead assert that Flores never formed the premeditated intent to kill necessary for first degree murder. Similarly at a subsequent trial on weapons possession charges, Flores objected when his counsel decided to concede that Flores possessed certain *273firearms, instead arguing that the possession was not "knowing" because Flores did not understand the prohibited nature of the weapons.

On appeal, Flores asks that we reverse his two convictions, asserting that under McCoy it was structural error for counsel to take a factual position at odds with Flores's insistence that he did not commit the criminal acts alleged by the prosecution. Among other arguments, the People contend that the disagreement between Flores and his lawyer amounted to a strategic dispute about how to best achieve an acquittal-traditionally the province of counsel-rather than an intractable conflict about Flores's goal of maintaining his factual innocence of the charged crimes, purportedly the narrow scope of the McCoy holding.

Based on our reading of McCoy , however, we are unable to characterize Flores's statements as presenting a mere dispute over trial strategy where counsel's judgment trumps that of the client. In McCoy , counsel for the defendant did not admit guilt of the charged first degree murder; he conceded the killing (actus reus) and argued that McCoy was not guilty because he lacked the necessary intent (mens rea) for the offense in light of his serious mental and emotional issues. ( McCoy , supra , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. at p. 1507.) According to the Supreme Court, cases in which a defendant insists on maintaining his innocence of the alleged acts-despite counsel's advice to admit the acts but deny the necessary mental state-amount to intractable disagreements about the fundamental objective of the defendant's representation. ( Id . at p. 1510.) Under McCoy , criminal defense lawyers must allow their clients to dictate the fundamental objective at trial, and thus must not concede the actus reus of a charged crime over their client's objection.

The record before us demonstrates that counsel overrode Flores's stated goal of maintaining his innocence of the alleged acts. Instead, in pursuit of the understandable objective of achieving an acquittal, he conceded the actus reus of the charged crimes at both trials. Although any reasonable lawyer might agree with counsel's judgment, McCoy instructs that this is a decision for the client to make. Accordingly, we reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Arrest for Weapons Possession

In March 2017, Hilary,1 the sister of Flores's girlfriend Elizabeth, alerted law enforcement to a cache of weapons behind a bookshelf in an old *274bedroom at her and Elizabeth's family home, where Flores and *80Elizabeth were living at the time. The collection included guns and gun parts, a hacksaw, toolbox, body armor, Kevlar helmet, and cell phones. One gun was a semiautomatic pistol modified to have many characteristics of an automatic rifle weapons system. It was a 26.5-inch-long center fire weapon, modified to accept a detachable magazine outside of the pistol grip and to release the magazine without a bullet button. Hilary recognized the gun as one Flores had been building in the backyard a few months earlier. Elizabeth's and Hilary's father had also seen the gun and asked Flores to get rid of it.

Shortly thereafter, on the same day his and Elizabeth's newborn son was brought home from the hospital, Flores was arrested on weapons possession charges. He called Elizabeth several times from jail and expressed anger towards the law enforcement officers that arrested him, swearing that when he was released he would go after the people who were responsible. He said the officers harassed and mocked him and discriminated against him. He also asked Elizabeth to claim ownership of the guns and the rest of the property because she did not have a felony conviction and would not be liable. Flores was eventually released on bail.

B. Arrest for Attempted Murder

While out on bail, Flores drove a Dodge Neon automobile into a police officer while the officer was conducting a traffic stop on another vehicle for an expired registration sticker. A few minutes earlier, after initiating the stop, the officer got off his motorcycle and approached the driver's side window of an Acura vehicle in full uniform, including his helmet. According to the driver of the Acura, the Dodge Neon struck the officer, causing him to fly through the air as the Dodge accelerated through the collision and sped away. Other witnesses saw the motorcycle officer slam onto the windshield and tumble up and over the car while, in a single burst of acceleration, the Dodge drove away. The Dodge had plenty of room to drive past without hitting the officer or the Acura, which was scraped in the collision. The officer's injuries were grave and life threatening, but fortunately he survived.

Flores quickly abandoned the car and ran towards a nearby light rail Sprinter Station, discarding a hat and beer can along the way. He was stopped by police officers in the station's parking lot, but he continued to resist. After he was arrested, officers observed Flores's "droopy" appearance with eyes "rolling in the back of his head," as well as glass on his hands and clothing. Analysis of a blood sample taken at 3:00 p.m. showed methamphetamine in his system. The Dodge Neon had a shattered windshield, with the motorcycle officer's radio embedded in it and significant damage to the passenger side and roof. Several empty cans and bottles of beer and propane were found inside the car.

*275The night Flores was arrested, law enforcement placed an undercover Sheriff's detective and a confidential informant in a jail cell. Flores was then placed in the cell with them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 77, 34 Cal. App. 5th 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-flores-calctapp5d-2019.