People v. Frandsen

196 Cal. App. 4th 266, 2011 D.A.R. 8221, 126 Cal. Rptr. 3d 640, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 691
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 6, 2011
DocketNo. B222751
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 196 Cal. App. 4th 266 (People v. Frandsen) 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. Frandsen, 196 Cal. App. 4th 266, 2011 D.A.R. 8221, 126 Cal. Rptr. 3d 640, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 691 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion

RUBIN, J.

Benjamin Frandsen appeals from the judgment following his conviction for second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Shane Huang grew dozens of marijuana plants in a house in Canoga Park. In 2002, murder victim Ben Wertzberger lived in the house rent free in return for taking care of the plants. In the fall of 2002, Wertzberger left Huang’s employment and moved to Las Vegas. In November of that year, murder victim Adar Neeman flew from his home in Israel to Los Angeles to visit his boyhood friend, Wertzberger.1 Wertzberger drove from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to pick up Neeman and host him during his American visit.

On December 1, 2002, Huang telephoned appellant Benjamin Frandsen at home. Huang told appellant there was an emergency at Huang’s marijuana-growing house requiring appellant to help Huang. Appellant and his roommate drove to Huang’s house. When appellant arrived, Huang told appellant [269]*269that someone had broken into the house overnight and Huang feared the intruder might still be inside. Appellant and his roommate entered the house using clearing techniques they had learned during their military service. Once inside, they saw a broken window and discovered some marijuana plants had been stolen, but found no intruder.

The next day, December 2, 2002, Huang returned to the house and claimed he discovered Wertzberger and Neeman breaking into it. Detaining Wertzberger and Neeman at knifepoint, Huang telephoned several associates, including appellant, to tell them he had caught the previous night’s intruders and to ask them to come to the house, thus beginning a more than seven-hour saga of false imprisonment, threats, torture, and death. Arriving at Huang’s house, appellant wore attire, including combat boots, a leather jacket, and gloves, intended to intimidate Huang’s captives. Wertzberger and Neeman were sitting on the couch while Huang waved a machete at them, proclaiming to all who were gathered that “I want to fuck these guys up.” Telling them “I know you motherfuckers stole my stuff,” Huang bound their hands and feet with duct tape.2 Leaving their associates in charge, Huang and appellant left the house and drove to The Home Depot, where they bought a shovel, rope, and tarp. They then returned to the house.

During the course of Wertzberger and Neeman’s more-than-seven-hour captivity, Huang took Wertzberger from the living room to a bathroom to “interrogate” him. During Wertzberger’s interrogation, Huang and appellant’s associates who had remained behind in the living room could hear water splashing in the bathroom and Wertzberger screaming. Emerging from the bathroom, Huang announced that Wertzberger admitted he had stolen the missing marijuana plants and that Neeman had agreed to compensate Huang for the stolen plants. To guarantee payment, Wertzberger and Neeman gave Huang the addresses and phone numbers of their families in Israel. Appellant and Huang drove to a restaurant, where they gave the families’ contact information to a friend who spoke Hebrew. The friend called the families in Israel and confirmed the information was correct. As Huang and appellant left the restaurant, their friend overheard Huang say “I don’t want dirt on my hands.” Appellant replied “I’ll do it.”

Appellant and Huang returned to the house. Huang, who appeared calmer after confirming the contact information for Neeman’s and Wertzberger’s families, told his gathered associates that he had settled his dispute with the two men. He told the group that he and appellant were going to drive Wertzberger and Neeman, whose hands and feet had been untied, to Las [270]*270Vegas to ensure Wertzberger and Neeman did not call the police upon their release. Except for appellant, everyone whom Huang had summoned to the house that day departed.

Once Huang and appellant were by themselves with Wertzberger and Neeman, Huang took Wertzberger into the bathroom once again, leaving appellant and Neeman sitting alone on the couch. Hearing noises coming from the bathroom, including a snapping sound which later forensic evidence suggested may have been Huang breaking Wertzberger’s neck, Neeman bolted upright from the couch. Wielding a “shiny object” which likely was a foot-long metal bong, Neeman, seemingly scared for his life, ran toward appellant. When Neeman got within striking distance, appellant threw up his arm and hit Neeman in the neck, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to the floor. Huang emerged from the bathroom, unaccompanied by Wertzberger who had fallen silent, and put a plastic bag over Neeman’s head, twisting it tight until Neeman suffocated.

Appellant and Huang put their victims’ bodies in the trunk of a car and drove out to the desert toward Las Vegas, where they buried the bodies. Appellant and Huang then continued to Las Vegas, where they bought clothing with Neeman’s credit card to make it appear as if Neeman was still alive. A day or two later, they returned to Los Angeles.

Wertzberger’s and Neeman’s families in Israel reported to American authorities that their sons were missing when the families’ repeated efforts to contact the young men failed. In September 2003, the FBI found Wertzberger’s and Neeman’s bodies in the shallow desert grave in which Huang and appellant had buried them. An autopsy established Neeman’s cause of death was blunt-force injuries to his neck, resulting in a crushed larynx and fractured cervical spine. The advanced decomposition of Wertzberger’s body prevented the coroner from determining the cause of Wertzberger’s death, but the coroner judged it to be homicide in light of his burial with Neeman in a shallow desert grave.

The People charged Huang and appellant with murdering Wertzberger and Neeman. Because appellant admitted involvement in the events immediately preceding Neeman’s and Wertzberger’s deaths—which included holding the men captive and striking Neeman in the neck—but accused Huang of delivering the coup de grace to each victim by killing Wertzberger in the bathroom and suffocating Neeman, the trial court severed appellant’s trial from Huang’s. Following separate trials, juries convicted appellant and Huang of two counts of murder each. In September 2007, we reversed appellant’s murder convictions because of instructional error. (People v. [271]*271Frandsen (Sept. 11, 2007, B191189) [nonpub. opn.].)3 The People retried appellant on two counts of murder. The retrial resulted in the jury convicting appellant of second degree murder of Neeman and involuntary manslaughter of Wertzberger. The court sentenced appellant to state prison for 19 years to life. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

1. Imperfect Self-defense and a Victim’s “Sudden Escalation”

Appellant concedes he was guilty of false imprisonment and battery for his admitted participation in keeping Neeman captive. He asserts, however, that he struck Neeman in the neck without intending to kill him. Appellant claims he reflexively struck Neeman only to protect himself from the metal bong Neeman was holding as the terror-stricken Neeman mshed toward him when they heard a snapping sound from Huang and Wertzberger in the bathroom. Because of purported jury misinstruction guiding the jury’s understanding of his blow against Neeman, appellant contends the jury erred in convicting him of second degree murder.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 Cal. App. 4th 266, 2011 D.A.R. 8221, 126 Cal. Rptr. 3d 640, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-frandsen-calctapp-2011.