People v. Gabaldon CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 27, 2015
DocketC076944
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Gabaldon CA3 (People v. Gabaldon CA3) 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. Gabaldon CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 10/27/15 P. v. Gabaldon CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C076944

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13F02595)

v.

LINDA TAMMY GABALDON,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted defendant Linda Gabaldon of murdering her roommate, and former girlfriend, Rebecca Brau. Prior to trial, the trial court ruled three of defendant’s prior felony convictions could be used to impeach her credibility, but the convictions would be referred to only as felony crimes of moral turpitude without mention of the specific offenses. The trial court then modified its ruling to provide that information about the specific offenses would be admitted if defendant’s expert considered the specific felonies as part of the basis of her opinion. Defendant appeals her conviction contending: (1) the prosecutor engaged in misconduct by violating the trial court’s ruling on the use of her prior felony convictions;

1 and (2) her trial attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel when he failed to adhere to the trial court’s ruling regarding her prior convictions and failed to object to the prosecutor’s misconduct as to cross-examination on those convictions. We find defendant forfeited the claim of prosecutorial misconduct by failing to object. We also conclude there was a reasonable tactical explanation for trial counsel’s decision to specify the nature of defendant’s prior convictions on direct examination and, similarly, for not objecting to the prosecutor’s cross-examination about those convictions. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY An information charged defendant with first degree murder. (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a).)1 The information also alleged defendant had intentionally and personally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), and had a prior strike conviction (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)). A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and found the firearm enhancement true. In bifurcated proceedings, the trial court found the prior strike allegation true. The trial court sentenced defendant to an aggregate term of 75 years to life. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Defendant met Brau almost 30 years before the trial. About 17 years into their friendship, the relationship became intimate. When defendant went to prison, in 2001, she and Brau remained in contact and defendant identified Brau as her significant other. After being released from prison in 2012, and completing a mandatory drug treatment program, defendant moved in with Brau. By April 2013, defendant had been living with Brau and her children for several months. Defendant and Brau occasionally argued.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 Defendant claimed the arguments were not just verbal, but also physical. Brau repeatedly hit defendant and was very abusive, demanding and aggressive when she was drunk, which was every day. One time Brau hit defendant with a belt to her leg and another time Brau punched defendant in the chest twice. After one argument, Brau threw water at defendant and hit her arm. On April 23, 2013, defendant called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to report “her roommate was dead on the floor. Possibly shot in the head.” Brau had four gunshot wounds. One wound was just below her chin with stippling, another was at the back right side of her head, the third was near her right armpit, and the fourth near her right abdomen. The stippling near the chin indicated the shot had been fired at close range, less than 18 inches. Brau also had blunt force injuries to her head and legs. The gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen were fatal in and of themselves. Without immediate medical attention, the other two gunshot wounds could have also been fatal. Some of the shots could have been fired when Brau was already on the ground. Deputies found a large bullet embedded in the carpet padding under Brau, which was consistent with a bullet passing through the body while it was lying on the ground. When sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, defendant was “moaning loudly,” she “was making crying noises,” but she was not shedding any tears and her face was not red or puffy. Brau was lying on the ground, on her back, arms over head, and there was “a lot of blood around her head.” Defendant denied there were any guns in the house and the deputies did not find any weapons at the scene. There were sheets on the bed covered with a large amount of blood. The sheets had clearly been on the victim previously. It also appeared from the blood patterns that Brau’s arm had been moved at some point. Deputies took samples from defendant’s hands and found particles associated with gunshot residue. Nothing at the scene indicated an intruder had broken into the house and there were no signs of a robbery.

3 Deputy Michael Heller interviewed defendant at the scene. Defendant explained that she and Brau had recently been in an altercation, after which defendant had moved out of the house. Brau later convinced defendant to move back in. She had last seen Brau the night before the shooting. She had gone out in the morning to the post office, returned to the home, and stayed in her room until 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. Brau’s son called defendant around 2:45 p.m. and asked her to pick him and his sister up from school, because Brau had not. Defendant left to pick the children up, but returned after she was informed she was not authorized to do so. When she returned home, she saw Brau on the floor with blood everywhere. She claimed she had not heard anything, but acknowledged she had moved a sheet and pillowcase from the ground near Brau to the top of the bed. At trial, defendant provided a version of events that differed from what she had told Deputy Heller. She testified that the night before the killing, Brau was drinking and she and defendant started arguing. The next morning, as defendant was getting ready to go to the post office, Brau stood in the hallway pointing a gun at defendant and said, “You, bitch. Come here.” Defendant walked toward Brau and Brau backed up into the bedroom, still pointing the gun at defendant. Defendant tried to grab the gun from Brau, and as they struggled, the gun went off and Brau fell. III. TRIAL The People made a motion in limine to allow impeachment of defendant with her three prior felony convictions for robbery and resisting arrest in 2001 and battery on a noninmate in 2008. The trial court ruled it would allow impeachment that “defendant has been convicted of two felony crimes of moral turpitude in 2001, and a felony crime of moral turpitude in 2008.” The People sought clarification of the ruling relative to the expert witness’s testimony. Specifically, the prosecutor inquired about the ability to cross-examine the expert on her opinion by “asking her about instances because [defendant’s] a battered woman yet we know there’s a battery on an inmate that she got convicted and did extra time. I understand the Court wanting to make it moral turpitude

4 for that purpose, but I would request to [be] able to approach and talk about its relevancy at that time under those circumstances.” The trial court recognized the proffered defense and defense expert “muddie[d] the water” on the limited use of the prior convictions, and stated, “I believe that if this does come in, it is a factor in which [the expert] took into consideration for the basis of her opinion.

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People v. Gabaldon CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gabaldon-ca3-calctapp-2015.