People v. Gomez CA2/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 2016
DocketB258302
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Gomez CA2/1 (People v. Gomez CA2/1) 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. Gomez CA2/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 3/3/16 P. v. Gomez CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, B258302

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. YA085001) v.

YOCIO JONATHAN GOMEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Steven R. Van Sicklen, Judge. Affirmed with directions. Randy S. Kravis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Paul M. Roadarmel, Jr., Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Stacy S. Schwartz, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. —————————— Early in the morning of July 23, 2012, after an evening of drinking and partying, Yocio Jonathan Gomez (Gomez) drove his vehicle near a construction zone on the 405 freeway and triggered a chain reaction accident which killed two construction workers and severely injured a third. A jury convicted Gomez of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, and driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury. On appeal, Gomez raises four issues. We affirm on three of the four issues: the trial court’s denial of Gomez’s Batson/Wheeler1 motion, the trial court’s exclusion of evidence on a third party’s purported contributory negligence, and the trial court’s reading of the CALJIC No. 250 jury instruction on general intent. However, on the fourth issue, the legal adequacy of the abstract of judgment, we remand for the trial court to prepare an amended abstract that identifies the statutory basis for each monetary fine and penalty imposed. BACKGROUND I. Facts of the case A. Prior convictions Before the incident in this case, Gomez had two convictions for driving under the influence (DUI). The first DUI offense occurred on June 1, 2008; on June 2, the People, via a complaint, charged Gomez with driving under the influence in violation of Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (b)2 in case no. 8LT04158. He pleaded no contest, and the court placed Gomez on summary probation for 60 days and ordered him to pay a $390 fine or serve 13 days in Los Angeles County jail. The date of conviction was July 14, 2008. The second DUI offense occurred less than a year later, on April 6, 2009. In case no. 9LT04101 filed on April 7, the People’s complaint charged Gomez with driving

1 Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79 [106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69] (Batson) and People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 (Wheeler). 2 All further statutory references are to the Vehicle Code unless otherwise indicated.

2 under the influence under section 23152, subdivision (b). He again pleaded no contest, and the court suspended Gomez’s driver’s license, placed him on probation for five years, and ordered him to pay a fine and serve 30 days in Los Angeles County jail. The date of conviction was April 14, 2009. Gomez still had a suspended license and remained on probation for his second DUI offense when the July 23, 2012 incident, described below, occurred. B. The incident On July 22, 2012, between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Gomez arrived at a party at a friend’s apartment. While at the party, Gomez consumed an unknown quantity of alcohol. Later in the night, because Gomez appeared inebriated, the host attempted to stop Gomez from drinking even more alcohol. According to his testimony at trial, the host successfully stopped Gomez from drinking more alcohol. Around 1:00 a.m., Gomez expressed that he wanted to leave the party soon because he had to work in a few hours, but because Gomez still appeared inebriated the host tried to stop him from driving. Though the host offered to let Gomez spend the night at the apartment instead of driving home, Gomez refused. Between 2:00 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., when the host went to the bathroom, Gomez snuck out and drove away in his car. On that night, the northbound 405 freeway had several closed lanes due to active construction near the Artesia Boulevard exit. As drivers approached the construction zone, hundreds of traffic cones with two reflective stripes, arrow boards displaying messages such as “move over” and “road work ahead,” and warning lights alerted them to the upcoming construction zone. While the posted speed limit in this section of the freeway is 65 miles per hour during regular conditions, it is unclear whether there were signs requiring a reduced speed limit due to the construction zone. Driving 92 miles per hour next to the construction zone, Gomez straddled the carpool lane and first lane (the two lanes closest to the median) in his Ford Explorer, and the right front of his car struck the left rear of another car, a Lexus RX 350 (second car). The second car spun out of control into the construction area; the car hit a construction worker, trapping him upside down inside a drill machine, and catapulted a second

3 construction worker over the guardrail. Both construction workers died from their injuries. The second car’s impact threw a third construction worker against the guardrail; he survived but suffered permanent injuries. An accident reconstruction expert testified at trial that Gomez’s pre-impact speed of 92 miles per hour was “excessive” and in violation of sections 22350 and 22349, subdivision (a).3 Gomez had not been braking when he hit the second car. The expert further opined that at the instant before Gomez’s car impacted the second car, the second car’s speed was 47 miles per hour. After Gomez’s car struck the second car, according to the expert, the second car’s driver had no means to regain control of his car. Based on Gomez’s “egregious speed,” the impact sending the second car “out of control,” and the fact that the second car was fully within its lane while Gomez’s car “was traveling between two lanes, colliding with the other vehicle,” the expert concluded that Gomez— and Gomez alone—caused the collision. At trial, eyewitness Tiara B. testified that, while driving on the freeway with two cars ahead of her, she saw Gomez’s car quickly approach her from behind. As Gomez’s car approached hazardously close to her car, she swerved out of the way to avoid an accident. She observed Gomez’s car pass the first car directly in front of her but strike the second car in front of her. Then, the second car spun out of control into the construction area, and Gomez’s car flipped over and slid along the freeway. Tiara B. called the police to report the collision and its location. A second eyewitness George Z., a construction worker on-site, saw Gomez’s car slide on its roof along the freeway. When he approached Gomez’s car, he smelled

3 Section 22350 is the “[b]asic speed law” and mandates the following: “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.” Section 22349, subdivision (a) is the “[m]aximum speed limit” provision and recites as follows: “Except as provided in Section 22356, no person may drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than 65 miles per hour.”

4 alcohol and observed an alcoholic beverage on the ground about 10 feet away from Gomez’s car. California Highway Patrol Officer Jimmy Nguy responded to the police call.

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People v. Gomez CA2/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gomez-ca21-calctapp-2016.