People v. Hall

California Court of Appeal·Decided February 22, 2022·No. E072463A·Published

Opinion

Filed 2/22/22; Opinion on rehearing CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, E072463

v. (Super.Ct.Nos. INF1500253 & INF1500502)

ELIJAH TIREK HALL, OPINION ON REHEARING

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Russell L. Moore, Judge.

Affirmed in part; reversed in part with directions.

Daniel J. Kessler, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Elijah Tirek Hall.

Rob Bonta and Xavier Becerra, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Pulos and Kathryn Kirschbaum, Deputy Attorneys General for Plaintiff and Respondent.

A jury convicted Elijah Hall of six counts of robbery committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang and one count of active gang participation (all committed when he was 15 years old), and he received a sentence of 65 years to life in state prison. Hall appealed his judgment of conviction, and, while his appeal was pending, Proposition 57 raised the minimum age a minor can be tried as an adult in criminal court from 14 to 16. (Sen. Bill No. 1391 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2018, ch. 1012, § 1).) Following the procedure approved in People v. Superior Court (Lara) (2018) 4 Cal.5th 299 (Lara), the trial judge recalled Hall’s sentence and transferred his case to juvenile court, where the judge “treat[ed the] convictions as juvenile adjudications” and held a hearing to impose an appropriate disposition. (Id. at p. 310; see also Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 602, 702, 706.) After Hall was transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice, he informed us he wished to proceed with his appeal, which we have reinstated as an appeal from a judgment in a juvenile criminal proceeding. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §800.)

Hall raises two challenges to the criminal trial on which his juvenile adjudications are based. First, he argues the trial judge violated his due process rights by instructing the jury with CALCRIM No. 315, which covers eyewitness identification evidence and tells the jury to consider, among other factors, the witness’s level of certainty when making the identification. We reject this argument under People v. Lemcke (2021) 11 Cal.5th 644, in which our Supreme Court recently held that CALCRIM No. 315’s certainty factor does not violate due process.

We agree, however, with Hall’s second argument, which is that recently enacted Assembly Bill No. 333 (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) (Assembly Bill 333) requires reversal of the true findings on the substantive gang offense and enhancements because the new law increased the proof requirements under the gang statute (Pen. Code, § 186.22). We therefore remand to the juvenile court to (1) give the People an opportunity to retry the substantive charge and enhancement allegations under Assembly Bill 333’s new requirements in a juvenile criminal proceeding and (2) impose a new disposition in Hall’s case—either at the conclusion of retrial or upon the People’s election not to retry him. We otherwise affirm the judgment.

I

FACTS

A. Robbery of Ismael Around midnight on February 7, 2015, Ismael D. was outside his home when he noticed a black Chevy Silverado driving by at an unusually slow pace. Ismael asked the driver if he could help him and, after a brief exchange, the driver got out of the truck, showed Ismael his gun, and asked him if he knew anyone from a local gang called “Cathedral City.” When Ishmael said no, Hall and his 14-year-old codefendant, Anthony Torres, stepped out of the truck.1 Torres demanded Ismael empty his pockets, and Hall

1Torres is not a party to this appeal. Though he initially filed an appeal raising the same argument about CALCRIM No. 315 as Hall, he abandoned his challenge after our Supreme Court issued their decision in People v. Lemcke, supra, 11 Cal.5th 644, which we discuss in part II.A, below.

hit him in the face with a rifle. More people got out of the truck then, all armed with weapons.

Ismael emptied his pockets and handed over his belongings, and the group began to beat him. When his wife noticed what was happening, she yelled through the window that she was calling the police. The group got back into the truck and fled.

B. Home Invasion Robbery of Multiple Victims Shortly after robbing Ismael, the group went to the home of Duane S. They barged into the bedroom where Duane was hanging out with his brother and his girlfriend, and demanded everyone empty their pockets. One of the group members said he was from Barrio Dream Homes—another Cathedral City gang—and was there to collect on a drug debt. The group took $40 and a computer tablet Duane and his brother had been using moments before to record a rap song. Before leaving the room, Hall struck Duane in the face with a rifle.

The group proceeded down the hall to another room in the house where Duane’s girlfriend’s son and two of his friends were playing video games. They kicked down the locked door, and Hall and Torres drew their guns. The group took several items, including a cell phone and a gaming system, and one of the intruders struck one of the victims in the face with a gun. Some of them yelled “Dream Homes” as they fled the scene. The victims saw the intruders drive away in a black Chevy Silverado and immediately called the police.

Officers near the area spotted a truck matching that description. The driver refused to pull over, initiating a relatively brief pursuit that ended when he crashed into a curb. After the crash, everyone in the truck scattered in an attempt to hide. The officers found Hall crouched in a nearby bush, carrying a cell phone that belonged to one of the victims. Inside the truck, police found the guns used in the robberies and recovered the rest of the stolen property, including the tablet Duane had been rapping into. As it turned out, the tablet continued to record after the robbery, and it picked up the group’s discussion of the crimes they’d just committed. The prosecution played this recording for the jury, and Hall’s first name, Elijah, can be heard a number of times.

C. Eyewitness Identifications The same night as the robberies, three of the victims identified Hall as one of the perpetrators from a photographic lineup. These three victims also identified Hall in court during their trial testimony. Two other victims gave a qualified identification of Hall from a photographic lineup. One said Hall “might have been” one of the robbers. The other said Hall “looked familiar”; however, during trial he identified Hall as one of the perpetrators.

Without an objection or request for modification from Hall, the trial judge instructed the jury with CALCRIM No. 315, the standard Judicial Council instruction regarding eyewitness identification. That instruction directs the jury to consider up to 15 factors in evaluating eyewitness identification testimony, one of which is the witness’s level of certainty. It says in relevant part: “You have heard eyewitness testimony

identifying the defendant. As with any other witness, you must decide whether an eyewitness gave truthful and accurate testimony. [¶] In evaluating identification

testimony, consider the following questions: [¶] ... [¶] How certain was the witness when

2

he or she made an identification?” (CALCRIM No. 315.)

D. Gang Evidence Cathedral City Police Officer Alfredo Luna said Barrio Dream Homes is a local gang that started in the 1950's or 1960's. As of February 2015, the gang had about 30 or 40 active members and claimed territory in the western part of Cathedral City, near the border of Palm Springs. The gang’s primary activities included burglary, robbery, carjacking, and shooting.

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