People v. Haro CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 4, 2015
DocketD065742
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Haro CA4/1 (People v. Haro CA4/1) 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. Haro CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 9/4/15 P. v. Haro CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D065742

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD243126)

DANIEL HARO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County,

Michael T. Smyth, Judge. Affirmed.

Athena Shudde, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General,

Melissa Mandel and Alana C. Butler, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and

Respondent. INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Daniel Haro of first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187,

subd. (a)), and attempted murder (§ 187, subd. (a), 664). Haro admitted having a prior

strike conviction (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12), a prior serious felony conviction

(§ 667, subd. (a)(1)), and two prior prison commitment convictions (§ 667.5, subd. (b)).

The trial court sentenced him to a total prison term of 30 years plus 50 years to life. 2

Haro appeals, contending the trial court prejudicially erred in allowing the People

to admit gang evidence. He also contends there is insufficient evidence of premeditation

and deliberation to support his first degree murder conviction. We are not persuaded by

either contention and affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

Prosecution Evidence

The victim was staying at a flophouse along with Mirasol Sua, Daniel Gonzalez,

and Gonzalez's girlfriend, Amanda Sena.3 On the night of the victim's murder, Haro

went to the flophouse. Gonzalez, Sena, and the victim were there. Sua arrived a little

later. By then, a man named Tony was also there.

1 Further statutory references are also to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2 Haro declined an eve of trial offer from the prosecutor for him to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and admit having a prior serious felony and a prior strike conviction in exchange for a 27-year determinate prison sentence.

3 As used at trial, "flophouse" meant a house where drug users went to hang out, use drugs and sleep.

2 Haro was acting strangely. He had his hand in his T-shirt and was using it like a

glove to hold his cell phone. In addition, he was not talking or responding to attempts to

engage him in conversation. Instead, he would stare at people, stop moving, then snap

out of it. At one point, he started touching Gonzalez's face. Gonzalez asked him if he

was okay and he said he was fine, but he seemed confused.

Shortly after Sua arrived, Gonzalez and Sena left. Sua went into the living room,

sat in a chair, and smoked some marijuana. Tony was also sitting in the living room. A

few minutes later, Haro came into the living room. He was holding a strip of fabric

sheeting tautly in his hands and wringing it.

Sua has known Haro for years and had sex with him once. She frequently ran into

him at the flophouse. When he came into the living room, she offered him some

marijuana, but he did not respond to her. She got up to use the bathroom and he blocked

her with his arm and leg. She asked him to move. He looked at her, then to Tony, and

asked Tony, "You won't say nothing, right?" Tony shook his head.

Sua told Haro to get out of the way and went around him. She went into the back

bedroom and locked it. She never saw Tony in the flophouse after that. Meanwhile, she

sent Amir Abdelnur, who was her lover and the victim's best friend, a text message

asking him to bring her purse, which she had left in his car earlier in the day. She

unlocked the back bedroom door after the victim retrieved her purse from Abdelnur and

brought it to her.

As she was in the back bedroom using her cell phone to arrange a

methamphetamine purchase, Haro came in and told her she was "red flagged" and could

3 not smoke methamphetamine anymore. He also told her to "stop fucking around" and

acting like a "ho." His remarks made no sense to her because she had never heard the

phrase "red flag" before and she injected, rather than smoked, methamphetamine. She

asked him what he was talking about and she laughed it off. He then came toward her

determinedly, wrapped the strip of sheeting tightly around her neck, and started choking

her to the point she could not breathe. They fell to the ground as she tried unsuccessfully

to fight back.

The victim, who is much smaller than Haro, passed by and pulled Haro off of Sua.

Haro kept staring at Sua and did not acknowledge the victim's presence. The victim told

Sua to leave the flophouse. She wanted the victim to come with her, but he did not.

Sua ran from the flophouse to her cousin's house. Sena and Ray Valdez were

there. Sua frantically told them Haro had tried to kill her and she was worried about the

victim because he had helped her and stayed behind. Because she had lost her cell phone

while struggling with Haro and left it behind when she fled the flophouse, she borrowed

Valdez's cell phone and tried to call the victim, but the victim never responded. She also

spoke with Abdelnur, telling him Haro had "tripped out" and asking him to check on the

victim.

When Abdelnur went to the flophouse to check on the victim, he found the victim

on the floor between the dining room and the living room. The victim had dark bruises

around his neck and the knuckles on his left hand were bruised and bleeding. Although

Abdelnur testified he did not see anyone else in the house, he previously told Sua that,

when he arrived, Haro was moving the victim and furniture around and was wiping the

4 victim's face and neck. When Abdelnur could not rouse the victim, he called Gonzalez.4

He then called 911.

While Abdelnur was on the phone with the 911 operator, Gonzalez came into the

flophouse, saw the victim, became upset, and demanded to know what happened. At

some point before the police arrived, Gonzalez left the house.

Gonzalez went to Sua's cousin's house. Like Sua, he was frantic when he arrived.

He went straight to Sena and told her they had to go. Sua told him what happened to her

and he invited her to go with them. She kept asking to check on the victim and, although

Gonzalez did not respond to her request, she thought that was what they were going to

do. They drove by the flophouse and saw a lot of police activity there. After Sua kept

asking what happened and to check on the victim, Gonzalez turned around and, crying,

told her, "He killed him. He's dead."

Gonzalez told Sena that, when he arrived at the flophouse, Abdulner was calling

the police and Haro was standing in the living room. Gonzalez screamed at Haro, asking

him what happened. Haro said he did not know.

Since Gonzalez and Sena had been living at the flophouse, they knew they would

have to speak with the police. Sua told them not to mention her because she learned "in

4 The prosecutor originally charged Gonzalez with the victim's murder along with Haro.

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People v. Haro CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-haro-ca41-calctapp-2015.