People v. Hawkyard CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 13, 2023
DocketC094270
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Hawkyard CA3 (People v. Hawkyard 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. Hawkyard CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Filed 6/13/23 P. v. Hawkyard CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Placer) ----

THE PEOPLE, C094270

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 62-172747)

v.

WILLIAM ROBERT HAWKYARD,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant William Robert Hawkyard appeals from his convictions of committing lewd acts on a minor, contacting or communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a lewd act (luring), and possessing heroin. (Pen. Code, §§ 288, subd. (c)(1); 288.3, subd. (a); Health & Saf. Code, § 11350, subd. (a); statutory section citations that follow are found in the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.) Defendant contends (1) insufficient evidence supports the luring count, specifically whether defendant knew or should have known that the victim was a minor;

1 (2) defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not requesting a pinpoint jury instruction on the mistake of fact defense to the luring count; (3) the trial court erred in excluding evidence that supported defendant’s mistake of fact defense; and (4) cumulative error. Defendant also raises sentencing error, contending we must reverse and remand his sentence for further proceedings pursuant to Senate Bill No. 567 and Assembly Bill No. 124, and because the trial court violated section 654 by not staying one of the lewd act counts or the luring count, as both were part of the same course of conduct. Except to remand for resentencing under the recent legislation, we affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS The victim, Jane Doe, was born in August 2005. In April 2020, 14-year-old Jane was a high school freshman. She lived in Sacramento County near Elk Grove with her father Stephan F., Stephan’s wife, and Jane’s siblings. Stephan’s mother, Alice F., lived nearby. Jane’s mother, Jessica P., lived in the Natomas area. Jane had lived with her mother before she moved to her father’s home when she was 12. Prior to April 2020, Jane had her own cell phone but only at school for communication purposes. In April, due to the coronavirus pandemic, she began attending school remotely from home. As a result, Stephan took away her phone. He did not want her accessing social media. He did not approve of any kind of social media at her age. On the night of April 25, 2020, Jane stayed at her grandmother Alice’s house along with other cousins and relatives. When her grandchildren slept over at her house, Alice required them to give her their cell phones. She also did not allow them to use the Wi-Fi, computers, and tablets. Alice had a cell phone and a land line with three cordless headsets. She allowed her grandchildren to use her house phone only to call their parents, and then only with her permission.

2 Around 1:30 a.m. April 26, 2020, Alice’s house phone rang, and Alice answered it. A male asked to speak with Jane. Alice went to the living room where Jane was sleeping and asked Jane who was calling her. Jane said she did not know. Alice said, “Hello,” into the phone but no one responded. Alice went back to bed. Jane testified that when everyone went to sleep, she left the house, hopped the fence, and went across the street. She waited in a neighbor’s driveway until a Lyft arrived. The Lyft driver took her to defendant’s house. She arrived there at around 2:00 a.m. At Alice’s house on the morning of April 26, family members looked for Jane. Alice’s house phone had caller ID, and it showed an incoming call around 1:30 a.m. from “Montez, John.” The phone number matched a number listed as the last call made from the phone. Evidence at trial established that the phone number in John Montez’s name belonged to defendant’s phone. Jane’s father Stephan called defendant’s phone number multiple times on April 26. The first time he called, someone picked up the call and hung up. Stephan left voicemails stating he just wanted to talk to Jane and to let him know if she was not there. He also sent texts to defendant’s phone asking who it was and stating that Jane was only 14 and to bring her home. At 11:47 a.m., he texted, “Just come home kiddo. It’s only me here. We can talk.” He texted his final message at 6:38 p.m., stating, “She’s only 14. She’s a little girl.” He never received a return call or message. Stephan’s sister Stacey called defendant’s phone number multiple times on April 26. Stacey used Alice’s house phone, but that was blocked before noon after a few calls. She called defendant 237 times from her own cell phone and many times from other phones. She left about 30 voice mail messages. In the messages, she stated that Jane was 14 years old and underage. She also stated they did not want any trouble; they just wanted to get Jane back.

3 After police were summoned to Alice’s house that day, an officer with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department called defendant’s phone, and no one answered. The officer left a voice mail stating she was calling about the missing person’s report she had taken on Jane, and she requested a call back. No one returned the call. On April 28, 2020, a detective looking at Alice’s phone history found that Alice received a phone call from defendant’s phone at approximately 1:57 a.m. on April 26. He also found other calls were made from defendant’s phone number to Alice’s phone over the previous couple of weekends when Jane had stayed at Alice’s house. Later that day, law enforcement officers entered defendant’s house in Loomis. They saw defendant and Jane naked and walking out of the bathroom after taking a shower. Officers also found a plastic baggie containing heroin on a nightstand in defendant’s bedroom. DNA found on vaginal swabs taken from Jane matched defendant’s DNA profile.

Jane’s trial testimony

Jane first met defendant on Bumble, an online dating app for adults. Even though she was a minor, she was able to create an account for the site. On Bumble, a woman must message a man first. A man cannot message a woman; he must wait for a woman to contact him. Jane testified that when she first met defendant, he asked her how old she was. She said she was 18. After meeting on Bumble, Jane and defendant communicated through Snapchat. Snapchat is a social media app commonly used by younger people to communicate with others and send pictures and short videos. Videos and pictures sent through Snapchat can be set to delete. For a while, Jane had her own cell phone and used it to speak and communicate with defendant, including via Snapchat. She broke it because she got mad. After that, she used her grandmother’s house phone to speak with defendant and exchange instant

4 messages. She also accessed social media with her friends’ cell phones after her family confiscated her own. Jane testified that in her Snapchat messages with defendant, she said things about herself that were not true. She said she worked at Panera Bread, but she did not. She stated her family wanted her to sell drugs and that they were involved in gang activity. But it was only her mother’s side of the family that participated in gang activity and wanted her to sell drugs, not her father’s side. In one of her Snapchat messages, Jane said she wanted to be an oceanographer. She was trying to prove to defendant that she was older by saying she wanted to go to San Diego State. In another message, she told defendant she was 18 years old and a senior in high school. In fact, she was a freshman. Also through Snapchat, Jane sent photos and videos to defendant of herself topless and of her vagina. We will set forth the Snapchat messages in detail below.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
The People v. Hanna
218 Cal. App. 4th 455 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)
The People v. Mai
305 P.3d 1175 (California Supreme Court, 2013)
People v. Beamon
504 P.2d 905 (California Supreme Court, 1973)
Neal v. State of California
357 P.2d 839 (California Supreme Court, 1960)
People v. Latimer
858 P.2d 611 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
People v. Amick
125 P.2d 25 (California Supreme Court, 1942)
People v. Hawthorne
841 P.2d 118 (California Supreme Court, 1992)
People v. Waidla
996 P.2d 46 (California Supreme Court, 2000)
People v. Watson
299 P.2d 243 (California Supreme Court, 1956)
People v. Gaio
97 Cal. Rptr. 2d 392 (California Court of Appeal, 2000)
People v. Kwok
63 Cal. App. 4th 1236 (California Court of Appeal, 1998)
People v. Jones
127 Cal. Rptr. 2d 319 (California Court of Appeal, 2002)
People v. Williams
170 Cal. App. 4th 587 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
People v. Alvarez
178 Cal. App. 4th 999 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
Bowen v. Ryan
163 Cal. App. 4th 916 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
People v. Weaver
29 P.3d 103 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Zamudio
181 P.3d 105 (California Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. Manibusan
314 P.3d 1 (California Supreme Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Hawkyard CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hawkyard-ca3-calctapp-2023.