People v. Hellon CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 2016
DocketC075511
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Hellon CA3 (People v. Hellon 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. Hellon CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 6/1/16 P. v. Hellon CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Butte) ----

THE PEOPLE, C075511

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. CM016207, CM016216) v.

JOSHUA MOSES HELLON,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Joshua Moses Hellon appeals from the trial court’s orders denying his petition for resentencing based on the court’s finding that resentencing posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. He contends the trial court’s decision was an abuse of discretion because it was not supported by sufficient evidence and based on an erroneous understanding of the relevant legal standard. In a supplemental brief, defendant contends that the definition of danger to public safety found in the resentencing

1 provision of Proposition 47,1 Penal Code section 1170.18,2 supercedes the definition of danger to public safety found in the resentencing provision of Proposition 36,3 section 1170.126. We affirm the trial court’s orders. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The Current Offenses The facts of the offenses that are the subject of the resentencing petition are taken from our opinion affirming those convictions. “In the early evening of September 29, 2001, a deputy was on patrol looking to serve an arrest warrant on the defendant. He was not familiar with the defendant by sight. The deputy saw a maroon Camaro with an expired registration tag parked on the side of the street. The driver was talking to someone standing next to the car. As the deputy passed, the driver looked down. The other person got into a red Prelude and drove off. The deputy made a U-turn and drove up to the Camaro. The driver smiled at him, waved, and said, “bye.” The deputy was able to see his face for a few seconds; he was wearing a red bandana on his head. The driver headed off in reverse toward the intersection to the south behind him, then drove off to the east on the cross-street. The deputy now recognized the driver as the defendant from a police photograph, and identified the defendant in court as the driver. “We will not provide all the particulars of the 10-minute pursuit. It involved speeds from 45 to 80 miles per hour on both heavily trafficked and residential streets, with the defendant disregarding traffic controls, lane boundaries, center dividing lines, and other cars (nearly broadsiding one). Over the course of the pursuit, the defendant

1 An initiative adopted by voters in 2014. 2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 3 An initiative adopted by voters in 2012.

2 frequently braked abruptly (which the deputy testified is intended either to force the pursuer to back off, or to hit the car ahead of him, causing his airbags to deploy and disable the car). The defendant eventually abandoned his car down a dirt road and disappeared into the brush. There was nothing in the Camaro belonging to the defendant, and the deputy did not request that the car be examined for fingerprints because he was certain the defendant was the driver.” (People v. Hellon (May 31, 2005, C045511) [nonpub. opn.] at pp. 2-3, fn. omitted (Hellon).) A search of the home of defendant’s girlfriend “in July 2001 led to the discovery of items in the garage that an Oroville police officer believed were associated with manufacturing methamphetamine. He alerted the county’s inter-agency drug investigators. In their more extensive search of the home and garage, the investigators collected a large number of items that they believed ‘had significant evidentiary value showing that somebody had been manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine and[/]or extracting pseudo[]ephedrine.’ Latent prints on several of these items matched the defendant’s. In October 2001, detectives interviewed the defendant, who admitted that he may have left fingerprints on items in his ‘old lady’s’ place, but no one was manufacturing methamphetamine. He used muriatic acid only to extract gold from quartz, and a jar of ephedrine tablets was an herbal extract he used when exercising.” (Hellon, supra, at pp. 3-4.) A jury convicted defendant of recklessly evading police pursuit in case No. CM016207 and another jury convicted him of possession of precursors of methamphetamine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine in case No. CM016216. (Hellon, supra, at p. 1.) The trial court sustained two strike allegations in both cases and sentenced defendant to 52 years to life. (Ibid.) On May 31, 2005, we affirmed the convictions in an unpublished opinion. (Id. at p. 2.) On November 26, 2012, defendant filed a pro per petition for habeas corpus seeking resentencing under Proposition 36, section 1170.126. The trial court appointed

3 counsel for defendant, and defendant and the prosecution filed briefs on whether defendant should be resentenced. Criminal and Prison Disciplinary Record Defendant’s criminal record “began in 1987 at age 15 with petty theft; during his wardship, he violated his probation once. In December 1990, he committed another petty theft, for which he received credit for time served in September 1991. In January 1992, he committed two counts of residential burglary and one count of forgery, for which he received a California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) commitment in June 1992. During the next three and a half years, he returned to the CRC three times, and committed the misdemeanors of resisting arrest, giving false information to a peace officer, and possessing alcohol shortly before his 21st birthday. Finally, in 1996, he was excluded from the CRC and returned to prison, then was placed on parole (which he completed in 1998). However, in September 2000, the defendant was arrested for unlawfully taking a car and drug violations. Later that month, the police responded to a noise complaint; they cited the defendant for possession of hypodermic needles.” (Hellon, supra, at pp. 7-8, fn. omitted.) Defendant has sustained three rules violations for mutual combat during his current prison term. On June 26, 2004, an officer told defendant and his cellmate that their cell would be searched. After the officer handcuffed defendant, the cellmate ran to defendant and struck him on the head and chest with closed fists. When the inmate ignored an order to get down, the officer sprayed the inmate with pepper spray. The officer ordered defendant and the inmate to get down; when neither complied, another officer sprayed pepper spray into the cell. Defendant, who was on his back, started kicking the inmate, who continued to strike defendant in the face. When defendant and the inmate ignored another order to get down, a sergeant sprayed more pepper spray in the cell, which ended the fight.

4 On October 7, 2007, an officer noted blood on the floor of defendant’s cell. Defendant and his cellmate both had injuries consistent with mutual combat. Defendant and his cellmate admitted to drinking “pruno”4 and having a wrestling match, which got out of hand. Defendant’s last mutual combat violation took place on March 6, 2008, when an officer noticed defendant fighting another inmate on the upper tier of “A” section. The combatants ignored the officer’s command to get down; they did not stop fighting until an officer sprayed them with pepper spray. Defendant also sustained a felony conviction during his current prison term.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Hellon CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hellon-ca3-calctapp-2016.