People v. Holliday

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 2, 2025
DocketC102760
StatusPublished

This text of People v. Holliday (People v. Holliday) 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. Holliday, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 12/2/25 CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION*

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Yolo) ----

THE PEOPLE, C102760

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. CR-2023- 2223-AP-2) v.

MALCOLM D. HOLLIDAY,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Yolo County, Samuel T. McAdam, Judge. Reversed with directions. Jeff Reisig, District Attorney and Frits Van Der Hoek, Supervising Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Appellant. Law Office of Christopher Parkhurst and Robert Ward, retained counsel for Defendant and Respondent.

* Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 8.1105 and 8.1110, this opinion is certified for publication with the exception of part I of the Discussion.

1 SUMMARY OF THE APPEAL The People accused defendant Malcolm D. Holliday of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol. Defendant petitioned for and was granted pretrial diversion under Penal Code section 1001.80, subdivision (b) (statutory section citations that follow are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated), which gives courts discretionary authority to grant diversion when a person is or was a member of the military and may be suffering substance abuse because of their service. The People filed an appeal with the appellate division of the superior court arguing the superior court’s order was not supported by sufficient evidence. The appellate division disagreed and we ordered the case transferred to this court. The People argue defendant failed to provide evidence he suffered from alcohol abuse due to his military service and, thus, did not show he was qualified for diversion under section 1001.80, subdivision (b). The parties also dispute when the trial court’s order became final for purposes of measuring the timeliness of this appeal. We will reverse with directions to conduct a new hearing.

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Complaint, Motion for Military Diversion, and Opposition to Motion Filed

The People filed their complaint in July 2023. Count one accused defendant of misdemeanor driving under the influence in violation of Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (a). Count two accused defendant of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration above 0.08 percent, in violation of Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (b). An enhancement to both counts alleged defendant willfully and unlawfully drove a vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent or more, within the meaning of Vehicle Code section 23578. In November 2023, defendant filed a motion under section 1001.80 for military pretrial diversion (the motion). According to the motion, defendant enlisted in the Air

2 Force in December 2019, was still enlisted at the time the motion was filed and intended to make a career of his Air Force service. Counsel wrote that defendant’s “Substance Use Disorder (alcohol) began after he was stationed in Qatar from September 2021 to November 21, 2021. He was newly married, and dealt with stress of deployment, and family disintegrating with him not home. He lived with a culture of working and playing hard, which meant a lot of drinking. These issues continued when he was deployed to UAE from April 2022 to October 2022.” Counsel also wrote, “Mr. Holliday is serving our country in the United States Air Force. He started using alcohol as a way to reduce the effects of his stress that came from military life. Mr. Holliday is in the class of persons that [] § 1001.80 was designed to benefit.” Defendant did not file any exhibits or a declaration with the motion. Defendant did not cite any exhibits or testimony in support of his representation that he was a member of the armed forces and began misusing alcohol while deployed. In their opposition to the motion, the People offered a description of events that led to the charges against defendant, alleging the facts came from a police officer’s report regarding the incident. According to the People, in the early hours of June 6, 2023, a police officer observed defendant driving on the shoulder of a road and failing to stop at a stop sign. The officer made a traffic stop. After noticing signs of intoxication, the officer tested defendant for driving-under-the-influence which led to defendant’s arrest. Defendant agreed to give a blood sample after he was arrested and the test results showed defendant’s blood-alcohol level to be 0.33 percent. In opposing the motion, the People argued defendant had not provided any documentation that showed he had been diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder. Thus, according to the People, defendant had failed to establish his eligibility for diversion under section 1001.80, subdivision (b). Before the hearing on the motion, a deputy probation officer filed a pretrial status report, which the court received. According to the report, “defendant is active-duty Air

3 Force. The defendant was reminded to reach out to his attorney with any questions regarding the criminal process or potential military diversion programs.”

December 2023 Hearing and Initial Order Granting Diversion

At the December 6, 2023, hearing on the motion, defendant submitted his unexpired military identification card for inspection by the trial court which demonstrated he was an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force. No other documents or records were submitted to the court by either party. Defense counsel stated defendant’s substance abuse significantly increased while he was deployed in Qatar. Defense counsel said the increase was due to military culture and the stress of defendant’s marriage due to deployment. Defense counsel also stated that after his arrest for the DUI, defendant participated in a mandatory U.S. Air Force treatment program. No one other than defense counsel made factual statements on defendant’s behalf. Defendant answered direct questions posed to him by the court regarding his mandatory Air Force treatment and the program’s terms and conditions. No other persons offered unsworn statements or sworn testimony during the proceedings. The deputy district attorney did not make any factual assertions on behalf of the People or in opposition to the motion. The People relied on the state of the evidence to oppose the motion. The trial court found defendant eligible for diversion and granted the motion. The trial court ordered defense counsel to provide the court and the People information regarding the Air Force treatment program defendant was participating in. The trial court ordered defendant to complete the requirements of the Air Force program. The trial court did not set a termination date for diversion on the record, and it set the matter for a review of defendant’s status on June 6, 2024, which was later continued to June 14, 2024.

4 June 2024 Filings, Hearing, and Order

Defendant submitted military documents to be considered at the June 14, 2024, hearing. Included was a May 13, 2024 “Memorandum for Record” from the Department of the Air Force, 60th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron at Travis Air Force Base California that stated defendant had been “referred to” the Air Force’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) program on June 12, 2023, and was evaluated on June 27, 2023, and “did not meet criteria for a substance use disorder.” The memorandum said defendant had completed ADAPT education requirements in August 2023, and he began to attend meetings and appear for random tests in January 2024. It stated defendant had been engaged in ADAPT care, and his random tests consistently showed no alcohol use. Other documents provided evidence of the dates of defendant’s participation in the ADAPT program and showed random tests did not detect alcohol in defendant’s system.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Holliday, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-holliday-calctapp-2025.