People v. Howard CA2/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 18, 2013
DocketB242518
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Howard CA2/2 (People v. Howard CA2/2) 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. Howard CA2/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 11/18/13 P. v. Howard CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, B242518

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA387832) v.

SEAN D. HOWARD,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Monica Bachner, Judge. Affirmed.

Maxine Weksler, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Linda C. Johnson and Gary A. Lieberman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ___________________________________________________ A jury convicted defendant Sean Deondre Howard of three counts of kidnapping to commit robbery (Pen. Code, § 209, subd. (b)(1))1 (counts 1-3), one count of second degree robbery (§ 211) (count 4), and two counts of attempted second degree robbery (§§ 664/211) (counts 5, 6). The trial court found that defendant had suffered two prior serious felony convictions (§§ 667, subd. (a)(1), 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)- (d)), and that he had served three prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced defendant to state prison for a total term of 105 years to life. The sentence consisted of consecutive 25-year-to-life terms, and two 5-year section 667, subdivision (a)(1) enhancements on each of counts 1through 3. Defendant appeals on the grounds that: (1) the trial court’s exclusion of the 911 recording was legally erroneous and resulted in the denial of his constitutional rights to present a defense and to confront witnesses; (2) the trial court’s denial of the new trial motion resulted in a miscarriage of justice and a denial of due process; (3) there was insufficient evidence of his prior federal conviction for armed bank robbery; (4) the $15,000 restitution fine was arbitrary and excessive and violated section 1204.4 and the Eighth Amendment. FACTS Prosecution Evidence On August 14, 2011, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Kiara M., who was 14 years old at the time of trial, was waiting at a bus stop at Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Kiara was with her sister Kimberly and Abel Espinoza, who at the time was a “stepbrother” to the girls. Some young African-American men approached them and tried to start trouble with Abel. They also taunted Kiara about her figure. Another man seated on the bench, later identified as defendant, spoke up and told the harassing persons to calm down. Kiara, Kimberly, and Abel began to walk away from the bus stop. Defendant had a car parked nearby and he offered to take them home. Defendant opened

1 All further references to statutes are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise.

2 up the rear driver’s side door, near to which Kiara was standing. One of the harassing men pushed her in the car, and it seemed the man wanted to get in the car also. Kiara was frightened. Defendant told him not to get in. Abel then got in the front passenger seat of the car and Kimberly got in the rear passenger seat behind him. Abel gave defendant the address where they lived. Defendant got in the car and proceeded to drive around for 40 to 45 minutes. Music was playing, and Kiara liked the music. Defendant asked Abel to buy him a pack of cigarettes, and Abel agreed. Defendant stopped at a liquor store, and Kiara recalled that he and Abel went in and came out again after 10 minutes with cigarettes and liquor. Defendant started driving and asked Kiara and the others again where they lived. Abel told him. Kiara believed something was wrong and began to become frightened. Defendant kept telling the young people that they were safe. After approximately 30 minutes, defendant stopped the car in a dark residential area. Defendant told the others to give him “all the stuff” that they had or he was going to shoot them. Kiara believed defendant had a gun. She had seen him grab a sweater as if there were something wrapped inside it and place it close to his lap when he returned to the car from the liquor store. The sweater had been at Kiara’s feet on the rear floor of the car. Defendant checked Abel’s pockets to see if Abel had anything. Defendant said Abel would not want to get shot just for a couple of dollars. Defendant used his right hand to check while he held the sweater with his left hand. Defendant took Abel’s money and cell phone. The girls told defendant they had nothing. Kiara was scared. Defendant told them not to look at him. Kiara wanted to get out of the car. When Kiara removed her seat belt, defendant said, “Yeah, try to slide out and I’m going to end up shooting you.” When defendant was finished with Abel, he drove around for approximately 30 minutes. He then took his passengers to a location across from a McDonald’s restaurant, where he told Kiara and Kimberly to get out. Everyone was quiet, and defendant still had the sweater in his lap. It was still dark outside. The girls got out of the car and went to the restaurant. Abel stayed behind. The girls could no longer see defendant’s car because he was in a side road. The girls stayed in a corner of the restaurant and saw Abel

3 reappear after approximately 10 minutes. Abel was no longer wearing his shirt, which was bloody and torn, and he was bleeding from the mouth. Abel walked up to the drive- through window and asked someone to call the police. The three then began walking away, and Kiara did not know if the police arrived. As they walked along the street, the three young people found police approximately two blocks away “with someone else’s case.” They told the police what had happened. On cross-examination, Kiara stated that she told the police everything that she had stated in her trial testimony, and she denied giving a different account. When shown a transcript of the preliminary hearing, she denied that she had said the young men harassing her had called her “vaca.” She did not remember saying, or she denied saying, other things in her testimony that were read to her from the transcript. She testified on cross-examination that she and the others just happened to walk away from the bus stop in the same direction as defendant, and he was saying “Oh, it’s cool. It’s cool. Those crazy people.” She could not remember how defendant asked them to enter his car. She denied that she told Abel or the people in the restaurant not to call the police. Kimberly was 16 at the time of trial. She recalled that defendant came over to them while 10 to 15 Black boys were harassing them, and defendant told them he could help them. He said he could give them a ride home. Since they were scared, they trusted him and went with him to his car. She remembered there was a police car nearby, but none of them asked the police for help. Defendant’s car doors were open, and he told them to get in. No one gave him the address at that time. One man who had been in the harassing group pushed Kiara into the car and then got in as well. Defendant, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, told the man to get out, and he did so. Defendant told them to relax and that everything would be all right. Kimberly was scared because of the men at the bus stop, but she felt good because she thought defendant would help them. When defendant asked for their address, Abel gave him an approximate location. They stopped at a liquor store after 20 or 25 minutes. When defendant came back, he said he would take them home.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Howard CA2/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-howard-ca22-calctapp-2013.