People v. Kazemi CA2/8

California Court of Appeal·Decided August 18, 2026·No. B342179·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 8/18/26 P. v. Kazemi CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B342179

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA107058)

v.

JALAL KAZEMI,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Joseph J. Burghardt, Judge. Affirmed.

Bird Rock Law Group, Andrea S. Bitar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth C. Byrne and Eric J. Kohm, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Jalal Kazemi, through his appointed attorney, seeks reversal of his criminal conviction on the sole ground that the trial court erroneously refused to declare a second doubt regarding his competency to stand trial. We now affirm the judgment, because Kazemi’s conduct following his first competency evaluation did not present a substantial change of circumstances or new evidence that required revisiting competency.

I. A.

In February 2023, the People charged Kazemi with a single count of assault with a deadly weapon in violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a)(1), and included a special allegation that Kazemi personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon in violation of Penal Code section 969f. (Further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.) Kazemi pleaded not guilty and was convicted after an October 2024 jury trial.

At trial, the victim, Richard Calabro, testified for the People. While Calabro jogged in Santa Monica, Kazemi drove a car through an intersection, almost hitting Calabro. Calabro yelled, “It’s a fucking stop sign.” Calabro continued on, reached the sidewalk, and saw the same car turn and drive towards him. The front bumper of the car hit Calabro’s ankle, and Calabro jumped backwards.

Four percipient witnesses testified for the People. They testified consistently with each other and corroborated Calabro’s description of events: an argument occurred between a jogger and the car’s driver in the intersection, the car turned and accelerated towards the jogger, the jogger jumped out of the way, and the car hit a wall.

Kazemi testified in his defense. He claimed Calabro was the aggressor. Calabro had banged on Kazemi’s stopped car with his fist. Calabro cursed at Kazemi, and Kazemi replied, “when you see a car, stop.” Calabro approached and grabbed Kazemi’s neck, shoulders, and shirt through the open car window. Calabro tried to pull Kazemi out of the car. Kazemi removed his hands from the steering wheel to push Calabro away. During the struggle, Kazemi’s foot moved off the brake. Calabro held the steering wheel and steered the car, while Kazemi pushed on the accelerator. Calabro jumped to the side, the car went over the curb, a front tire popped, and an airbag went off, injuring Kazemi.

B.

Having summarized the trial evidence for context, we recount the proceedings regarding Kazemi’s competency that are central to this appeal.

In January 2024, at a pretrial conference, defense counsel declared a doubt regarding Kazemi’s competency to stand trial. She cited her conversations with Kazemi, as well as a report she solicited from Robin Rhodes Campbell, Ph.D. The court reviewed a portion of Dr. Campbell’s report and concluded “the opinion of a mental health professional that [Kazemi is] not competent raises a doubt.” The court suspended criminal proceedings and transferred the case to the mental health division for competency proceedings.

The mental health division appointed Dr. Karine Shakib-

Beltran to evaluate Kazemi’s competency, and she found him competent. She met Kazemi face-to-face and evaluated him using a “structured competency screening instrument” and through a clinical interview. In her 12-page report, Dr. Shakib-

Beltran described how Kazemi presented “some non-bizarre delusions of a grandiose and persecutory nature,” but she had insufficient information to determine whether Kazemi definitively suffered from a mental disorder because Kazemi refused to participate in psychological testing. Kazemi reported potentially delusional thoughts including that the police, fire department, prosecutor, and judge were all “in on it” and working against him in the case, that he had been an advisor to President Trump, and that his ex-wife and son were stealing from him. The majority, if not all, of his persecutory thoughts were “associated with this case.” Dr. Shakib-Beltran stated that anxiety or concern over his fate could account for Kazemi’s “ostensibly outlandish” thoughts, especially since he was 67 years old with no prior criminal history. There was “insufficient information to determine that Mr. Kazemi [was] in fact experiencing delusional disorder, which is a type of psychotic disorder whose main symptom is the presence of one or more delusions. Mr. Kazemi’s behaviors are not supported by a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia, because he does not have the disorganization in thought and speech in addition to the delusions. They are also not supported by a mood disorder, such a[s] bipolar disorder, because he does not have the requisite mood instability.” There was also insufficient information to support a personality disorder.

Kazemi understood and could converse about the criminal justice system, the role of case participants, the People’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and the charges he faced. While Kazemi’s personality and strenuous belief in his innocence could make him “a challenging client,” “Kazemi demonstrated an ability to rationally cooperate with counsel to construct his

defense.” He remained “amenable to redirection” even if “no amount of psychiatric treatment w[ould] change his obstinate approach, attitude, and character.” Any difficulty working with defense counsel would be “volitional and/or personality driven as opposed to due to an underlying mental health condition.” And Kazemi’s fatalistic desire to have his case proceed stemmed “from a place of frustration as opposed to delusions.” Dr. Shakib- Beltran believed “Kazemi’s personality may make him, at times, unwilling to rationally cooperate with his counsel; though he is not unable to do [so] as a result of any mental illness or disorder.”

Dr. Shakib-Beltran concluded, as to Kazemi, there was “insufficient evidence to overcome the presumption of competence.” His behavior and personality aside, there was no impairment of Kazemi’s ability to understand the proceedings against him or assist counsel.

In March 2024, the mental health division found Kazemi competent to stand trial based on Dr. Shakib-Beltran’s report, reinstated criminal proceedings, and transferred the case back to criminal court.

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