People v. Khonsavanh S.

79 Cal. Rptr. 2d 80, 67 Cal. App. 4th 532, 98 Daily Journal DAR 11159, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8031, 1998 Cal. App. LEXIS 894
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 14, 1998
DocketD029627
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 79 Cal. Rptr. 2d 80 (People v. Khonsavanh S.) 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. Khonsavanh S., 79 Cal. Rptr. 2d 80, 67 Cal. App. 4th 532, 98 Daily Journal DAR 11159, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8031, 1998 Cal. App. LEXIS 894 (Cal. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Opinion

HALLER, J.

In two separate incidents, members of the Oriental Killer Boys (OKB) shot at members of a rival street gang, the Oriental Boy Soldiers (OBS). A petition filed in juvenile court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, charged Khonsavanh S. with six counts of attempted murder (Pen. Code, 1 §§ 664, 187) and six counts of assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2)). The court dismissed the two counts related to the first incident, and the petition was amended to allege assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2)) in the second incident. The court made true findings and committed Khonsavanh to the California Youth Authority for a maximum term of 23 years and 4 months.

Khonsavanh unpersuasively contends insufficient evidence supports the court’s finding he aided and abetted others in the second incident. We agree, however, that the court erred by ordering Khonsavanh to undergo testing for acquired immunodefiency syndrome (AIDS), and that the correct maximum term of confinement is 18 years and 4 months. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment as modified.

Facts

About midnight on March 13, 1997, Sothan D., an OBS member, was standing outside his apartment building. A Toyota Supra and a Volkswagen Jetta slowly approached, and Sothan saw a handgun pointing from the Supra. *535 As numerous shots were fired, Sothan fled. He was not injured, but his dog was shot in the leg.

The next evening, fellow OKB members Khonsavanh, Monthanny N., the driver of the Supra, and “Nasi,” the driver of the Jetta, attended a party. Members of OBS were loitering nearby. Khonsavanh, Monthanny, Nasi and others left to “go cruising” in OBS territory; Khonsavanh rode in Nasi’s car.

The same night, Sothan was at his neighbor Kathleen O.’s house. Also present were Mao V., another OBS member, Howard S. and Carrie G. Sothan glanced outside and saw the same cars involved in the previous night’s shooting. A young Asian male then peered through the open front door of Kathleen’s house. Someone inside said, “[ijt’s on,” and Sothan and others ducked. As Kathleen straggled to shut the door, three shots were fired at her. Ten to twenty more shots were fired at and into the house, many at head or chest level. No one was injured.

Investigators traced the Supra to Monthanny. He admitted to Detective Stephen Kingkade, of the San Diego Police Department’s Asian Gang Unit, that he was involved in the March 13 and 14 incidents. Monthanny led Detective Kingkade to the shooting sites, and to the home of “Little Lazy,” later learned to be Khonsavanh’s nickname.

Detective Kingkade and another officer contacted Khonsavanh. After listening to the taped interview with Monthanny, Khonsavanh agreed to talk to the officers. He admitted he and another male he did not know were in Nasi’s Jetta during the March 14 incident. Khonsavanh reported that after leaving the party, they “went out cruising, and they cruised by where the OBS hang out,” and “stopped where the OBS were . . . .” He said he was in the backseat, sleepy from drinking alcohol at the party, and “the next thing he remembers is being [awakened] by the sound of gunfire. He then saw his friend, Na [Nasi] get back into his vehicle, and they drove away.”

At trial, Khonsavanh testified he believed Nasi would take him straight home from the party. Khonsavanh assertedly got drunk at the party and fell asleep in the backseat of the Jetta before it reached Kathleen’s house. He denied knowing any guns were in the car or any plan to commit a crime. Khonsavanh admitted he was familiar with OBS territory because his grandmother once lived there. He also admitted he told Detective Kingkade that when he got in Nasi’s car he was going to go cruising, and he and his companions “were cruising around and we stopped where the OBS were[.]” Based on the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses, the court made true findings on the aiding and abetting charges stemming from the March 14 incident.

*536 Discussion

I. Aiding and Abetting *

II. AIDS Test

Khonsavanh contends the court erred at the disposition hearing by ordering him to undergo an AIDS test. The Attorney General claims waiver based on the failure to object below. It relies on People v. Scott (1994) 9 Cal.4th 331, 353 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 627, 885 P.2d 1040], in which the Supreme Court held the waiver doctrine applies to claims regarding the trial court’s failure to properly make or articulate its sentencing choices. “Routine defects in the court’s statement of reasons are easily prevented and corrected if called to the court’s attention. As in other waiver cases, we hope to reduce the number of errors committed in the first instance and preserve the judicial resources otherwise used to correct them.” (Ibid.)

In its analysis, the court noted in People v. Scott: “The parties have ample opportunity to influence the court’s sentencing choices under the determinate scheme. As a practical matter, both sides often know before the hearing what sentence is likely to be imposed and the reasons therefor. Such information is contained in the probation report, which is required in every felony case and generally provided to the court and parties before sentencing. [Citations.] In anticipation of the hearing, the defense may file, among other things, a statement in mitigation urging specific sentencing choices and challenging the information and recommendations contained in the probation report. [Citations.] Relevant argument and evidence also may be presented at sentencing. [Citations.]” (9 Cal.4th at pp. 350-351.)

The Attorney General also cites In re Abdirahman S. (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 963, 971 [68 Cal.Rptr.2d 402], in which we explained waiver principles “are fully applicable to hearings at which conditions of juvenile probation are determined. In both adult and juvenile cases, the time to object is at the pertinent hearing, not for the first time on appeal. [Citation.] . . . Objection and waiver principles ‘encourage prompt detection and correction of error, and . . . reduce the number of unnecessary appellate claims . . . .’ [Citation.]” We noted, “the juvenile court is vested with broad discretion to select appropriate probation conditions, and thus a minor has ample opportunity to influence the court’s decision.” {Ibid.) Indeed, there, the minor successfully objected to one condition recommended by the probation officer. (Ibid.)

*537 While this case does not concern sentencing choices or probation terms, we cannot overstress the importance of raising timely objections at juvenile court hearings in order to reduce the number of unnecessary appellate claims. Moreover, “ ‘it is unfair to the trial judge and to the adverse party to take advantage of an error on appeal when it could easily have been corrected at the trial.’ [Citation.]” (Doers v. Golden Gate Bridge etc. Dist.

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79 Cal. Rptr. 2d 80, 67 Cal. App. 4th 532, 98 Daily Journal DAR 11159, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8031, 1998 Cal. App. LEXIS 894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-khonsavanh-s-calctapp-1998.