People v. Kozel

133 Cal. App. 3d 507, 184 Cal. Rptr. 208, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1735
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 6, 1982
DocketCrim. 35095
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 133 Cal. App. 3d 507 (People v. Kozel) 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. Kozel, 133 Cal. App. 3d 507, 184 Cal. Rptr. 208, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1735 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

*517 Opinion

CHOATE, J. *

Appellant was sentenced to state prison for violation of section 187, Penal Code, the murder, second degree, of Robert Edelman, with use of a firearm, and for violation of section 217, of the Penal Code, assault with intent to commit murder of appellant’s estranged wife, Elizabeth Kozel, with use of a firearm. He had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury returned verdicts of guilty to count I, murder, first degree, and count II, assault with intent to commit murder. The jury found the appellant to have been sane at the time of the commission of the offenses. The court denied a motion for new trial, but reduced the murder to second degree and denied probation. For the murder, the court imposed the upper term of seven years, with a two-year enhancement for firearm use. The sentence for the felony assault was one year, consecutive, with a gun use enhancement of eight months. The appeal is from the judgment and order denying a motion for new trial.

Facts

Appellant arrived at Robert Edelman’s residence on August 10, 1978, armed with a handgun. He entered to find Edelman and Elizabeth Kozel in the dining area, and fired the pistol at Mrs. Kozel. The bullet struck an adjacent wall and she escaped through a window. Then other shots were fired and Edelman, wounded by two or three of them, was killed by a bullet entering the heart. The coroner found powder burns to Edelman’s forearm, chin and neck from shots fired from a range of 18 inches or less.

Appellant is an ex-deputy sheriff and a lawyer. He had been treated by a psychiatrist for months before the shooting. He and his wife were, at the time of the incident, parties to a dissolution action. His testimony was that he began to drink Scotch and to take drugs in the afternoon of August 10, 1978, and was drunk by 7 p.m. He had his pistol with him when he drove to his wife’s home to resolve a dispute over custody of their children. Unable to find her there, he drove to Edelman’s home. He entered Edelman’s door, he recalled, and fired the pistol without intent to kill. After the shooting he left the scene and drove to Wisconsin, where he surrendered to police.

*518 Three psychiatrists testified for appellant. Two stated opinions that at the time of the incident he lacked the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality and wrongfulness of his conduct and could not conform his conduct to the requirements of law. Another found a diminished capacity to premeditate, deliberate, or harbor malice. Two psychiatrists in rebuttal testified that appellant was able to harbor malice, form the intent to kill and to deliberate, and premeditate.

Discussion

Concerning Prosecutor’s Misconduct

Appellant cites a number of instances of the prosecutor’s alleged misconduct. No objection was raised to some of these acts of claimed misconduct and they would, therefore, not constitute grounds for appeal. (P eople v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 27 [164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468].) We discuss and evaluate them, however, because of appellant’s claims of defense counsel’s incompetency.

The first contention is that by the presentation of modified California Jury Instruction, Criminal (CALJIC) forms to the court and counsel, without indicating that the forms had been modified, the district attorney misled the court with false headings and titles. He cites this as reversible misconduct. He further complains that a non-CALJIC instruction is contrary to public policy. The argument ignores what is a common practice of trial judges and trial lawyers, the results of which can be seen in most records, that is modifying standard CALJIC instructions by obliterations, interlineations and revisions. It is doubtful that what appear to be patent omissions and deletions would mislead. Though a better procedure would have been to label modifications of standard instructions, there is no indication in the record that anyone was misled. There is nothing sacrosanct about CALJIC instructions and there is no violation of public policy, in the giving of an instruction which does not come from that source. (People v. Eckstrom (1974) 43 Cal.App.3d 996, 1006 [118 Cal.Rptr. 391].)

Appellant asserts several instances of misconduct during closing argument. One such, he claims, was the reference by the District Attorney to the testimony of People’s witness, Bruce Hamilton. Three days before the killing appellant declared to Hamilton his intention to get rid of Mrs. Kozel, gain custody of the children and serve his time, five to seven years in prison. The prosecutor twice referred to the remark, *519 without objection, as an indication of premeditation of the killing of Mrs. Kozel. Failure to object to the remarks precludes them as an issue on appeal unless the case is closely balanced or unless their harmful effect could not be cured by retraction or the court’s admonition. We find no exception existed here. (People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 27.) The remarks do not constitute misconduct because they referred to the state-of-mind of appellant, were relevant and within thfe evidence produced. (People v. Bolton (1979) 23 Cal.3d 208 [152 Cal.Rptr. 141, 589 P.2d 396].)

The prosecutor in his summation argued that appellant had told Bruce Hamilton that he knew the “accurate penalty” for a certain crime. Appellant had not used the words “accurate penalty” in the conversation with Hamilton. There was objection. The jury was admonished to disregard the remark. Appellant argues that the prosecutor’s misstatement of the evidence may have led jurors to believe that the prosecutor was affirming as accurate that appellant’s sentence, if he were convicted would be only five to seven years in prison. The court’s admonishment is presumed to have cured the error. (People v. Hardy (1948) 33 Cal.2d 52, 61 [198 P.2d 865].) In addition to the admonition, the court later read CALJIC No. 17.42, the instruction telling the jury that penalty or punishment was not to be discussed or considered by them, and must not in any way affect their verdict. We find that appellant was not prejudiced by the statement.

All of the complained-of comments including some we have not mentioned, were brief, insignificant in the light of the entire argument, and do not raise an inference that they contributed to the verdict, or that it is reasonably probable that a result more favorable to the appellant would have been forthcoming but for the remarks having been made. (People v. Meneley (1972) 29 Cal.App.3d 41, 62 [105 Cal.Rptr. 432]; People v. Reyes (1974) 12 Cal.3d 486, 506 [116 Cal.Rptr. 217, 526 P.2d 225].)

Appellant complains that on direct examination of an officer witness by the prosecutor, it was elicited that after appellant had been advised of his Miranda

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Gordon CA2/8
California Court of Appeal, 2022
People v. Perez CA2/3
California Court of Appeal, 2021
People v. Lopez CA4/1
California Court of Appeal, 2020
People v. Reyes CA2/5
California Court of Appeal, 2014
People v. Bankhead CA1/5
California Court of Appeal, 2013
People v. Thomas
269 P.3d 1109 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Mills
226 P.3d 276 (California Supreme Court, 2010)
People v. Hinton
126 P.3d 981 (California Supreme Court, 2006)
People v. Rodrigues
885 P.2d 1 (California Supreme Court, 1994)
People v. Froehlig
1 Cal. App. 4th 260 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
People v. Lang
782 P.2d 627 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. James
196 Cal. App. 3d 272 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
People v. Torrez
195 Cal. App. 3d 751 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
People v. Young
189 Cal. App. 3d 891 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
People v. Laskiewicz
176 Cal. App. 3d 1254 (California Court of Appeal, 1986)
People v. Van Ronk
171 Cal. App. 3d 818 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Epperson
168 Cal. App. 3d 856 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Ogen
168 Cal. App. 3d 611 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Rivera
162 Cal. App. 3d 141 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)
People v. Levitt
156 Cal. App. 3d 500 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 Cal. App. 3d 507, 184 Cal. Rptr. 208, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-kozel-calctapp-1982.