People v. Landis

51 Cal. App. 4th 1247, 59 Cal. Rptr. 2d 641, 96 Daily Journal DAR 15579, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9403, 1996 Cal. App. LEXIS 1199
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 23, 1996
DocketB097698
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 51 Cal. App. 4th 1247 (People v. Landis) 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. Landis, 51 Cal. App. 4th 1247, 59 Cal. Rptr. 2d 641, 96 Daily Journal DAR 15579, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9403, 1996 Cal. App. LEXIS 1199 (Cal. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Opinion

BARON, J.—

Relevant Procedural Background

On July 25, 1995, an amended eight-count information was filed against appellant Kelly Jon Landis. Counts 1 and 2 charged appellant with stalking in violation of Penal Code section 646.9, subdivision (b). Counts 3 and 4 charged appellant with first degree residential burglary in violation of Penal *1249 Code section 462, subdivision (a). Counts 5, 6, and 8 charged appellant with second degree vehicular burglary in violation of Penal Code section 459. Finally, count 7 charged appellant with receiving stolen property, in violation of Penal Code section 496, subdivision (a). Appellant pleaded not guilty.

Trial by jury commenced on July 31, 1995. On August 14, 1995, the trial court determined that the jury was deadlocked on counts 1 and 2, and declared a mistrial as to these counts. On the same date, the jury found appellant guilty on counts 3 through 8.

On October 24, 1995, appellant was sentenced to prison for a term of six years, including a four-year sentence as to count 3, a sixteen-month sentence as to count 4, and an eight-month sentence as to count 7, to run concurrently with eight-month sentences as to counts 5, 6, and 8. This appeal followed.

Facts

A. Prosecution Evidence

Appellant met Karl Rosenquist in May 1993. At that time, Rosenquist was a doctoral student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and appellant was a student at University of Southern California. Rosenquist spent the night at appellant’s house, and for the next few months the two men were on friendly terms. Rosenquist testified that he and appellant had three sexual encounters during the entire time he knew appellant, and that no “mutual love” transformed these encounters into a sexual relationship.

Some incidents soon made Rosenquist “think twice” about his friendship with appellant. When they traveled together to attend a football game, appellant became abnormally angry when Rosenquist rebuffed a sexual advance. During a visit to Rosenquist’s friend in Louisiana, Steve Morrison, appellant sulked and refused to speak to Rosenquist and Morrison. In early 1994, appellant located Rosenquist and Morrison, then on a hiking trip, by phoning all the hotels along Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Provo, Utah. In February 1994, sometime after Rosenquist had briefly lent appellant the key to Rosenquist’s apartment so that appellant could feed Rosenquist’s cat, Rosenquist discovered appellant sitting in the dark in Rosenquist’s apartment.

On March 15, 1994, Rosenquist received a phone call from Dr. Timothy Fishbeck, appellant’s psychiatrist. Rosenquist met with Fishbeck, who told him that appellant had a dangerous obsession with Rosenquist. Fishbeck *1250 informed Rosenquist that appellant was breaking into his apartment and Xeroxing his journals, in which Rosenquist kept personal writings, poems, story ideas, screenplay ideas, and similar material. Fishbeck also revealed that appellant had a fantasy about kidnapping Rosenquist, and that he had been talking to “surveillance equipment" people about tapping Rosenquist’s phone. Rosenquist assisted Fishbeck in convincing appellant to admit himself to a hospital for treatment, and then at Fishbeck’s suggestion retrieved surveillance manuals and copies of Rosenquist’s journals from appellant’s apartment.

Rosenquist told appellant he would stand by him as long as appellant followed the hospital’s medication regime. Appellant improved for a time, but became snappy and angry after apparently running out of his medication. Rosenquist then tried to withdraw from appellant.

On May 29,1994, while Rosenquist was taking care of his parent’s house, appellant entered the house over Rosenquist’s objections, and Rosenquist was forced to call the police. Appellant began to phone Rosenquist compulsively and to bang on Rosenquist’s apartment door, threatening suicide. Aside from occasionally offering appellant comfort, Rosenquist tried to avoid contact with appellant, and he told appellant that he did not want a serious or long-term relationship with him. After Rosenquist made an abortive attempt to return appellant to his medication regime, Rosenquist decided he could not have a friendship with appellant.

Rosenquist had little contact with appellant between August 1994 and February 1995. Appellant continued to phone Rosenquist, even when Rosenquist traveled, and Rosenquist urged him to seek help. In September 1994, Rosenquist filed his dissertation and became a lecturer at UCLA.

On February 12, 1995, Rosenquist returned from a trip and found that someone had unlocked his apartment door and tampered with his answering machine. He phoned appellant, who said, “ ‘If you call the police, I’ll light a match.’ ” Rosenquist discovered that his journals were missing, along with some computer disks and a copy of his dissertation. Rosenquist asked for these materials back. Appellant returned the computer disks, but not the journals.

On February 18, 1995, appellant appeared at Rosenquist’s apartment door with a bag and offered to return a volume of the journal if Rosenquist would let appellant in and give him a hug. Rosenquist opened his door slightly. Appellant pushed his way into the apartment and during the ensuing struggle appellant hit Rosenquist in the face. After appellant had left, Rosenquist’s *1251 father found Rosenquist, phoned appellant, and asked for the journals. Appellant replied that he would not return them and that Rosenquist had hurt him.

Thereafter, Rosenquist did not let appellant into his apartment, and at Rosenquist’s direction, the apartment manager turned appellant away from the building. Nonetheless, appellant continued to knock at Rosenquist’s door at night. On March 2,1995, Rosenquist heard the rustling of keys outside his door, followed by scraping outside his window. He saw appellant on a ladder climbing up to his window. Appellant noticed Rosenquist and left.

On March 3, 1995, Rosenquist’s briefcase containing student exams and his new phone number was stolen from his office at UCLA. Appellant called Rosenquist’s office. One of Rosenquist’s colleagues answered the phone and demanded the return of the exams. Following appellant’s directions, Rosenquist and his colleague recovered the briefcase and exams sans phone number in a UCLA parking structure.

On March 7, 1995, Rosenquist sought and obtained a temporary restraining order concerning appellant. At the same time, Rosenquist moved to a new apartment located on a higher level in his apartment building. On March 22, 1995, Rosenquist obtained a permanent mutual restraining order.

On April 5, 1995, Rosenquist filed a complaint with the police following a threatening phone call from appellant. As a result, Rosenquist had a phone trap placed on his phone. In April 1995, appellant made as many as 25 phone calls to Rosenquist on some days.

On April 6, 1995, appellant approached Rosenquist as Rosenquist went to his car. Appellant asked Rosenquist to record his lecture on a small tape recorder and offered him a watch and sweatshirt he had recently taken from Rosenquist’s apartment without Rosenquist’s knowledge.

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Bluebook (online)
51 Cal. App. 4th 1247, 59 Cal. Rptr. 2d 641, 96 Daily Journal DAR 15579, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9403, 1996 Cal. App. LEXIS 1199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-landis-calctapp-1996.