People v. Lopez

198 Cal. App. 4th 1106, 131 Cal. Rptr. 3d 467, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 1136
California Court of Appeal·Decided August 30, 2011·No. No. C065058·Published·Cited by 75 cases

Opinion

Opinion

DUARTE, J.

A jury convicted Cristo Lopez and Rebecca Brousseau of first degree murder and attempted robbery, and sustained firearm and robbery-murder allegations as to each. (Pen. Code,1 §§ 187, subd. (a), 190.2, subd. (a)(17), 664, 211, 12022, subd. (a)(1) [Brousseau], 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d) [Lopez].) The trial court sentenced them to prison for life without the possibility of parole, and imposed unstayed terms of 25 years to life as to Lopez and one year as to Brousseau. Defendants timely appealed.2

Brousseau contends that (1) no substantial evidence supports the special circumstance finding; (2) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury; (3) alleged adoptive admissions she made in jail were improperly admitted; (4) she was entitled to instruction on included offenses; (5) the trial court used the wrong standard in evaluating her new trial motion; and (6) her sentence is unconstitutional. Brousseau also contends the trial court should have instructed the jury to consider whether Lynch was an accomplice. Lopez joins in this contention, and adds that Brousseau was an accomplice and the jury should have been so instructed. Both defendants also contend the trial court improperly imposed a parole revocation restitution fine, a point conceded by the People.

We shall strike the unauthorized fine, order a modification to clarify the abstracts of judgment, and otherwise affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Brousseau lured the victim, Khet Saelee, into a secluded alley by promising an act of prostitution, to enable Lopez to rob the victim. Lopez then shot [1109]*1109the victim. The authorities eventually persuaded four other individuals associated with the robbery or its aftermath to provide information regarding the facts and circumstances of the murder. These four individuals testified as witnesses for the prosecution at trial. Defendants also testified. What follows is a summary of the pertinent testimony heard by the jury regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the planned robbery as well as the victim’s shooting and later events.

The alley runs between Roosevelt Avenue and Baker Avenue to the north and south, “dead-ends” to the west, and is accessed from Stockton Boulevard to the east.

On the night of November 22 to 23, 2008, the victim left home to go to a bachelor party with his cousin, who had asked him to bring beer. His cousin called him after midnight and told him to hurry up, but the victim never arrived.

The next morning, a man who lived in a unit at 4929 Baker Avenue, near the end of the alley, found the victim in his car by the end of the alley, and called 911. The victim was in the front seat, which was slightly reclined, and his pants were unbuckled. The keys were in the “on” position and the car was in reverse, and had been backed into a fence, where it ran out of gas. The victim had $5 in his right front pants pocket, $200 in his right rear pants pocket, and his wallet was found in the driver’s door panel. An unrolled condom was on the ground near the car, but it was not tested for DNA.

The victim had been shot through the left arm, and the bullet, consistent with a .38-caliber bullet, had reentered the body and pierced his heart. He could have lived long enough after being shot to start his car, put it in reverse, and try to drive off.

A. Crawford’s Testimony

On April 8, 2009, Amy Lee Crawford was arrested for failing to complete work project duties arising from a felony car theft conviction; when questioned, she gave information about this case. By the time of trial, she was on felony probation arising from an unrelated burglary case.

Crawford testified she lived at 4929 Baker Avenue. She had known Lopez since he was 13, and had met Brousseau in 2008. She had had sex with Lopez in the past, but had never dated him. On the night of the killing, she met defendants on her way to a liquor store. Lopez was intoxicated, “hypie” [1110]*1110and “wild.” The trio walked toward Lopez’s mother’s house, but changed their minds and walked to Lynch’s house, on Roosevelt Avenue “just beyond” the end of the alley. Defendants planned “a quick come-up, and they were talking about robbing some tricks.” Lopez said, “Hey, let’s rob some tricks, and [Brousseau] agreed to it, and she’s, like, I’ll go pull a trick.” Brousseau said she would go to Stockton Boulevard, and “bring them to the alley.” When Crawford objected that this was too close to her house, Lopez reassured her that “it wasn’t going to be that serious.” Nothing was said about a gun.

According to Crawford, when the trio reached Lynch’s house, Lopez alone went in and then came out. They walked back, and Crawford and Lopez went to Crawford’s yard and smoked cigarettes, while Brousseau went to Stockton Boulevard. Lopez then stood “in the dark,” waiting. Crawford heard a car drive to the end of the alley, and after about five minutes, Lopez “went into the alley, and I heard arguing, and I heard Ms. Brousseau scream and get out of the car and start running down the alley.” Crawford went to the alley and saw Lopez “arguing with a guy through the window” saying, “Give me your money.” She followed Brousseau “and we got almost to the end of the alley, and we heard a gunshot.” Crawford walked to Roosevelt Avenue, and saw Lopez “running ahead of us.” All three met at Lynch’s house, although Crawford denied the meeting had been planned. Lopez alone went in, and came out after five or 10 minutes.

While they were waiting for Lopez, Crawford asked Brousseau what happened, and she replied, “I freaked out. He knocked on the window with a gun.” Brousseau also said she dropped a condom in the car. When Lopez came out with Lynch, the two men smoked cigarettes, Lynch returned to his house, and the trio went to a back room that had been added on to Lynch’s house, used methamphetamine, then fell asleep. Crawford had sex with Lopez that night. Later, Lopez said he left the gun at Lynch’s house.

B. Lynch’s Testimony

Lynch was arrested on an unrelated matter at his house on April 8, 2009, with Bictoriano. On March 2, 2010, Lynch agreed to testify truthfully for a reduction of a felony accessory to murder charge to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with a peace officer’s investigation, with a time-served sentence.

Lynch testified he had lived at 4900 Roosevelt Avenue, about five or six houses down from where the victim’s car was found. He had known Lopez for 10 to 12 years, and had seen Brousseau about five times. When Lopez [1111]*1111came by the house that night, Lynch went outside to smoke a cigarette, and he did not let Crawford or Brousseau inside. Lynch agreed that Lopez could use his back room, accessible through the backyard, later. Lopez left for about 30 minutes, and when he returned, he asked if Lynch could store a gun. Lynch told Lopez that Lopez knew where to put it, in a “tuck spot” on a hook under the stairs in Lynch’s room. Lynch did not think Lopez had retrieved the gun from his house earlier and did not see him go to where guns were kept. The next morning, Lopez’s brother Bictoriano came to retrieve his gun, and Lynch told him where to get it, but did not see the gun. He admitted he had seen Lopez with a gun when Lopez came in that night, describing it as a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver.

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People v. Lopez, 198 Cal. App. 4th 1106, 131 Cal. Rptr. 3d 467, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 1136 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).

198 Cal. App. 4th 1106 (People v. Lopez) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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