People v. Luo

224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 526, 16 Cal. App. 5th 663, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 940
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedOctober 4, 2017
DocketH042668
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 526 (People v. Luo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Luo, 224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 526, 16 Cal. App. 5th 663, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 940 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Grover, J.

*667After an unsupported excavation at a construction site caved in and killed a worker, a jury convicted defendant Dan Luo of involuntary manslaughter ( Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (b) ) and three counts of willfully violating an occupational safety or health order causing death ( Lab. Code, § 6425, subd. (a) ). Defendant contends there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction, and that the trial court committed instructional error and improperly limited cross-examination of certain witnesses. He also contends he was not given adequate notice of the charges, that the prosecution failed to elect a particular criminal act, and that the statute prohibiting the willful violation of occupational safety orders is unconstitutionally vague. For the reasons explained, we find no error and will affirm the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Dan Luo worked for Richard Liu, a real estate agent in Fremont.1 In addition to being a real estate agent, Liu was a licensed general contractor who had completed a number of residential construction projects. Defendant was neither a licensed realtor nor a contractor but he acted as Liu's assistant, tending to administrative matters and showing properties to potential buyers.

In April 2010, Liu represented the seller of a parcel of bare land located on a hillside in a gated residential community in Milpitas. Liu received an inquiry from someone who wanted to buy the property to build a home, and directed defendant to meet the potential buyer for a showing. Liu told the buyer that he offered "one-stop shopping" for new home construction; that is, the buyer could purchase the land through him and also retain his services as a general contractor to design and build a home.

The buyer purchased the land for $620,000 and later entered into a residential construction contract with Liu's corporation for $731,800. The *668buyer also agreed to a design contract providing that Liu's company would retain architectural and engineering professionals to design the home, at a cost of $133,500. The final plans called for a multi-level single story residence built into the hillside. The design required significant excavation to dig out areas for walls and the foundation.

Liu hired a licensed contractor with whom he had worked on past projects to do the foundation and framing work for *532the house. The contractor and his crew began the process of digging out the hillside according to the plans. They excavated what was to be a hallway by digging a deep, rectangular cut into the hill. At the far end of the excavation was a 12-foot high dirt wall with an overhanging ledge of soil at the top. The dirt wall was not supported and there was no sloping or benching (steps cut into the soil) in the hillside above the wall to decrease the weight bearing on it. The contractor acknowledged the wall area was "a dangerous place."

Defendant, who described himself as the project manager for the construction, was on site every week observing the work. Because Liu was often out of the country, it was defendant who oversaw construction and dealt with the property owner and workers. The owner communicated by e-mail with Liu, but only met him in person on a few occasions and never saw him at the construction site.

By December 2011, the foundation work was not complete. The contractor had not been paid by Liu's company for two weeks and ultimately walked off the job on January 6, 2012. At that time, the hallway excavation still had the 12-foot high, unsupported dirt wall with an overhanging ledge, and there were numerous unresolved issues with the construction.

Defendant had to find new workers to complete the job, which was by then behind schedule. The one licensed contractor he asked to take over declined the job because he had not been timely paid the last time he worked with Liu's company. The person defendant found to finish the work was not a licensed contractor, but rather a union carpenter who would sometimes independently take on side construction projects. Defendant agreed to pay him $35 per hour to complete the foundation work, and the carpenter understood that he was being hired as an employee of Liu's company.

The carpenter began work on January 16, 2012, and considered himself a worker under the supervision of defendant, and not responsible for the safety of the jobsite.2 Defendant did not put in place any job safety plan nor did he *669meet with the workers to discuss safety. In addition to the carpenter, several other workers were hired on an hourly basis to help complete the job. One of those workers was 39-year old Raul Zapata.

On January 25, 2012, an inspector from the City of Milpitas came to the jobsite and handed defendant a "Stop Work Notice." The notice states, "As authorized by Milpitas Municipal Code Section II-1-11.04, you are hereby directed to stop all construction work for the following reasons: [¶] Excavation without required shoring and/or excavation. Consult with soils engineer on recommendation." At the bottom of the single-page notice, in a shaded box, the following text prominently appears: "DO NOT PROCEED [¶] with this job until the above has been approved for correction by the building and safety department." [Capitalization omitted.]

Defendant did not tell any of the workers about the notice and he did not direct anyone to stop work. Instead, he told the workers that the city wanted benching cut into the hill above the wall. He took the notice to the engineer who had prepared the initial soils report for the project and told him the city was requiring a shoring system for the excavation. They discussed fashioning a rudimentary shoring system *533out of plywood, but the engineer did not visit the site or provide recommendations specific to the hallway excavation area. Defendant never sought approval from the city to continue the construction.

Two days after the Stop Work Notice was given to defendant, he specifically instructed the workers to work in the excavation area. He told them to start putting boards alongside the dirt walls forming the hallway because the owner was going to be visiting the site soon and would want some visible progress. The next day, Raul Zapata was working at the end of the hallway excavation, nailing together wood forms. At around 10:45 a.m., the excavation wall collapsed directly on top of him, crushing his skull and killing him.

Two and a half years later, a grand jury was convened and returned an indictment charging defendant with involuntary manslaughter ( Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (b) ), and three counts of willfully violating safety orders ( Lab. Code § 6425, subd. (a) ).3 After a jury convicted defendant of all charges, the court sentenced him to the mitigated term of two years (to be served in county jail, under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (h) ).

*670II. DISCUSSION

A. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

1. Standard of Review

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 Cal. Rptr. 3d 526, 16 Cal. App. 5th 663, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 940, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-luo-calctapp5d-2017.