People v. McCall

128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 917, 104 Cal. App. 4th 1365
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 26, 2003
DocketC038946
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 917 (People v. McCall) 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. McCall, 128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 917, 104 Cal. App. 4th 1365 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

128 Cal.Rptr.2d 917 (2002)
104 Cal.App.4th 1365

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Lisa Robin McCALL, Defendant and Appellant.

No. C038946.

Court of Appeal, Third District.

December 31, 2002.
Review Granted March 26, 2003.

*920 Rebecca P. Jones, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Jo Graves, Senior Assistant Attorney General, J. Robert Jibson, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Judy Kaida, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Certified for Partial Publication.

BLEASE, Acting Presiding Judge.

Defendant Lisa Robin McCall was convicted by jury of manufacturing methamphetamine (Health & Saf.Code, § 11379.6, subd. (a))[1], possession of ephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine (§ 11383, subd. (c)(1)), possession of hydriodic acid with intent to manufacture methamphetamine (§ 11383, subds.(c)(2) and (f)), and use and possession of methamphetamine. (§§ 11550 and 11377.)[2]

She was sentenced to serve a total of six years in prison on concurrent terms as follows: five years on count one, six years on count two, four years on count three, and two years on count four. Execution of the sentence was suspended pursuant to section 3051, upon a finding defendant is in imminent danger of becoming addicted to narcotics. She appeals from the judgment of conviction.

On appeal, McCall challenges the denial of her motion to suppress evidence seized from her residence and raises several instructional and evidentiary errors.

We agree with her claim that count three must be reversed because the jury was instructed with an unconstitutional mandatory presumption which required it to find defendant possessed hydriodic acid if it found she possessed the essential chemicals red phosphorous and iodine.[3] We will reverse the conviction on count three and affirm the judgment in all other respects.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. The Prosecution's Case

On the afternoon of January 4, 2001, law enforcement officers from the Trinity County Sheriffs Department went to defendant's cabin at Mills Camp in Peanut to arrest her. Officers contacted James Youngman, co-defendant Barry Youngman's father. He told them that defendant was not home. The officers asked if they could go inside the house and look and he said "sure." Upon entry, the officers *921 detected a strong chemical odor coming from the kitchen. When they went into the kitchen, officers saw a glass pan containing a line of a white powdery substance. A glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine and a piece of paper containing an unidentified substance was found in a back room. The house is an 800 square foot cabin with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and laundry room.

Law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant of defendant's residence and returned to execute it later that same day. When the officers were approximately 30 feet from the residence, they smelled a chemical odor. Inside the house, officers observed male and female adult clothing, various receipts and other documents bearing the names of defendant and Barry Youngman, and one bed. In the kitchen there was a full complement of cooking and eating utensils. It appeared that two people resided in the house.

Officers seized four firearms, a glass methamphetamine smoking pipe containing residue, and a hypodermic syringe, a piece of drinking straw with residue buildup consisting of .03 grams of methamphetamine, and a small brown rock determined to be .02 grams of methamphetamine.[4] Also seized were numerous empty baggies of varying sizes commonly used to package illegal narcotics, boxes of ephedrine tablets and sinus medication containing pseudoephedrine, containers of solvent, coffee filters stained with a reddish-colored substance, a can containing baggies with a reddish powdered substance, a digital scale, duct tape, a tetracycline prescription bottle containing beads and a lid with a yellow stain, a small electric coffee grinder containing a white powdery residue, rubber tubing, two bottles labeled red devil lye, a small measuring cup, and a piece of paper bearing an address for the Alpha Iodine Company with prices for various amounts. The majority of the seized items were found either in the utility room or the kitchen.

A blue pickup truck was parked outside at defendant's residence. During a search of the truck on January 4th, officers seized from its interior, a rifle, a letter addressed to defendant, and Sudafed tablets containing pseudoephedrine.

On the morning of January 6th, defendant was arrested as she entered the pickup truck in the parking lot of the Burger King in Weaverville. At that time, sheriffs deputies found located on the seat of the truck, a key for room number 6 at the Indian Creek Motel in Douglas City. The deputies went to room number 6 at the Indian Creek Motel. The room was registered to Barry Youngman. Barry was in the room at the time and was immediately arrested. During a search of the motel room, deputies seized a canvas bag containing defendant's California identification card and a small piece of tinfoil containing an off-white powdery substance later identified as .02 grams of methamphetamine.

Subsequent testing of the powdery substances and the liquids seized from defendant's residence revealed the presence of methamphetamine; ephedrine, a precursor to methamphetamine; phenyl-2-propanone (P-2-P), a by-product in the manufacturing of methamphetamine by the ephedrine-hydriodic acid method; red phosphorus containing methamphetamine and other by-products from the manufacture of methamphetamine by the ephedrine-hydriodic acid method; red phosphorus; *922 and iodine crystals, mixed with water and red phosphorus.

Defendant's latent fingerprints were found on a can of Naptha solvent, and 11 of Barry Youngman's latent fingerprints were found on various items, including jars, bottles, flasks, a dish containing residue, and a coffee grinder, all used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Defendant and Barry and James Youngman all tested positive for methamphetamine upon their arrests.

Expert testimony established that pseudoephedrine is the only precursor of the ephedrine-hydriodic acid method of processing methamphetamine. A precursor is a primary chemical that is changed into a finished product. Substances used in the manufacture of methamphetamine by the ephedrine-hydriodic acid method include pseudoephedrine tablets, solvents, bases such as Red Devil lye, red phosphorus, and iodine; equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine by that same method include coffee filters, plastic baggies, coffee grinders, funnels, separators, pans, containers, and jars.

An expert opined there was a laboratory to manufacture methamphetamine by the ephedrine-hydriodic acid method in defendant's residence, and that there was a sufficient quantity of pseudoephedrine, red phosphorus, and iodine present to manufacture methamphetamine.

B. The Defense

Defendant did not testify but called Barry Youngman, who testified he was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine based upon the same facts presented in the instant case. He lived with defendant from June 2000 to January 2001 and manufactured methamphetamine at her residence in January of 2001.

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Related

People v. Pinkston
5 Cal. Rptr. 3d 274 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 917, 104 Cal. App. 4th 1365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mccall-calctapp-2003.