People v. McMorries CA2/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 12, 2021
DocketB298519M
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. McMorries CA2/1 (People v. McMorries CA2/1) 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. McMorries CA2/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 1/12/21 P. v. McMorries CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, B298519

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA144696) v. ORDER MODIFYING CRAIG ALLEN MCMORRIES OPINION AND DENYING et al., PETITION FOR REHEARING (NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT) Defendants and Appellants.

THE COURT: The opinion in the above-entitled matter filed on December 31, 2020 is modified as follows: 1. On page 2, in the second paragraph, a footnote 2 is added immediately following the sentence: “The defendants raise separate challenges on appeal.” That added footnote reads: 2 Garcia joined in McMorries’s arguments regarding jury instructions and the separate sentence for shooting at an occupied building. McMorries joined in all of Garcia’s arguments.

2. Due to the added footnote 2 on page 2, all subsequent footnotes are renumbered.

These modifications do not constitute a change in the judgment. Appellant Garcia’s petition for rehearing filed on January 6, 2021 is denied.

____________________________________________________________ __ ROTHSCHILD, P. J. CHANEY, J. BENDIX, J.

2 Filed 12/31/20 P. v. McMorries CA2/1 (unmodified opinion) NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA144696)

v.

CRAIG ALLEN MCMORRIES et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, H. Clay Jacke, II, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part. Chris R. Redburn, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Craig Allen McMorries. Derek K. Kowata, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Daniel Garcia. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill and Nima Razfar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent the People of the State of California. ____________________________

A jury convicted defendants Craig Allen McMorries and Daniel Garcia of one count each of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)),1 one count each of shooting at an occupied building (§ 246), and two counts each of possession of a firearm by a felon. (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1).) The jury also found true allegations that the crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)), and that each defendant personally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. (§ 12022.53, subd. (d).) The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of 65 years to life on each defendant. The defendants raise separate challenges on appeal. McMorries contends that his convictions must be reversed because the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that a prosecution witness was an accomplice, and because the prosecutor committed misconduct by shifting the burden of proof during closing arguments. He also contends that the court erred by failing to stay under section 654 his sentence for shooting at an occupied building. We disagree. Garcia contends that one of his convictions for possession of a firearm must be reversed because the crime is a continuing

1Subsequent unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 offense that he violated only once. In addition, Garcia contends that the abstract of judgment must be amended to correctly reflect the fines the trial court imposed, and to correct his credit for time served. We agree with all of Garcia’s claims.2

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW The murder occurred at a detached residential garage in Carson that operated as an informal casino, where people would gather to play cards or use gambling machines installed inside. At around 5:30 a.m. on October 6, 2017, approximately 15 people were inside the garage when they heard a knock at the door. Franklin Atoigue answered the door and said, “Oh, shit.” Two men fired six bullets into the garage, one of which struck Atoigue in the chest, killing him. Apart from Atoigue, none of the people inside the garage saw the shooters. Video footage from surveillance cameras in the alley where the garage was located showed a heavyset man fleeing from the garage at 5:37 a.m. Approximately three weeks later, on October 25, Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s deputies arrested McMorries’s sister Trudy3 on a misdemeanor warrant. In a subsequent interview, Trudy told a detective that McMorries had admitted

2 In his opening brief on appeal, Garcia contended that we must remand the case for a new sentencing hearing because the trial court was unaware that it could reduce his enhancement for firearm use (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)) to a lesser enhancement. In his reply brief, he recognized that this argument was without merit and withdrew it. We agree with that determination. 3 We refer to Trudy McMorries by her first name in order to distinguish her from defendant Craig Allen McMorries. We intend no disrespect.

3 to her that he was involved in the murder. Trudy confronted Garcia about it, and Garcia also admitted he was involved, saying “[t]he garage door opened and the guy got killed.” An officer showed Trudy the surveillance footage, and she identified McMorries as the heavyset man fleeing from the scene. According to Trudy, McMorries was a member of the Carson 13 gang, and Garcia was a member of the Catskill gang. The two gangs are allied with each other against the Scott Park Piru gang, a predominantly Samoan gang in Carson. Atoigue was not a gang member, but he appeared to be of Samoan ancestry. At trial, Trudy testified that she did not remember most of the statements she made to police, and that she told police what they wanted to hear for fear that they would take her daughter away. In a jailhouse phone call after Trudy testified, McMorries told his mother that Trudy had done well. McMorries’s mother said, “I told her what to do. I hope she listened.” McMorries answered, “She did.” The day after Trudy told the detective about McMorries’s involvement in the murder, sheriff ’s deputies arrested McMorries as he was driving a pickup truck accompanied by K.S. The truck belonged to K.S.’s husband. Deputies searched the vehicle and discovered a loaded nine-millimeter Ruger gun locked in a compartment in the rear of the vehicle. In an interview with a detective, K.S. said that the gun belonged to McMorries, and that she had seen him the day before with the gun in his pants and some bullets in his pocket. At trial, K.S. recanted her previous statements and claimed that the voice in the recording of the interview was not hers. On the same day that McMorries was arrested, sheriff ’s deputies spotted Garcia at a nearby condominium complex.

4 When Garcia saw the deputies, he immediately began running away and discarded a backpack he had been wearing. The deputies searched the area and recovered the backpack. Inside, they discovered a loaded .380 caliber Bersa handgun, as well as mail belonging to Garcia.

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

Related

Darden v. Wainwright
477 U.S. 168 (Supreme Court, 1986)
People v. Correa
278 P.3d 809 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Gonzales and Soliz
256 P.3d 543 (California Supreme Court, 2011)
Neal v. State of California
357 P.2d 839 (California Supreme Court, 1960)
People v. Wash
861 P.2d 1107 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
People v. Arias
913 P.2d 980 (California Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Sully
812 P.2d 163 (California Supreme Court, 1991)
People v. Fauber
831 P.2d 249 (California Supreme Court, 1992)
People v. Shabazz
175 Cal. App. 3d 468 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Masters
195 Cal. App. 3d 1124 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
People v. Anderson
221 Cal. App. 3d 331 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
People v. Felix
172 Cal. App. 4th 1618 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
People v. Centers
86 Cal. Rptr. 2d 151 (California Court of Appeal, 1999)
People v. Acosta
48 Cal. App. 4th 411 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
People v. Chun
203 P.3d 425 (California Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. Cash
50 P.3d 332 (California Supreme Court, 2002)
People v. Ledesma
140 P.3d 657 (California Supreme Court, 2006)
People v. Hansen
885 P.2d 1022 (California Supreme Court, 1994)
People v. Mitchell
26 P.3d 1040 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Bryant, Smith and Wheeler
334 P.3d 573 (California Supreme Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. McMorries CA2/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mcmorries-ca21-calctapp-2021.