People v. Monroy CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 2021
DocketC086798
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Monroy CA3 (People v. Monroy CA3) 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. Monroy CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 6/1/21 P. v. Monroy CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C086798

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 14F07390)

v.

JANELLE MARQUEZ MONROY,

Defendant and Appellant.

In October 2014, Luis Enriquez Monroy Bracamontes and Janelle Marquez Monroy traveled from Utah to California with an assortment of firearms, including an AR-15 tactical rifle. Over the span of about two hours, they carved a path of destruction between Sacramento and Auburn. During two separate shootouts, Bracamontes shot and killed two peace officers, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Oliver and Placer County Sheriff’s Detective Michael Davis, and attempted to kill at least four more. After the first shootout and murder, Bracamontes shot and attempted to kill another man during

1 an attempted carjacking. Two successful carjackings brought Bracamontes and Monroy to Auburn, where the second shootout and murder occurred. Bracamontes and Monroy were tried together before separate juries. This appeal involves only Monroy. She was convicted as an aider and abettor of one count of first degree murder (count two), four counts of attempted murder (counts four, nine, ten, & thirteen), two counts of carjacking (counts six & seven), two counts of attempted carjacking (counts five & eight), and one count of unlawful possession of an assault weapon (count fifteen).1 With respect to all counts except the latter, Monroy was also found to have been armed with a firearm during the commission of the offense. She was sentenced to serve an aggregate determinate term of 23 years 10 months plus a consecutive indeterminate term of 25 years to life. On appeal, Monroy contends: (1) we must remand the matter to the trial court for a determination regarding whether or not she qualifies for mental health diversion under newly-enacted Penal Code2 sections 1001.35 and 1001.36; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support Monroy’s convictions for first degree murder, attempted murder, and attempted carjacking; (3) the trial court prejudicially erred and violated her federal constitutional rights by instructing the jury to disregard several of Bracamontes’s outbursts during the trial; (4) the trial court also prejudicially erred and further violated her constitutional rights by providing the jury with an unmodified version of the standard

1 Monroy was not charged with the murder and attempted murder of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies Oliver and Brown (counts one & three), but was charged as an aider and abettor with all crimes following the first shootout in Sacramento, except for the following: Bracamontes was charged individually with taking a patrol car (count eleven) and firearm (count twelve) belonging to the Placer County Sheriff’s Department during the second shootout in Auburn and was also charged individually with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (count fourteen). 2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 duress instruction (CALCRIM No. 3402); (5) the cumulative prejudicial impact of the foregoing claims of instructional error requires reversal; and (6) we must order correction of the sentencing minutes and abstract of judgment. We conclude Monroy is not entitled to mental health diversion. Although the new law applies retroactively to her case, so too does an exclusion to placement in a diversion program for defendants charged with murder. (§ 1001.36, subd. (b)(2)(A).) Turning to Monroy’s sufficiency of the evidence claims, we conclude the evidence is more than sufficient to support her convictions for first degree murder, attempted murder, and attempted carjacking. We also reject related claims regarding retroactive application of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437) (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 2), effective January 1, 2019. “The ameliorative provisions of Senate Bill 1437 do not apply on direct appeal to nonfinal convictions obtained before the law became effective.” (People v. Gentile (2020) 10 Cal.5th 830, 851-852 (Gentile).) We further conclude, in line with People v. Alaybue (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 207 (Alaybue), and other appellate decisions currently under review in our Supreme Court, that Senate Bill 1437 does not apply to the crime of attempted murder. Monroy’s claims of instructional error fare no better. The first such claim is in reality an assertion of evidentiary error and is forfeited. Even viewed under the rubric of instructional error, the claim is not saved from forfeiture by section 1259 because her substantial rights were not violated by any assumed instructional error. Also forfeited is Monroy’s assertion that the trial court prejudicially erred and violated her constitutional rights by instructing the jury with an unmodified version of CALCRIM No. 3402. Nor did her trial counsel provide constitutionally deficient assistance by failing to object to or request for modification of the instruction. Monroy’s assertion of cumulative prejudice also fails. Finally, we must remand the matter to the trial court for a limited resentencing for reasons expressed below. We shall affirm the judgment in all other respects.

3 FACTS Monroy and Bracamontes were married in 2002. They lived in Utah with Bracamontes’s brother, H., prior to the events giving rise to this appeal. We begin our recitation of those events in Utah on Monday, October 20, 2014. That morning, H. was at work when he received a phone call from his brother. Bracamontes told H. to come back to the house and not to ask him any questions. Although he seemed “pretty normal” on the phone, this was not the sort of call Bracamontes typically made to his brother. H. drove home and found his brother in the hallway outside the room he shared with Monroy. His gaze was “very fixed, like he didn’t blink,” causing H. to believe he was on drugs. Bracamontes made a gesture running his finger across his neck. H. interpreted this to mean his brother had killed Monroy. As H. opened the door to the bedroom, Bracamontes pulled a handgun out of his pants pocket and pointed it at his brother’s head. Inside the bedroom, H. found Monroy sitting on the bed, physically fine, but hunched over with her head down. Bracamontes asked Monroy whether she and H. were having an affair. Monroy remained silent, but shook her head to indicate the answer was no. Not satisfied with that answer, Bracamontes directly accused H., who also denied having an affair with Monroy. Bracamontes continued accusing his brother and Monroy of having an affair. Throughout the course of their interaction in the bedroom, Bracamontes went from being very angry to being calm, alternating between these emotional states several times. H. had never seen his brother like this before. The stress of these events caused Monroy to have an anxiety attack; she became short of breath and passed out. Bracamontes and H. came to her aid, but Bracamontes told H. he did not want his help. Bracamontes then helped Monroy to their car, a light- blue Mercury Grand Marquis, and said he was taking her to the hospital. Later in the afternoon, H. also left the house. Before he left, H. took a bag from Bracamontes’s room that contained various firearms, including an AR-15 tactical rifle.

4 When Bracamontes discovered the bag was gone, he called H. and told him to return the firearms or he “would hit [him] where it hurt the worst.” H. believed this to be a threat to harm his daughter. Bracamontes also threatened to kill H. Eventually, H.

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People v. Monroy CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-monroy-ca3-calctapp-2021.