People v. Mooring

129 Cal. App. 3d 453, 181 Cal. Rptr. 71, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1337
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 4, 1982
DocketCrim. 23044
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 129 Cal. App. 3d 453 (People v. Mooring) 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. Mooring, 129 Cal. App. 3d 453, 181 Cal. Rptr. 71, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1337 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Opinion

LEVINS, J. *

On September 19, 1980, the District Attorney of Contra Costa County filed an information in the superior court alleging that appellant had violated Health and Safety Code section 11378 (possession rof controlled substance for sale). The information also alleged five prior felony convictions pursuant to Penal Code sections 667.5, subdivision (b) and 1203, subdivision (e)(4). On September 22, 1980, appellant pled not guilty and denied the prior convictions.

On May 15, 1981, appellant filed a “Notice of Motion Objecting to Composition of Jury Panel,” which motion was heard on May 18, 1981, prior to the selection of the jury, and was denied. Out of the presence of the jury, appellant admitted the five prior felony convictions and jury selection commenced. The presentation of evidence began on May 19, 1981, the case was submitted to the jury on May 21, 1981, and appellant was found guilty.

On June 18, 1981, the court heard and denied the motion for the new trial. Appellant was sent to state prison for the aggravated term of three years and sentenced to two consecutive one-year terms pursuant to Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b) (making a total commitment of five years). Timely notice of appeal followed.

The challenge to the jury panel was predicated on the underrepresentation of Richmond residents on the jury venire. At the hearing thereof, the substance of the showing was that 6.79 percent of the venire were Richmond residents, that 7.11 percent of the jurors chosen for the week *457 of May 18, 1981, were Richmond residents, and that the 1980 census showed 11.36 percent of the county’s population resides in Richmond. The court ruled that appellant had the burden of showing systematic exclusion, that no showing had been made, and that if there was a disparity, it was not substantial enough to invalidate the jury venire and denied the motion.

On the afternoon of August 6, 1980, vice detail officers of the Richmond Police Department, who had specialized in on-the-job training regarding the packaging and sales of methamphetamines, went to an area where they could observe the activities of appellant. Officer Mussetter, from his vantage point across the street, saw appellant leave a group of four other black males and make “exchanges” with three pedestrians. After the last exchange, he saw appellant put money in his pocket and set a “balled up” brown bag upon the ground next to a cafe. Mussetter directed the other officers, by walkie-talkie, to seize the bag and arrest appellant for sale of drugs. The bag was picked up by Officer Valli and was found to contain 18 small plastic bindles, each sealed with tape. Five samples from these bindles, containing white powder, tested positively for methamphetamine and constituted a usable quantity.

The four males, who were with appellant, all testified that Valli picked up and looked into various bags; one of them heard Valli say, “I can’t find it.” Each of these persons, friends of appellant, had prior felony convictions.

A private investigator for appellant took films of the scene on May 6, 1981, between 4:25 and 4:40 p.m. purporting to show the view from Mussetter’s vantage point to the area of the offense, including traffic on the street.

During trial, appellant moved to have the jury transported to the scene, but the court denied the motion, citing both the difficulty of transporting the jury and the fact that this was the type of case where all the necessary information could be elicited for the benefit of the jury by witnesses. Also, the court opined, the condition of the scene, specifically the motor traffic, would be different than it was on the date and time of the offense.

The motion for a new trial was made on two grounds: insufficiency of the evidence under Penal Code section 1181, and “miscarriage of justice.” The court stated that testimony offered by the majority of the *458 defense witnesses lacked credibility, and concluded, in view of the totality of the circumstances, and from all of the testimony that it could not fault the decision of the jury. The motion was denied.

Appellant’s prior criminal record is extensive, with numerous felony convictions and 14 juvenile probation matters. He had been released on parole 34 days before his arrest herein, and had charges pending for an earlier escape (Pen. Code, § 4532, subd. (b)) and robbery.

In selecting the term of imprisonment, the court, disregarding two of the felony convictions, nevertheless chose the aggravated term based on appellant’s record as a juvenile and adult offender, as well as the increasing severity of the offenses and his poor performance on probation and parole.

Issues on Appeal

I. The jury which decided Mooring’s case was not a representative cross section of Contra Costa County.

II. Refusal of the defendant’s request for a viewing of the area of his arrest was an abuse of discretion and prejudicial under the circumstances.

III. The evidence when considered in its entirety is legally insufficient to prove defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

IV. The court improperly considered two of Mooring’s prior felony convictions for the purpose of both sentencing Mooring to an aggravated term and enhancing his sentence by two years.

Discussion of Those Issues

I

Appellant was not denied his right to an impartial jury. The burden of proof of an alleged class discrimination in the selection of jurors is on the party who asserts that discrimination. (Patton v. Mississippi (1947) 332 U.S. 463, 466 [92 L.Ed. 76, 79, 68 S.Ct. 184, 1 A.L.R.2d 1286].) But once a prima facie case is presented, the burden then shifts to the state to refute it. (Whitus v. Georgia (1967) 385 U.S. 545, 550 [17 L.Ed.2d 599, 603-604, 87 S.Ct. 643].) In Duren v. *459 Missouri (1978) 439 U.S. 357, 364 [58 L.Ed.2d 579, 586-587, 99 S.Ct. 664], the high court set forth the principle that: “In order to establish a prima facie violation of the fair-cross-section requirement, defendant must show (1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a ‘distinctive’ group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which the juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the community; and (3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.” (See also Cal. Const., art. I, § 16; People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258, 266-272 [148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748]; Rubio v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 93, 97-100 [154 Cal.Rptr. 734, 593 P.2d 595].)

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Bluebook (online)
129 Cal. App. 3d 453, 181 Cal. Rptr. 71, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mooring-calctapp-1982.