People v. Norman CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 9, 2022
DocketE076318
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Norman CA4/2 (People v. Norman CA4/2) 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. Norman CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 9/9/22 P. v. Norman CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E076318

v. (Super.Ct.No. FWV18000674)

NORVELL NORMAN, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Shahla Sabet,

Judge. (Retired judge of the San Bernardino Super. Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice

pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Affirmed in part; reversed in part with

directions. C. Matthew Missakian, by appointment of the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

1 Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Pulos and Joy Utomi,

Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

I. INTRODUCTION

In October 2020, a jury found defendant and appellant Norvell Norman guilty of

assault with intent to commit forcible rape (Pen. Code, § 220, subd. (a)(1),1 count 1),

attempted forcible rape (§§ 664, 261, subd. (a), count 2), and assault with a firearm

(§ 245, subd. (a)(2), count 6.) In these counts, the jury found that defendant personally

used a firearm. (§ 12022.53, subd. (b), counts 1 & 2; § 12022.5, subds. (a), (d), count 6.)

The jury also found defendant guilty of criminal threats (§ 422, count 3), false

imprisonment by violence (§ 236, count 4), assault by means of force likely to produce

great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4), count 5), and unlawful firearm possession

(§ 29800, subd. (a)(1), count 7).2

In December 2020, defendant was sentenced to 17 years eight months in state

prison: the upper term of six years on count 1, plus 10 years for the personal use

enhancement on count 1, plus consecutive terms of eight months on count 3 and one year

on count 6. A concurrent term was imposed on count 7, and additional terms were

imposed but stayed on counts 2, 4, and 5, and on the personal use enhancements on

counts 2 and 6.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 Defendant admitted two felony convictions for purposes of count 7.

2 In this appeal, the parties and we agree that defendant’s conviction in count 2 for

attempted forcible rape must be reversed because it is a lesser included offense of his

conviction in count 1 for assault with intent to commit forcible rape. Thus, we reverse

defendant’s conviction in count 2. Defendant also claims his conviction in count 5 for

assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury must be reversed because

insufficient evidence shows that the force he used in placing the victim, Jane Doe (Doe),

in a chokehold during the assault was likely to cause Doe great bodily injury.

Alternatively, he claims his counsel rendered prejudicial ineffective assistance in failing

to object to the prosecutor’s argument, which he claims urged the jury to convict him in

count 5 based on force he did not use, but might have used, had the assault continued.

We conclude substantial evidence shows that the force defendant used in placing

Doe into the chokehold was likely to cause Doe to lose consciousness and, thus, cause

her great bodily injury. (§ 245, subd. (a)(4).) We also find no merit to defendant’s

ineffective assistance claim because the prosecutor’s argument was proper. There is no

reasonable likelihood the jury construed the prosecutor’s argument as allowing it to

convict defendant in count 5 based on any force that defendant did not use.

The parties and we also agree that the matter must be remanded for resentencing

in light of Senate Bill No. 567 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 567), which amended

section 1170, subdivision (b), to limit the court’s discretion to impose an upper term.

(Stats. 2021, ch. 731, § 1.3, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.) At resentencing, the court may also

consider whether alternative terms should be imposed pursuant to Senate Bill No. 518

(2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 518), which amended section 654. (Stats. 2021,

3 ch. 441, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.) More broadly, defendant must be fully resentenced.

(People v. Buycks (2018) 5 Cal.5th 857, 893.) We reverse defendant’s conviction in

count 2, remand for resentencing, and affirm the judgment in all other respects.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On February 20, 2018, defendant contacted Doe by text message in response to an

ad for worn, thong underwear that Doe had posted on an Internet website. In a text

conversation, they agreed that, in exchange for $200, Doe would give defendant two pairs

of used, thong underwear, and model them for him in his apartment. Doe asked

defendant to confirm this was not a “prank” because she could not afford to make a long

drive to his apartment for nothing. Doe did not agree to be completely nude, or to have

sex, and she declined defendant’s request to send “free” nude photographs of herself.

That day, Doe drove to defendant’s apartment with her boyfriend, John Doe. Doe

went up to defendant’s second-floor apartment while John Doe stayed in the car. The

door to the apartment was open, Doe walked in, defendant greeted her, and then

defendant closed and locked the door behind Doe. Inside the apartment, defendant gave

Doe $200, which Doe put in her backpack. Doe then gave defendant a pair of underwear

she was carrying and took off her shorts to model the underwear she was wearing.

Modeling meant “showing him the underwear on [her] body.” Doe never took her t-shirt

off.

Defendant sat on a couch as Doe modeled the underwear, but defendant looked

down and seemed “uninterested”; he “was just sitting there with his hands folded.” A

while later, he took pictures of Doe with a tablet. Doe modeled the underwear for

4 defendant for 10 to 15 minutes. Because defendant did not seem interested in her, Doe

asked defendant if she could use his bathroom to wash her hands, then leave.

In the bathroom, Doe took off the underwear she had been modeling, put her

shorts back on, and washed her hands. After she left the bathroom, Doe put the

underwear she had modeled on the couch near defendant. As Doe was getting her shoes

and backpack and preparing to leave, defendant grabbed her, spun her around, and put

her in a chokehold with his left arm against her throat. Defendant said, “This is a prank,”

and later said, “I just want to fuck you real quick.” With his right hand, he was reaching

for Doe’s clothes. Doe felt the pressure of defendant’s arm on her throat and had

“trouble breathing.” She said she could not breathe “properly,” and she “almost” lost

consciousness. She was scared and thought she was going to be raped and killed. She

fought back. When it “got to the point where [she] thought [she] was going to pass out,”

she bit defendant’s left arm so hard that his arm bled in her mouth. She was screaming

for help and she was also screaming John Doe’s name.

Defendant had Doe in the chokehold for around 10 minutes. While Doe was in the

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People v. Norman CA4/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-norman-ca42-calctapp-2022.