People v. Norman CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided September 9, 2022·No. E076318·Unpublished

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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

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.

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,

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

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 chokehold, defendant moved Doe to the couch where he had been sitting, then moved some pillows and clothing to reveal a gun on the couch. Defendant got on top of Doe, bent her over, and pushed her face so close to the gun that she could see the Glock logo and smell gunpower. He said, “If you scream, I’ll shoot you,” but Doe kept screaming and struggling to escape. Doe screamed “even louder” when she saw the gun. The entire time Doe was screaming, defendant was holding her in the chokehold.

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

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

People v. Norman CA4/2 (People v. Norman CA4/2) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
People v. Johnson
606 P.2d 738 (California Supreme Court, 1980)
In Re Sassounian
887 P.2d 527 (California Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Morris
756 P.2d 843 (California Supreme Court, 1988)
People v. Ochoa
864 P.2d 103 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
People v. Ghent
739 P.2d 1250 (California Supreme Court, 1987)
People v. Rupp
260 P.2d 1 (California Supreme Court, 1953)
People v. Covino
100 Cal. App. 3d 660 (California Court of Appeal, 1980)
People v. Martinez
171 Cal. App. 3d 727 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Duke
174 Cal. App. 3d 296 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
People v. Hopkins
78 Cal. App. 3d 316 (California Court of Appeal, 1978)
Fortman v. Hemco, Inc.
211 Cal. App. 3d 241 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
People v. Corning
146 Cal. App. 3d 83 (California Court of Appeal, 1983)
People v. Armstrong
8 Cal. App. 4th 1060 (California Court of Appeal, 1992)
People v. Hawkins
15 Cal. App. 4th 1373 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
People v. Camba
50 Cal. App. 4th 857 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
People v. Sandoval
161 P.3d 1146 (California Supreme Court, 2007)
People v. Ramirez
201 P.3d 466 (California Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. Centeno
338 P.3d 938 (California Supreme Court, 2014)
People v. Holt
937 P.2d 213 (California Supreme Court, 1997)