People v. Pervoe

161 Cal. App. 3d 342, 207 Cal. Rptr. 622, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2662
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 30, 1984
DocketA021560
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 161 Cal. App. 3d 342 (People v. Pervoe) 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. Pervoe, 161 Cal. App. 3d 342, 207 Cal. Rptr. 622, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2662 (Cal. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinions

Opinion

SMITH, J.

—Appellant Michael Delgado Pervoe appeals from a judgment of conviction based upon a jury verdict for first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187), attempted first degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 664) and the use of a firearm during the commission of those offenses (Pen. Code, § 12022.5).

Background

On the afternoon and evening of December 31, 1981, prosecution witness Mordacai Carr-Kane dealt cards for money on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. He was helped during the game by a man later identified as appellant, whom Carr-Kane had seen “a couple of times” and had also noticed in a photo album belonging to his girlfriend’s sister. Carr-Kane knew appellant was called “Delgado” or “Gargo.”

[346]*346When the card game ended after several liquor runs, Carr-Kane had made $275. He gave $75 of that money to appellant. They were subsequently joined by Carr-Kane’s girlfriend, Teri Persons, another woman named “Baby,” and a third woman named “Sparkle.” Sparkle was later identified as appellant’s sister. The group went to San Francisco on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and during the ride Carr-Kane made $175 by selling jewelry.

After a short time in San Francisco, the group decided to take a cab, planning to drive Baby and Sparkle home to Richmond, then drive Teri to Oakland after which appellant and Carr-Kane would go to an Emeryville nightclub. Carr-Kane stated that he sat in the middle-back seat with Sparkle on his left and appellant on his right. Teri sat next to the driver with Baby near the window.

The cab drove to an apartment complex in Richmond at which time appellant, Sparkle, and Baby got out and “just walked away” despite appellant’s commitment to pay for the cab ride. After appellant ignored the driver’s request for payment, the driver ordered Carr-Kane and Teri out of the cab. The cab drove olf. Carr-Kane then told Teri to start walking. He, however, followed the others to an upstairs apartment and attempted to engage appellant “in a verbal confrontation.” Carr-Kane did not enter the apartment but rather turned around to catch up with Teri.

Three or four minutes later, Carr-Kane saw appellant and another man trotting towards Teri and himself. Carr-Kane told Teri to go to a nearby laundromat, but she refused. The two men caught up with them. Appellant first asked Carr-Kane why he was making “all this noise” about the cab and then asked for Carr-Kane’s money. It appears that appellant had seen Carr-Kane give Teri $375 to take home. Carr-Kane had kept $200.

Telling Teri to run, Carr-Kane separated from her as the two began to run down different sides of the street. Appellant pulled out a gun and shot two or three times at Carr-Kane before going after Teri. Teri meanwhile fell on the sidewalk. As appellant reached her, he bent down and shot her twice in the head. He then started shooting again at Carr-Kane.

Carr-Kane ran into a nearby bar, asking someone to call the police. He was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment where he told police that there were two photographs of his assailant in Teri’s sister’s photo album. He did not initially mention that he knew his assailant. Carr-Kane described his assailant to the police as being a black male, approximately 26, 5 feet 5 inches tall and wearing a brown fur coat. The assailant’s com[347]*347panion was given as a black male, approximately 27, slim build, 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a beige rabbit fur coat.

Carr-Kane was later taken to the Richmond police station, and at approximately 5:45 a.m. on January 1, 1982, he was shown a lineup of six photographs including one of appellant taken two to three years earlier. At first unable to identify any photograph, Carr-Kane subsequently picked out the photo of appellant, stating that he was 70-80 percent certain. Carr-Kane was eventually given the photo album, and he selected two pictures of appellant without hesitation. He was also shown a photo of appellant’s sister, Chentel Rene Pervoe, whom Carr-Kane identified as “Sparkle.”

About 8 a.m., the same morning, Carr-Kane was driven to the apartment complex. He pointed out the apartment in question. Carr-Kane later called the police on that same morning and informed them that he believed appellant’s companion was Maurice Jordan. He made a tentative identification of Jordan. However, later in January, Carr-Kane saw the “second man” on two different occasions while in or near the Richmond courthouse complex. On the second occasion, Carr-Kane was with the deceased victim’s brother who informed Carr-Kane that the man was “Mac Toris” Pervoe, appellant’s brother. However, Carr-Kane was unable to identify the man in a subsequent photo lineup that included the brother’s photograph.

Appellant was charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187) with an allegation of a firearm use (Pen. Code, § 12022.5) and with attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 664) enhanced by allegations of firearm use and great bodily injury (Pen. Code, §§ 12022.5, 12022.8). He pled not guilty. Appellant’s subsequent motions challenging the compilation of the jury pool and admissibility of certain identifications were denied.

At trial, the prosecution presented, in addition to the above evidence, the testimony of Yellow Cab driver Russell Brown, Jr., who stated that sometime after 1 a.m. on January 1, 1982, two men and three women entered his cab in San Francisco and directed him to drive to Oakland. One of the men was wearing a brown fur coat. After arriving in Oakland, Brown drove onto Highway 80 where he continued until he reached an apartment complex in Richmond. As one man and two women left the cab, that man refused to pay the fare. When Brown asked the other man sitting in the cab’s back seat to pay, the fellow said he did not have any money. After ordering that second man and the third woman to leave the cab, Brown saw them walking toward Potrero Avenue. Brown left, but while he was on the freeway, he heard an emergency broadcast that the Richmond police were looking for him. He contacted the police approximately twenty minutes after he had dropped off the five people.

[348]*348On January 4, 1982, Brown was shown a photo lineup of 12 to 18 male photos. He picked out appellant’s photo, stating that he was “certain” that that man was the one wearing a brown fur coat in the cab. Brown, however, was unable to identify appellant in court. Brown was also shown a picture of appellant’s sister. He identified her as one of the three women.

BART Police Officer Milton Ng testified that he found Teri Persons lying on the street at about 2:53 a.m. on January 1, 1982. He unsuccessfully attempted to revive her. Her purse was nearby and open. The police did not find any money in it. An autopsy revealed three bullet wounds to her head, two of which were caused by the same bullet. The skin surrounding one wound indicated a close-range gunshot wound.

The physician examining Carr-Kane on January 1, 1982, testified that he had two gunshot wounds, one in his hip and the other in his neck. A test for gunshot residue was performed on Carr-Kane’s hands at 4:45 a.m. on January 1, 1982. The results did not reveal any particles appearing to be of gunshot residue origins.

A criminalist testified that the bullets taken from the two victims were .22 caliber with similar grooves and markings. However, the bullet taken from Persons’ body was too damaged to conclude positively that the bullets were from the same gun.

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

Related

In re R.C. CA1/4
California Court of Appeal, 2015
People v. Contreras
17 Cal. App. 4th 813 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
People v. Bell
778 P.2d 129 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Morales
770 P.2d 244 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Perkins
184 Cal. App. 3d 583 (California Court of Appeal, 1986)
People v. Simmons
164 Cal. App. 3d 1070 (California Court of Appeal, 1985)
Johnson v. Superior Court
163 Cal. App. 3d 85 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)
People v. Pervoe
161 Cal. App. 3d 342 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
161 Cal. App. 3d 342, 207 Cal. Rptr. 622, 1984 Cal. App. LEXIS 2662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-pervoe-calctapp-1984.