People v. Quirk

129 Cal. App. 3d 618, 181 Cal. Rptr. 301, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1354
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 22, 1982
DocketCrim. 4891
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 129 Cal. App. 3d 618 (People v. Quirk) 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. Quirk, 129 Cal. App. 3d 618, 181 Cal. Rptr. 301, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1354 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Opinion

RODRIGUEZ, J. *

Statement of Case

Appellant was charged on August 30, 1979, in count one with murder by the use of a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 187 and 12022.5), in count two with burglary resulting in great bodily injury (Pen. Code, §§ 459 and 12022.7), and in count three with assault with a deadly weapon by use of a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 245, subdivision (a) and 12022.5).

*623 A Penal Code section 1538.5 motion to suppress statements made to a Dr. Matychowiak was denied and on the date the trial commenced, appellant changed his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury convicted appellant of voluntary manslaughter with the use of a firearm, burglary with great bodily injury, and assault with the use of a firearm.

The trial court declared a mistrial on the sanity issue of the case but before he could be retried on that issue, appellant withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on the condition that he receive two years in prison for the offense of voluntary manslaughter with a two-year enhancement for use of a firearm for a total prison term of four years. The appellant was in fact sentenced to four years on count one with a stay being ordered on counts two and three. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, as well as a motion to vacate the judgment of conviction on the ground that the court reporter was unable to provide a complete transcript of the district attorney’s first, summation to the jury. This motion was denied for failure to establish prosecutorial misconduct and because appellant had not attempted to obtain a settled statement on appeal.

Statement of the Facts

While in her trailer at Lake Isabella on the morning of August 3, 1979, Beulah Lovley heard a shot. She saw Dovie Lampkins coming toward her trailer, and after Lampkins entered the trailer, Lovley locked the sliding glass door. The glass was smashed and a hand clutching a revolver came through the sliding glass door. Lovley ran to her bedroom and hid in the closet, leaving Lampkins alone in the kitchen. She heard Lampkins say, “Please Hank, please, Hank,” and she heard three shots. After leaving the closet a few moments later she found Lampkins lying across her couch in the front room. She saw appellant outside the front gate of her fence and returned to the closet for a few minutes before calling the police.

Lovley’s neighbors, Joseph and Mary Marengo, drove up to the gate of their home at about 11 a.m., as appellant was closing Lovley’s gate.

Appellant stated he did not want witnesses and he pointed a gun at the windshield of their car. When appellant -pulled the trigger, the *624 weapon did not fire and he threw the gun at the car. He then walked over to the driver’s side and struck Mr. Marengo in the face.

When officers responded to the shooting, they arrested appellant who was standing in the middle of Alta Sierra Street. Appellant was yelling and holding a revolver in his left hand. Appellant stated that he had killed Dovie Lampkins, that no one would do anything, and that he couldn’t take it any longer. When taken into custody, the gun with four expended cartridges and two empty chambers was seized. At the police station, several shotgun shells were found in his pocket.

The autopsy disclosed four gunshot wounds, two of which were fatal. The victim’s forearm was also broken. A search of Lovley’s trailer uncovered three slugs in the couch area and a pillow disclosed pellet holes and shotgun wadding. Blood stains were found along the route from the victim’s residence to Lovley’s trailer.

Defense Evidence

Appellant’s wife testified to moving to their residence in 1971, with the victim Lampkins living directly across the street. She testified to numerous incidents of harrassment by the victim over the years. They included name-calling, threats, reports to the police, egg throwing, telephone calls, being observed with binoculars, trespassing and damage to property. These incidents were reported to the police, and there were attempts to either sell their home or buy the victim’s home. Appellant and his wife finally built a wall in front of their picture window to prevent the victim from looking into their home with binoculars.

On July 29, 1979, appellant and his wife spoke to a deputy district attorney about the harrassment by the victim, but no action was taken. Appellant became greatly upset, and he drank a great deal on the night of August 1, 1979, and stayed home all day and drank on August 2. Appellant began drinking again early in the morning of August 3, after he discovered what he thought was an attempt to poison his dog.

The owner of the Kernville Club testified appellant had arrived at his club about 8:30 a.m. on August 3 and left between 10 and 11 a.m. after consuming about four drinks, the club owner testified about appellant’s expression of anger at the lack of assistance he was receiving from the authorities.

*625 On his return to his house, appellant threw hamburger against the wall, threw chairs around, pulled the phone out of the wall and left the house. His wife testified he had never done anything like that before.

Appellant had retired from the Merchant Marine after 26 years of service and was then employed as a security guard. Appellant remembered nothing between the time he went to the Kernville Club in the morning on August 3 and the time he was later searched at the police department. He claimed no recollection of going to the victim’s house with a gun or of shooting her.

A clinical psychologist, James Sanderson, examined appellant before trial and diagnosed his condition as obsessive-compulsive, with elements of paranoia. Sanderson also found some mild cortical impairment which could be caused by heavy drinking over a period of 20 years and could be affected by diabetis. He also concluded that appellant was “out of his head, ... not aware of exactly what he was doing as he carried out that rage.” Sanderson testified that appellant could not have formed the intent to kill.

Steven Wilson, a psychiatrist, testified that appellant “exploded,” and “went berserk for a brief period of time in his life.” He also testified that in his opinion appellant did not have the ability to form the intent to kill the victim, and suffered from a mental disease or defect.

In rebuttal, Dr. Matychowiak, called by the prosecution, testified that appellant suffered from no mental disease or defect which interfered with his capacity to understand or appreciate the criminality of his conduct.

Discussion

Appellant’s primary contention on appeal is that the trial court committed prejudicial error in ruling that statements made by appellant to a psychiatrist hired by the district attorney were admissible as voluntarily given.

Appellant was arrested on August 3, 1979, and was fully informed of his Miranda rights by the police. He understood his rights and intelligently waived them at that time.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 Cal. App. 3d 618, 181 Cal. Rptr. 301, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-quirk-calctapp-1982.