People v. Remy CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 21, 2022
DocketE071805
StatusUnpublished

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

Opinion

Filed 7/21/22 P. v. Remy CA4/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, E071805

v. (Super. Ct. Nos. RIF1506080, RIF1604605) WILLIE JAMES REMY, JR., OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Godofredo Magno,

Judge. Affirmed with directions.

Helen S. Irza, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Matthew Rodriguez, Acting Attorney General, Rob Bonta, Attorney General,

Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney

General, Michael P. Pulos, Kathryn A. Kirschbaum, Joseph C. Anagnos, Charles, C.

Ragland, Melissa A. Mandel and Warren J. Williams, Deputy Attorneys General, for

Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Willie James Remy, Jr., was convicted of unlawful

possession of weapons, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia. In a separate proceeding,

he was convicted of domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon. The trial court

sentenced him to 18 years, eight months.

Defendant argues the trial court erroneously admitted expert testimony from a

police detective about domestic violence. We disagree. Defendant also argues, and the

People agree, that the matter should be remanded for resentencing and for a hearing on

his ability to pay the fines and fees that the trial court imposed. We agree with the parties

that remand for resentencing and an ability-to-pay hearing is appropriate. We therefore

affirm defendant’s convictions and remand for resentencing.

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In September 2015, a neighbor saw a gun in defendant’s waistband and called 911.

Defendant put the gun in the trunk of his car. The responding officers searched defendant

and his car. The officers found a revolver and a box of 46 rounds in the car and a

methamphetamine pipe in his pocket.

About a year later, police were dispatched to the apartment defendant shared with

his girlfriend, K.B., her nine-year-old daughter, and her eight-year-old son. K.B.’s

daughter called 911 to report that defendant was “pepper spraying my mom, and he’s

2 grabbing her and throwing her.” When the officers arrived, K.B. had a laceration on her

forehead.

At the police station later that day, K.B. gave a statement and was photographed.

K.B. described defendant’s abuse from that day and several prior incidents. K.B.’s

children also gave statements about defendant’s abuse of K.B. that they had witnessed.

Child Protective Services (CPS) interviewed the children on the day of the

incident. K.B.’s daughter told CPS that she left the apartment when K.B. and defendant

started fighting. When she returned, she saw defendant straddling and choking K.B. and

noticed that K.B. was bleeding. She ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911.

K.B.’s daughter was interviewed again a few months later. Her statement matched

her previous statement on the day of the incident. She also described prior incidents of

defendant’s abuse of K.B.

On the day of the incident, K.B.’s son told CPS that he saw defendant on top of

K.B. and choking her. He said that defendant pepper sprayed K.B. and threw the bottle at

her, which caused her to bleed. He also said that he had seen defendant spray K.B. with

pepper spray several times in the past.

K.B.’s son was interviewed again a few months later. His statements were

consistent with his prior statements.

CPS also interviewed K.B. on the day of the incident. K.B. said defendant was

sleeping in and the children woke him up. Defendant started yelling at K.B., grabbed her,

squeezed her arms, and started breaking things. Defendant grabbed her by the neck and

3 “kind of choked” her. K.B. told her daughter to call 911, so her daughter left the

apartment to get help. Defendant then sprayed K.B. with pepper spray. He threw the

pepper spray canister at her, which hit her forehead and caused her to bleed. K.B.

explained that defendant had punched her before and had choked her “dozens” of times.

During the trial, however, K.B. told a different story about what happened and

recanted her prior statements. She testified that defendant woke up angry on the day of

the incident and they began arguing. As she walked to the bathroom, she hit her eye on

the door to the washer/dryer machine. She asked her children to go to their rooms and

then showered to wash the blood off. When she got out of the shower, police officers

were in her apartment. K.B. said she lied about defendant’s abuse when she was

interviewed on the day of the incident because she did not want to lose her children.

To impeach K.B.’s testimony, the prosecution offered recorded phone calls

between her and defendant while he was awaiting trial in jail. In one of them, K.B. told

defendant that she had told investigators that defendant hit her, choked her, pepper

sprayed her, and threw the pepper spray canister at her. She told defendant that he should

not have “put his hands on” her and that she thought he was “really going to hurt [her]

this time.”

A jury convicted defendant of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person 1 (count 1; Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)); possession of ammunition by a prohibited

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all further references are to the Penal Code.

4 person (count 2; § 30305, subd. (a)); and possession of a pipe used for unlawfully

smoking methamphetamine (count 3; § 11364).

In a separate trial, a jury convicted defendant of willful infliction of corporal

injury on a cohabitant (domestic violence) (count 1; § 273.5, subd. (a)) and assault with a

deadly weapon (count 2; § 245, subd. (a)(1)). The jury acquitted him of intimidating a

witness (count 3; § 136.1, subd. (b)(1)).

The trial court found true that defendant had been convicted of two prison priors:

vehicle theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a); § 667.5, subd. (b)) and discharging a firearm

from a vehicle (§ 12034, subd. (d); § 667.5, subd. (b)). The court also found that the

latter conviction was a serious prior felony (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)). The trial court

sentenced defendant to 18 years, eight months in prison, which included two one-year

enhancements for defendant’s prison priors and one five-year enhancement serious felony

prior enhancement. The trial court also imposed $950 in fines and fees.

III.

DISCUSSION

Defendant raises four arguments: (1) the trial court erroneously admitted

testimony from a detective that constituted improper “profile evidence”; (2) the two one-

year enhancements must be stricken under recently enacted legislation; (3) the case must

be remanded so the trial court can decide whether to strike the five-year enhancement

under recently enacted legislation; and (4) the case must be remanded so the trial court

5 can hold an ability-to-pay hearing before imposing fines and fees. The People disagree

with defendant’s first contention but agree with the rest, as do we.

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