People v. Rinke CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided April 27, 2016·No. E063656·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 4/27/16 P. v. Rinke 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, E063656 v. (Super.Ct.No. FSB1201172) JESSE TYLER RINKE, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. William Jefferson Powell IV, Judge. Modified and affirmed with directions.

Stephen M. Hinkle, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, and Eric A. Swenson, Kristine A. Gutierrez and Kristen Hernandez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant and appellant Jesse Tyler Rinke stole a vehicle and then fled from law enforcement. During the pursuit, defendant entered a freeway driving into oncoming

traffic and collided with a motorcycle, causing the motorcyclist’s death. Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of second degree murder and evading an officer causing death. On appeal, defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to prove the elements of felony evading causing death; (2) the sentence imposed on the felony evading causing death should be stayed pursuant to Penal Code section 654; (3) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his prior felony evading conviction under Evidence Code sections 1101, subdivision (b), and 352; (4) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting a photograph of the deceased victim; and (5) the trial court erred in imposing a one-year sentence for a prior prison term enhancement (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)). We agree that the challenged one-year sentence must be stricken. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND FACTS A. The Charges.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney filed a first amended information charging defendant with murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count 1), vehicular manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (c)(1); count 2), evading an officer causing death (Veh. Code, § 2800.3, subd. (b); count 3), and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a); count 4). As to count 2, the information alleged that after committing the offense, defendant fled the scene of the crime (Veh. Code, § 20001, subd. (c)). The information also alleged that defendant suffered a conviction in case No. FSB055041 (Pen. Code, §§ 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d), 667, subds. (b)-(i)), a serious felony conviction in case No. FSB055041 (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a)(1)), and two prison

convictions, one in case No. FSB055041, and one in case No. FSB054533 (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)). B. The People’s Case.

On January 22, 2011, in San Bernardino County, defendant stole Winston John Martin, Jr.’s truck, which led to pursuit by San Bernardino Police Officer Jesse Joyce in his marked patrol vehicle with his lights and sirens activated. Defendant pulled over. Officer Joyce and defendant made eye contact through their car mirrors. When Officer Joyce opened his car door and put his foot outside, defendant sped away. Officer Joyce pursued defendant with the patrol vehicle’s lights and sirens on. Defendant ran through two red lights and eventually turned onto Muscupiabe Drive. He drove over the island and entered the freeway offramp in the wrong direction. Officer Joyce testified that he terminated his pursuit. However, he later explained that while he did not follow defendant onto the freeway, the officer did proceed to backtrack and enter the southbound Interstate 215 (I-215) freeway in an effort to keep his eyes on defendant’s vehicle.

Christopher Wilson was driving northbound on the I-215 freeway when an ambulance driving in front of him served to the right. Wilson saw a white truck driving against traffic coming right at him and immediately swerved to the right. From his rearview mirror, Wilson saw the motorcyclist who was driving behind him get ejected from his bike, project through the air, and land on the dirt shoulder. Wilson pulled over and ran to the motorcyclist, but there was no pulse. Wilson covered the victim’s body with a blanket and then walked over to the white truck, but the driver was gone.

Surveillance footage from a Verizon facility located adjacent to the I-215 freeway showed an individual running from the freeway through Verizon’s parking lot.

Defendant called a friend for a ride. Defendant explained to the friend that he had stolen a truck, was pursued by police, got on the freeway going the wrong direction, fatally hit a motorcyclist, and then ran from police, using a storm drain near the freeway. C. The Defense.

Defendant testified that he took the truck, intending to drive it to another location.

When Officer Joyce pulled him over, defendant thought that he could not go back to jail, so he sped away. Defendant planned to “make a couple turns, evacuate the vehicle, and run.” Defendant denied intending to hurt anyone. When he entered the offramp to the freeway, defendant admitted seeing one-way signs and knowing it was a one-way road; however, he claimed that he believed it was a road that led to industrial buildings. He claimed he was not familiar with the area; however, he had lived in the area for some time and had gone to high school near the area of the pursuit. Defendant acknowledged that a one-way sign meant it would be illegal to drive the wrong way on a street. To get to the offramp, defendant had to drive over a raised center divider and cross a lane with traffic coming in the opposition direction.

Defendant testified that when he got on the freeway, he changed lanes so that he was driving in the lane that was closest to a wall. Defendant admitted that by doing this, the only option for vehicles traveling in that lane was to swerve into the lane to the right of them, putting them in front of oncoming traffic and in danger of being hit by other vehicles coming in that direction. Defendant recognized that the motorcyclist did not

have the same option. By getting onto the freeway in the wrong direction, changing lanes, heading directly towards the motorcyclist, defendant admitted he basically cornered the motorcyclist and put him in a situation where he could not get out of defendant’s way.

Defendant testified that after the collision, he exited the truck and ran to get away from the area. He claimed he did not realize the severity of the collision until he read the newspaper the next day. D. The Verdict and Sentence.

A jury convicted defendant on all counts and allegations. Defendant admitted the prior allegations. The trial court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of 30 years to life on count 1, and a consecutive determinate term of 27 years on count 3. Pursuant to Penal Code section 654, the trial court stayed the sentences on counts 2 and 4, and the attendant enhancements.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Evidence Supports Defendant’s Conviction of Evading an Officer Causing Death.

Defendant contends there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction of evading a pursuing officer and causing the death of the victim, because the evidence shows that Officer Joyce was no longer actively pursuing defendant at the time of the collision.

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

People v. Rinke CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

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

Related

People v. Jones
278 P.3d 821 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Jones
857 P.2d 1163 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
People v. Beamon
504 P.2d 905 (California Supreme Court, 1973)
People v. Watson
637 P.2d 279 (California Supreme Court, 1981)
People v. Coleman
768 P.2d 32 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Perez
591 P.2d 63 (California Supreme Court, 1979)
People v. Kipp
956 P.2d 1169 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Davis
208 P.3d 78 (California Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. David
230 Cal. App. 3d 1109 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
People v. Nguyen
204 Cal. App. 3d 181 (California Court of Appeal, 1988)
People v. McCarnes
179 Cal. App. 3d 525 (California Court of Appeal, 1986)
People v. Brogna
202 Cal. App. 3d 700 (California Court of Appeal, 1988)
People v. Murray
225 Cal. App. 3d 734 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
People v. Eagles
133 Cal. App. 3d 330 (California Court of Appeal, 1982)
People v. Williams
170 Cal. App. 4th 587 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
People v. Kelley
52 Cal. App. 4th 568 (California Court of Appeal, 1997)
People v. Ortiz
134 Cal. Rptr. 2d 467 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
People v. Williams
94 Cal. Rptr. 2d 727 (California Court of Appeal, 2000)
Vorse v. Sarasy
53 Cal. App. 4th 998 (California Court of Appeal, 1997)
People v. Albillar
244 P.3d 1062 (California Supreme Court, 2010)