People v. Schultz CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 9, 2014
DocketC062100
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Schultz CA3 (People v. Schultz CA3) 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. Schultz CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 1/9/14 P. v. Schultz CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (San Joaquin) ----

THE PEOPLE, C062100

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. SF108413A)

v.

RICHARD ORVILLE SCHULTZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

In incidents almost five years apart, defendant shot and killed Antonio Perez in 2003 and Terry Chatman in 2008. Convicted by jury of manslaughter and murder, defendant appeals. He contends: (1) his trial attorney violated his right to counsel by not moving to dismiss the prosecution for the 2003 Perez homicide for prejudicial delay in filing the charges; (2) the trial court violated his confrontation rights in allowing a pathologist who did not perform the autopsy and toxicology tests to testify concerning the results of those procedures; (3) the trial court violated his due process rights by denying a motion to sever the trial of the 2003 Perez homicide from the trial of the 2008 Chatman homicide; and (4) cumulative error requires reversal.

1 Finding no error and no violation of defendant’s rights, we affirm. FACTS Our consideration of defendant’s contentions on appeal does not require a detailed recounting of the evidence presented at trial. Instead, we provide a summary of the facts in the light most favorable to the verdicts. Defendant is a retired engineer who bought, renovated, and rented houses in Stockton. In 2003, Antonio Perez worked for defendant, renovating a house on South San Joaquin Street. However, Perez found it difficult to get defendant to pay him for the work Perez had done. On November 3, 2003, Perez went to the South San Joaquin Street house to talk to defendant about getting paid. Defendant shot and killed Perez. In 2008, defendant was renovating a house on East Worth Street. He had a dispute with Terry Chatman, who owned the house next door, over who would pay for a fence between their properties. On May 19, 2008, the dispute turned physical. Defendant pushed Chatman, and Chatman grabbed defendant in a choke hold. Defendant lost consciousness for a minute. On May 27, 2008, defendant approached Chatman from behind as Chatman was working on the fence. Defendant pointed the gun at Chatman’s head and fired. Chatman fell to the ground. After a pause, defendant shot Chatman three more times. Defendant claimed that each of the shootings was in self-defense. PROCEDURE The district attorney filed an information charging defendant with two counts of murder. (Pen. Code, § 187; unreferenced code citations later in this opinion are also to the Penal Code.) Count 1 alleged the 2008 Chatman homicide and count 2 alleged the 2003 Perez homicide. The information also alleged firearm enhancements (former §§

2 12022.5, subd. (a); 12022.53, subd. (d)) and a multiple-murder special circumstance (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)). A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder of Chatman on count 1 and found true the firearm enhancements. As to count 2, the jury found defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter and found true one of the firearm enhancements. The trial court sentenced defendant on count 1 to a term of 25 years to life, plus a consecutive 25 years to life for discharge of a firearm resulting in death. The court sentenced defendant on count 2 to a consecutive determinate term of six years in state prison, with a consecutive four years for firearm use. The aggregate sentence was a determinate term of 10 years, followed by an indeterminate term of 50 years to life in state prison. DISCUSSION I Effective Assistance of Counsel Defendant contends that his trial attorney violated his right to counsel by not filing a motion to dismiss based on the delay in prosecuting him for Perez’s 2003 death. We conclude that his right to counsel was not violated because a motion to dismiss based on delay in prosecution would have been futile. A. Background Defendant claimed that he did not know Perez and that he shot Perez in self- defense after Perez ambushed him and started hitting him with a board. The Stockton Police Department investigated, but eventually closed the investigation in December 2003 and destroyed or released the evidence it had gathered. Defendant’s gun he had used to kill Perez was returned to defendant. Five years later, during the investigation of the 2008 Chatman homicide, the Stockton Police Department reopened the investigation of the 2003 Perez homicide. In

3 that renewed investigation, detectives located witnesses they did not know about before. Abel Perez, the victim’s brother, put them in touch with the victim’s girlfriend, Teresa Vasquez. She later testified that Perez had worked for defendant remodeling the home on South San Joaquin Street and that Perez had difficulty getting defendant to pay him for his work. The detectives also contacted William Maestas, who later testified that, on the night of Perez’s death, Perez went to the South San Joaquin Street house to get paid. B. Relevant Law 1. Effective Assistance of Counsel Under both the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution, a criminal defendant has a right to the assistance of counsel. (See Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 684-685 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 691-692]; People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal.3d 412, 422.) This right “entitles the defendant not to some bare assistance but rather to effective assistance.” (People v. Ledesma (1987) 43 Cal.3d 171, 215, original italics.) “To establish entitlement to relief for ineffective assistance of counsel the burden is on the defendant to show (1) trial counsel failed to act in the manner to be expected of reasonably competent attorneys acting as diligent advocates and (2) it is reasonably probable that a more favorable determination would have resulted in the absence of counsel’s failings. [Citations.]” (People v. Lewis (1990) 50 Cal.3d 262, 288.) 2. Delay in Prosecution “ ‘[T]he statute of limitations is usually considered the primary guarantee against bringing overly stale criminal charges,’ and there ‘is no statute of limitations on murder.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Nelson (2008) 43 Cal.4th 1242, 1250 (Nelson).) Beyond this rule of thumb, “[d]elay in prosecution that occurs before the accused is arrested or the complaint is filed may constitute a denial of the right to a fair trial and to due process of law under the state and federal Constitutions. A defendant seeking to dismiss a charge on this ground must demonstrate prejudice arising from the delay. The prosecution may

4 offer justification for the delay, and the court considering a motion to dismiss balances the harm to the defendant against the justification for the delay. [Citations.]” (People v. Catlin (2001) 26 Cal.4th 81, 107; Nelson, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1250.) While “[a] claim based upon the federal Constitution also requires a showing that the delay was undertaken to gain a tactical advantage over the defendant” (People v. Catlin, supra, 26 Cal.4th at p. 107), “under California law, negligent, as well as purposeful, delay in bringing charges may, when accompanied by a showing of prejudice, violate due process.” (Nelson, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1255.) As our Supreme Court has explained: “ ‘The ultimate inquiry in determining a claim based upon due process is whether the defendant will be denied a fair trial.

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People v. Schultz CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-schultz-ca3-calctapp-2014.