People v. Schuneman CA4/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 19, 2021
DocketG058170
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Schuneman CA4/3 (People v. Schuneman CA4/3) 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. Schuneman CA4/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 5/19/21 P. v. Schuneman CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G058170

v. (Super. Ct. No. 17NF1808)

DAN JAMES SCHUNEMAN, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Michael A. Leversen, Judge. Affirmed as modified. Dawn S. Mortazavi, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Steve Oetting and Amanda Lloyd, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. INTRODUCTION Appellant was convicted by a jury on seven criminal counts stemming from a confrontation with officers from the La Habra Police Department (LHPD) in front of his RV, which was parked in a retail parking lot. After he made a belligerent, somewhat incoherent 911 call, officers found the RV and tried to follow up with appellant. He responded by advancing on them with an axe. When he failed to heed their commands to drop his weapon and instead continued to advance, officers deployed various weapons to subdue him and took him into custody. Appellant contends he lacked the present ability to commit assault given his distance from the officers. He further contends the trial court should have instructed the jury on an unconsciousness defense. We reject these arguments. However, pursuant to our power under Penal Code section 1260,1 we modify the abstract of judgment to reflect stays ordered by the trial court in the sentences it imposed on several of the counts. As so modified, we affirm. FACTS On July 4, 2017, Officer Justin Bender of LHPD was dispatched to the area of Imperial Highway and Beach Boulevard to follow up with a subject in a motor home who had called in making aggressive and accusatory statements about law enforcement. 2 Officer Bender was advised the subject had threatened the dispatcher and police in general. He came upon appellant’s motor home in a retail parking lot. Given the threatening nature of the calls, he awaited backup before approaching it. Next to arrive was Corporal John Jaime. From outside the RV, there seemed to be audible commotion going on inside it. This commotion, coupled with the threatening call to dispatch, prompted Corporal Jaime to call for additional backup officers in order to approach appellant. As the backup officers – including officers

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 We do not have the audio recording of the call in our record, but we do have the transcript. The caller seemed to have an irrational belief that police were threatening him or stealing from him.

2 Coleman, Telles, Castanon, and Cassidy; and Corporal Hentcy – arrived, Corporal Jaime arranged a game plan. Officer Bender was to carry a solid, non-riot shield and take the lead in communicating with appellant.3 Officer Telles carried a .40 millimeter weapon containing a less-lethal sponge round, and would follow behind Officer Bender. Officer Castanon would have a taser, and Officer Coleman was to provide lethal coverage, and would carry handcuffs if contact with appellant was necessary. The four officers approached in a single-file, “stack” formation as Officer Bender began rapping on the rear passenger side of the RV and announcing police presence.4 Appellant emerged at least partially, but he seemed to stumble coming down the RV’s steps before he was able to fully alight. He was carrying a two- or three- foot axe. 5 Officer Bender testified appellant was holding the axe down on the right side of his body upon emerging, but then he began “swaying” it at his side and walking toward the officers. The officers immediately began yelling at appellant to drop the weapon. He could be heard saying words to the effect of: “Get the fuck out of here. I did nothing wrong.” He held the axe firmly in his right hand, upright, around shoulder- or head- high, with the blade facing the officers. As he advanced in “a deliberate walk” toward them, the officers fanned out into a shoulder-to-shoulder position. This would allow them to get a better view of what he was doing with the axe.

3 Corporal Jaime testified the shield was made of opaque rather than clear material, had ballistic protection, and was about two or three feet in length. 4 Officer Bender testified he said: “Dan, you are not in trouble. We are here to do a welfare check. Come out and have a conversation with us.” 5 Some of the testimony indicated appellant only got the axe after he first saw the officers. Officers Telles and Cassidy testified appellant was not carrying the axe when he first emerged from the RV, but turned and retrieved it after spying the officers. Officer Castanon testified that appellant got out, reached back in, and got the axe. Corporal Jaime’s testimony suggested appellant was retrieving the axe as he was falling down the RV steps. No one disputes that he had an axe.

3 Appellant was still holding the axe upright with blade facing the officers when he reached about 10 to 15 feet from their position.6 He did not attempt to swing or throw the axe, but he was not obeying repeated commands to drop it and was still holding it firmly. The officers at this point were in fear of what appellant might do with the axe, so Corporal Hentcy urged Officer Telles to fire a sponge round at appellant. Appellant stopped after getting hit and seemed to double over a bit, but never let go of the axe. While he was stopped, Officer Cassidy, who had arrived after the other officers, and was positioned to the side of the confrontation, began running toward appellant to deploy his taser but could not subdue appellant with it. Corporal Jaime was in fear for Officer Cassidy’s safety. When he saw appellant make a forward motion, as if he were going to take another step toward the officers, he fired a round from his handgun, aiming for appellant’s torso. The officers felt appellant was close enough to strike them or throw the axe at them. Appellant went down. Once he was on the ground, officers discovered a knife in his waistband. He was arrested and ultimately charged with four counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer (as to Corporal Jaime, and Officers Bender, Castanon, and Telles) (§ 245, subd. (c)), and three counts of resisting a peace officer (as to Corporal Jaime, and Officers Cassidy and Coleman) (§ 69). At trial, appellant presented evidence of impairment in his mental state. The impairment came in three forms. First, appellant had suffered from mental illness since adolescence, including panic attacks. Later on in life, he had become addicted to pain medication, which required treatment. He presented expert testimony from psychologist Veronica Thomas, who had determined he had alcohol use disorder as well as bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Because of his bipolar disorder, he demonstrated paranoia about

6 The testimony varied regarding how close appellant came to the officers’ position, but the range we can ascertain from the officers’ testimony was 10 to 25 feet.

4 others’ treatment of him which had no basis in reality. It appeared from her discussions with his mother that appellant had been having such delusions for years. Having listened to the audio recording of the 911 call, Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Schuneman CA4/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-schuneman-ca43-calctapp-2021.