People v. Sims CA2/5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 4, 2013
DocketB242500
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Sims CA2/5 (People v. Sims CA2/5) 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. Sims CA2/5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 12/4/13 P. v. Sims CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B242500

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA077558) v.

MICHAEL A. SIMS II,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Elden S. Fox, Judge. Affirmed. Verna Wefald, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Connie H. Kan, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. INTRODUCTION A jury found defendant and appellant Michael A. Sims II guilty of first degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 4591), two counts of forcible oral copulation (§ 288a, subd. (c)(2)(A)), and false imprisonment by violence (§ 236). The jury found true the allegation that the forcible oral copulation offenses were committed during the commission of a first degree burglary. (§ 667.61, subds. (a) & (d).) The trial court found true the allegations that defendant suffered two prior convictions within the meaning of sections 1170, subdivision (h)(3); 667, subdivisions (a)(1) and (b) through (i); and 1170.12, subdivisions (a) through (d). The trial sentenced defendant to state prison for a term of 10 years plus 150 years to life. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court violated his right to due process when it denied his request to instruct the jury on attempted oral copulation as a lesser included offense of forcible oral copulation. We asked the parties to submit supplemental letters briefs addressing whether attempted forcible oral copulation is a lesser included offense of forcible oral copulation. We hold that attempted forcible oral copulation is a lesser included offense of forcible oral copulation, but that substantial evidence did not support an attempt instruction. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND V.S. and her 10-year-old son lived in an apartment in West Hollywood. On May 6, 2011, V.S. was asleep on her living room couch. Her son, who was not feeling well, was asleep in her bed. About 12:30 a.m., V.S. woke up and turned off the television and the lights. As she was walking to her bedroom, she heard a knock. She went to her door, looked through the peephole, and saw defendant. Defendant said, “Open the door.” V.S. replied, “I don’t know you. Who are you looking for?” Defendant said a name that V.S. did not know. V.S. said, “You have the wrong place, please leave.” Defendant kept saying, “Open the door.” At some point,

1 All statutory citations are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.

2 V.S. told defendant that she would call the police if he did not leave. Defendant walked away from the door and down the stairs. V.S. closed the living room window and ran to the bedroom to close all the windows. V.S. returned to the living room. Defendant had returned and was by the door again. Defendant told V.S. to open the door. V.S. called 911.2 As she was on the phone with a 911 operator, V.S. saw defendant trying to open the living room window. V.S. cried and her son, who was then standing between the bedroom and the living room, screamed. As V.S. went to her son, defendant pushed the window screen into the living room and entered the apartment through the window. V.S. grabbed her son and ran to the bedroom. V.S. closed the bedroom door and moved a nightstand against the door. She and her son also tried to move the bed, but it was too heavy. Defendant pushed on the door. V.S. tried to hold the door closed, but defendant overcame her resistance and entered the bedroom. V.S. and her son started to back away from defendant. V.S. believed that defendant was there to rob her and said, “Take whatever you want. What do you want?” Defendant told V.S. to take off her clothes. He said he had a gun and would kill her and her son. The recording of V.S.’s 911 call reflected that defendant told V.S. to put her son in the closet. V.S.’s son went into the closet. V.S. took off her pajama bottoms. She was still wearing a t-shirt and underwear. Defendant pushed V.S. to her knees. He took out his genitals and told V.S. to put his penis in her mouth. V.S. put defendant’s penis in her mouth. She thought that if she did what defendant told her to do, the incident would end. She did not want defendant to become violent and do something to her son. She also was afraid for herself. Defendant repeatedly told V.S. to suck his penis. V.S. asked defendant to stop and to let her son go. At some point, V.S. said to defendant, “Look, let’s just go in the living room. I’ll do whatever you want.” V.S. was

2 The telephone line between V.S. and the 911 operator remained open during the ensuing events. Parts of a recording of the 911 call were played for the jury.

3 trying to shield her son. While he was in the closet, V.S.’s son kept opening the door. V.S. told him to keep the door shut and to remain in the closet. During the attack, V.S. knew her son was listening and thought he might be watching. Defendant and V.S. started to move toward the living room. When they reached the hallway between the bedroom and the living room, V.S. saw her neighbor Izabella Shnaider at the living room window. Shnaider had gone to V.S.’s window after hearing someone crying and being alerted by a neighbor that V.S.’s window had been broken and something was going on inside. Shnaider called V.S.’s name, and V.S. screamed, “Call the police.” Defendant dragged V.S. back into the bedroom. Defendant again pushed V.S. to the floor. He took off all of his clothes and repeatedly said, “Suck it. Suck it. Put it all the way in.” As reflected on the 911 recording, defendant said that he would kill V.S. if she did not “suck it.” V.S. “tried to do it with [her] hand” to avoid putting defendant’s penis in her mouth, but he kept saying, “Put it in your mouth.” Because she did not want defendant to become violent and she was still afraid for her son and her herself, she complied and put defendant’s penis in her mouth for a second time. Both times that defendant ordered V.S. to put his penis in her mouth, defendant’s penis went in and out of her mouth more than one time. Defendant “push[ed] it all the way in,” V.S.’s lips were “around his penis,” and her “tongue also touched [his] penis.” Asked if she were able to hear the act of oral copulation on the 911 recording, V.S. responded, “I heard—there were times when I heard different noises than me crying or screaming or saying things, and it sounded like the noise that I would be making if my mouth was closed, like if something was in there and it was preventing me from saying it. Those sounds I heard. And I think also some of the crying sounds are in rhythm of the act that he was doing.” Shnaider, who babysat V.S.’s son and had a key to V.S.’s apartment, entered V.S.’s apartment, and ran to V.S.’s bedroom. V.S. was on her knees. Defendant was naked and stood next to V.S., facing her. V.S. told Shnaider that her son was in the closet and asked her to take him out of the apartment. Defendant told Shnaider to leave and

4 threatened to kill her if she did not comply. Shnaider took V.S.’s son to his grandmother’s apartment, which was in the same building. After Shnaider and V.S.’s son left V.S.’s apartment, defendant continued to tell V.S. to “Put it all the way in. Suck it. Suck it.” V.S. complied.

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People v. Sims CA2/5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sims-ca25-calctapp-2013.