People v. Singh

221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 308, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1187, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 671
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 2, 2017
DocketC075295
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 308 (People v. Singh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Singh, 221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 308, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1187, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 671 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

NICHOLSON, J.

*1189Defendant Ravinesh Singh appeals from his conviction of first degree murder. He contends the trial court erred by (1) admitting into evidence handwritten rap lyrics found in his home; (2) permitting the alternate jurors to hear the court reporter read back testimony to the jury; and (3) denying his motion for new trial made on the basis of new exculpatory evidence. We disagree with each of defendant's contentions and affirm the judgment.

*311FACTS

Darnell Dabney and codefendant Tony Van sold marijuana in 2008. Van had provided Dabney with a cell phone in order to sell drugs. On the evening of October 13, 2008, Van spoke with Dabney by phone and agreed to bring him some marijuana to sell. Dabney lived at the home of his friend, Michael Pulido, and told Van he was there. Van called Dabney when he arrived at the Pulido home. He arrived driving a white Acura with Lamborghini-type doors. He parked the car across the street from the Pulido home, with the driver's side facing the home.

*1190After receiving Van's call, Dabney went out of the house and walked to the car. Van was seated in the driver's seat, and defendant was seated in the front passenger seat. Dabney spoke with Van about the marijuana, getting Van his money, and going together to commit a burglary.

Defendant asked Dabney who was at the house. Dabney named the people, including a person Dabney called "Joe from the flats," later identified as Joseph Montoya. Defendant asked to see Joe's face.

Dabney walked up to Montoya, who was standing outside with others on the driveway. He asked Montoya if he could talk with him, and he led him to the end of the driveway so defendant could see Montoya's face from the car. They talked about Montoya getting some pills for a friend of Dabney's. Montoya made a phone call and then let Dabney know how the deal would work.

By that time, defendant had exited the car and walked up to Dabney's left. Someone said, "[H]ey, Joe." Dabney and Montoya looked up, and defendant shot Montoya in the face. After Montoya fell to the ground, defendant stood over him and shot him three more times; near his belly button, in his left groin, and in his penis. The gunshot to the face was "an immediately fatal injury."

Defendant ran back to the car and told Dabney to get in the car. Dabney got in the backseat, defendant got in the front, and Van drove them away. Defendant told Dabney he shot Montoya because a few years earlier, Montoya had participated in a drive-by shooting on his house, and his cousin and his dog were shot.

Dabney recognized the gun defendant used as a Baretta nine-millimeter owned by Van. Van kept the gun in his car. Defendant disassembled the gun and wrapped it in a T-shirt. The trio stopped along the Sacramento River, and Dabney threw the gun in the river.

They drove to defendant's home in Rio Linda. Defendant told Dabney to take off his clothes so he could burn them. He burned Dabney's and his own clothes on an outdoor grill. Defendant asked his neighbor, Robert Starnes, if he could store Van's Acura in Starnes's garage. He told Starnes he had just shot a guy named Joseph and he was leaving town. Soon after, the three men left defendant's home in defendant's car, picked up two more people, and *1191drove to Seattle. Along the way, defendant threatened to kill the youngest family member of any person who told on him.1

Cell phone records showed Van's two phones, the one he possessed and the other that Dabney possessed, were in the vicinity of the crime scene around the time of the murder. The records also showed *312the phone Van possessed was near the Freeport Bridge over the Sacramento River approximately five minutes after the murder. About 30 minutes later, calls were made from that phone from Rio Linda. After the last call at about 11:46 p.m., the next phone call happened about seven hours later and was routed through Portland, Oregon.

Officers obtained surveillance video from a camera installed on the Freeport Bridge. The video showed that at around 10:18 p.m. the night of the murder, a white Acura crossed the bridge. The license plate on the car could be identified in the video. Van was known to have been driving a white Acura with the same license plate during this period of time. The video showed at least two people in the car.

Following trial, a jury convicted defendant of first degree murder and found true a firearm use enhancement. ( Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), Pen. Code, former § 12022.53, subd. (d)); The trial court sentenced defendant to an aggregate state prison term of 50 years to life; 25 years to life for murder and another 25 years to life for the enhancement.2

DISCUSSION

On appeal, defendant contends the trial court: (1) violated his right to a fair trial by admitting handwritten rap lyrics found in defendant's home that he claims were irrelevant and unduly prejudicial; (2) violated his jury trial rights when it permitted the alternate jurors to hear the court reporter read back Dabney's testimony to the jury; and (3) abused its discretion when it denied defendant's motion for new trial made on the basis of new exculpatory evidence; a declaration by Van written after the verdict.

We address and reject each contention.

*1192I

Admission of Rap Lyrics

When officers searched defendant's home in 2011, they found handwritten rap lyrics that described criminal behavior similar to how defendant killed Montoya. Officers found a page of lyrics inside a storage bin that contained bank statements, documents and other mail addressed to defendant. They also found notebooks containing lyrics inside a microwave oven. The trial court admitted some of the lyrics into evidence to show intent and motive. Defendant contends the trial court violated his rights to due process and a fair trial by admitting the lyrics because the lyrics were irrelevant and unduly prejudicial. We disagree. The lyrics were relevant and not prejudicial. Even if the court erred by admitting them, the error was harmless.

A. Background information

Defendant filed an in limine motion to exclude the handwritten lyrics. He contended there was no foundation as to who wrote them and when they were written. He also argued their admission was unduly prejudicial under Evidence Code section 352.

The trial court held an Evidence Code section 402 hearing for the prosecution to authenticate the lyrics. Elena Sophia Rios-Singh, defendant's wife, testified for the prosecution. She and defendant married after he was arrested. They had lived together off and on for years before then. She recognized defendant's handwriting on the cover of one of the notebooks that *313contained lyrics. However, she testified she did not recognize the handwriting inside any of the recovered notebooks except at least one note that she wrote.

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Bluebook (online)
221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 308, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1187, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-singh-calctapp5d-2017.