People v. Stewart CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 8, 2022
DocketC092676
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Stewart CA3 (People v. Stewart 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. Stewart CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 4/8/22 P. v. Stewart CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Shasta) ----

THE PEOPLE, C092676

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 17F1876)

v.

STEVAN DRE STEWART,

Defendant and Appellant.

Responding to a report of a structure fire, police and fire department personnel arrived at defendant Stevan Dre Stewart’s apartment. The apartment was filled with smoke and a fire alarm was sounding. Firefighters found defendant, who was on probation at the time, and his girlfriend unconscious in bed and escorted them out. Defendant, who seemed a bit “out of it,” walked around outside, followed by police Sergeant Jeffrey Schmidt. While the fire department was still working in the apartment, defendant attempted to go back inside. Schmidt grabbed defendant by the arm to stop him from reentering the apartment, and defendant spun around and raised his arms in what Schmidt deemed to be an aggressive posture. Schmidt took defendant to the ground and police subdued him. The People filed a petition for violation of probation, alleging

1 two counts of resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer. The trial court sustained the petition as to one count. On appeal, defendant asserts substantial evidence does not support the trial court’s determination and that, in the absence of sufficient evidence, that determination violated due process. We affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS In 2017, defendant pleaded no contest to felony violation of Penal Code section 273.5 (statutory section citations that follow are to the Penal Code), infliction of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant. On May 17, 2017, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and imposed formal probation. A condition of defendant’s probation was that he violate no laws. On January 17, 2020, the People filed a petition for revocation of probation, asserting that, on October 26, 2019, defendant committed two counts of resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer in violation of section 148, subdivision (a)(1).

The People’s Case

At approximately 3:12 a.m. on October 26, 2019, Sergeant Schmidt and Officer Lauren Meyer were both in uniform and both in marked patrol vehicles when they responded to reports of a structure fire. When they arrived at the location, Schmidt and Meyer both saw an apartment with smoke inside and Meyer heard a fire alarm. They began pounding on the apartment door. When they arrived, firefighters forced entry into the apartment. They went in, came out, and reported that the smoke was from a stove or oven fire, and there was only smoke inside the apartment. Firefighters went back in to see if anyone was inside. Fire Captain Steve Cramer found a male and a female sleeping in the bedroom who did not respond to verbal commands. Firefighters brought defendant and the female out of the apartment. Captain Cramer testified the male he escorted out did not appear to understand what was

2 happening, and Cramer informed law enforcement the male appeared to be “out of it.” He pushed Cramer away. Officer Meyer noted defendant was “being very aggressive with the firefighter that was escorting him out.” Defendant “was aggressively pulling away from the firefighter and he took kind of like a fighting stance, he faced the firefighter. It was aggressive.” According to Sergeant Schmidt, defendant was resisting as he was being led out of the apartment, but he “also seemed like he was not completely coherent at the time.” Officer Meyer got the female seated on a curb and turned her attention to defendant. Meyer talked to defendant and tried to calm him down and get him to sit down. Defendant was not very responsive and was in a daze. Sergeant Schmidt followed defendant as he walked around to keep an eye on him. Schmidt was concerned for defendant because he had just come out of a smoke-filled apartment. Schmidt tried to direct defendant towards an ambulance to be seen by medical staff. Defendant did not acknowledge what Schmidt was saying. Every now and then, defendant would look at Schmidt and scowl, “not in an aggressive manner but almost like what are you doing, like, who are you.” After defendant walked around a bit, he turned and started walking back toward the apartment. Officer Meyer did not want defendant going back into the apartment both because of the smoke and based on defendant’s aggression towards one of the firefighters. Sergeant Schmidt stopped defendant from going inside and told defendant, “we’re not going back in. You need to come over and talk to the ambulance crew.” Schmidt said, “we’re not going in or you can’t go into the apartment or something to that effect.” Schmidt told defendant that going into the apartment was not an option, or that “we were staying out of the apartment.” Schmidt could not remember the exact words he used. At least one time, Schmidt told defendant, “you can’t go into the apartment.” Sergeant Schmidt testified: “That’s why when I grabbed him by his arm, I’m trying to, like, guide him, like, hey, let’s—I hate to say like when you got a drunk friend,

3 and they’re wandering the wrong way and you grab ‘em and you try to turn them in the way they need to go. But that’s kind of what I was trying to do is, like, hey, let’s go back over here . . . .” After Schmidt grabbed defendant’s arm, defendant pulled away from Schmidt really hard. Defendant “rip[ped]” away from Schmidt and put his arms up. Defendant spun around, faced Schmidt, and raised his arms, “like we’re going to fight right there in . . . the entryway.” They were “looking straight at each other.” According to Officer Meyer, defendant turned around “very aggressively” to face Schmidt, and “it looked like . . . [defendant] was going to assault . . . Schmidt.” Schmidt “felt like there was something coming at me, some sort of an attack . . . . So we had to stop him and get him into handcuffs, get him over to the ambulance for treatment and . . . mitigate that risk to me, to the other officers, to the fire department . . . , so fire could accomplish their mission to deal with whatever the fire was.” Sergeant Schmidt grabbed defendant and took him to the ground. Officer Meyer attempted to handcuff defendant but he kept his arms under his body. Defendant refused to move his hands out from under his body, so the officers “started using different techniques to try to gain compliance,” including knee strikes and palm strikes. Schmidt also used a baton and pepper spray. At some point, a firefighter tried to help subdue defendant. Eventually, the officers handcuffed defendant.

The Defense Case

Defendant’s upstairs neighbor testified his wife had called the fire department. The neighbor later went outside and saw defendant on the ground. Officers had defendant’s face pressed up against a bed frame that was on the ground and had his arm twisted behind his back. Defendant was saying, “ ‘Please stop, you’re hurting me. Please stop.’ ” Defendant testified he and his girlfriend had gone to a party. He had drinks before going to the party and more drinks at the party. They went home after 2:00 a.m. When

4 they got home, defendant began to cook some hot links on the stove. However, he then lay down in bed next to his girlfriend and fell asleep. Later, defendant woke up in jail, confused. He did recall a few snippets, “like a glimpse of me . . . looking at my door. And I remember me being on the ground.” Defendant remembered “being on the ground and saying, ‘Ow, ow . . . what are you doing?’ Like I was . . .

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People v. Stewart CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-stewart-ca3-calctapp-2022.