People v. Sullivan CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided February 11, 2015·No. E060157·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 2/11/15 P. v. Sullivan CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, E060157 v. (Super.Ct.No. INF1201441) DANIEL PATRICK SULLIVAN, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. James S. Hawkins, Judge.

Affirmed.

John L. Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Eric A. Swenson and Michael Joseph Benke, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant and appellant Daniel Patrick Sullivan appeals after he was convicted of one count of assault with a firearm in violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a)(2), with a firearm personal-use enhancement, and one count of negligent discharge of a firearm in violation of Penal Code section 246.3, again with an attendant firearm-use allegation. Defendant raises issues concerning sentencing and alleged errors in the jury instructions. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Benjamin Felix, the victim, owned an auto repair business, Switch Happy Auto Works. Felix had known defendant for about one to two years before the events of June 2012. Defendant worked for a local radio station, and Felix had purchased some on- air advertising for his business at the radio station. Defendant had also sometimes brought cars to the shop for repairs.

Since July 2010, defendant had stored a Chevrolet El Camino at the shop. At some point, defendant gave Felix an initial amount of $1,500 to pay for a motor for the El Camino.1 Defendant and Felix had an informal agreement that defendant would make payments as the work on the El Camino progressed. Felix ordered the new motor, putting the money defendant had given him toward the purchase.

1 In some other evidence, the sum is stated as $1,700. The exact amount is not material; the important point is that the money was spent to order the new motor, and that even that amount was insufficient to cover the entire cost of the motor, or any other costs of repairing the El Camino.

In approximately April 2012, defendant brought in his 2006 Toyota Corolla for repairs. The Corolla had been involved in an accident, and both Felix and defendant anticipated the repairs would be covered by defendant’s automobile insurance carrier. Defendant’s insurance carrier gave its estimate for the repairs, and preliminarily indicated that the damage would be covered by defendant’s policy, but the insurance representative wanted to speak to defendant before payment would be authorized. Felix attempted to contact defendant at the telephone number he had left, to inform him of the insurer’s offer, but was unable to reach defendant. Two weeks later, Felix called the insurer again, and was told that the insurer had also been unable to contact defendant. At that point, the insurer would not cover the repairs on the Corolla.

Felix saw defendant at the shop about a week later, and informed defendant that the insurer refused to cover the repairs. Defendant said he would call the insurer, and that it was a mistake. Still later, defendant came to the shop and asked Felix if he could apply the money he had paid for the El Camino motor instead to the repairs on the Corolla. Felix did not agree to this proposal, explaining that he had already used the money to purchase the motor; in fact, there was a balance still due of $300 for the El Camino motor.

Thereafter, approximately every two weeks, defendant would stop by the shop, or would call Felix, and attempt to negotiate some means of getting the work done to repair the Corolla. Defendant proposed selling the El Camino and using the funds for the Corolla. Felix could not find a buyer, however. Defendant also offered to trade radio

advertising for repairs, or asked to make payments on the repairs, but the parties could not reach an agreement. Defendant came to Felix on April 23, 2012, and explained that the insurer and Felix had been unable to reach him because his telephone was off. Defendant and Felix agreed that Felix would repair the Corolla for $4,500 cash; defendant would bring in a deposit in one week. Several weeks later, on May 28, 2012, defendant came into the shop, saying he was still trying to get a deposit together, but that he no longer had a job. Defendant offered to let Felix take the El Camino, fix it, and sell it to raise money, but Felix declined, as there was no value in the car. Felix told defendant he could not simply store the Corolla at the shop, and that Felix needed a deposit to do the work. Felix gave defendant until June 1 to bring in a deposit, or Felix would file a mechanic’s lien on the Corolla. Defendant became angry and left.

On or about June 4, 2012, three days after the deadline he had given defendant, Felix filed a lien on the Corolla for approximately $2,800: $100 for the cost of filing the lien, and $2,700 for 60 days of storage (at $45 per day) since early April.

Defendant returned on June 6, 2012, at approximately 10:30 a.m. Defendant told Felix that he was there to pick up the Corolla. Defendant and Felix had a discussion in Felix’s office at the shop; the conversation was recorded by one of Felix’s security cameras. Felix told defendant that defendant would first have to pay the lien on the Corolla. Defendant objected, asking how he could owe money when Felix had said he would fix the vehicle. Felix explained that the original agreement was that the insurance payment would cover the Corolla repairs. Defendant replied, “But you said that you were

gonna fix it with the down payment bro.” Felix said he had agreed “as a favor, but it didn’t work out and you don’t have a paper to prove it so, like I said I’m not going to be doing favor to you because think about I’m gonna . . . take advantage or something.” (Sic.) Defendant protested that Felix had said he “could get my $1,700.00 dollars back, bro.” Felix explained to the jury that he had spent the money on the motor for the El Camino. There was a balance owing on the El Camino motor, so it had not been successfully delivered to the shop. The motor vendor also refused to refund the money already paid, because the manufacturer had already invested in building the motor. As an alternative, Felix at one point had agreed to apply the proceeds from the sale of the El Camino to the Corolla repairs, if the El Camino was sold. “If I was to sell it or he would find a buyer, we would use that money,” explained Felix. The sale of the El Camino never went through, however. Felix refused to extend the favor any further, and he testified at trial that he felt defendant was trying to take advantage of him. “[J]ust because I have a shop doesn’t mean I have money to fix people’s cars and accept payments.” Defendant was quite upset at the lien charges.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Sullivan CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

People v. Sullivan CA4/2 (People v. Sullivan CA4/2) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
People v. Birks
960 P.2d 1073 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Torres
312 P.2d 9 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
People v. Geiger
674 P.2d 1303 (California Supreme Court, 1984)
People v. Diamond
92 P.2d 486 (California Court of Appeal, 1939)
People v. Beach
147 Cal. App. 3d 612 (California Court of Appeal, 1983)
People v. Escarcega
43 Cal. App. 3d 391 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)
People v. Orr
43 Cal. App. 3d 666 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)
People v. Birch
3 Cal. App. 3d 167 (California Court of Appeal, 1969)
People v. Leech
232 Cal. App. 2d 397 (California Court of Appeal, 1965)
People v. Steele
99 Cal. Rptr. 2d 458 (California Court of Appeal, 2000)
People v. Lipscomb
17 Cal. App. 4th 564 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
People v. Ramos
163 Cal. App. 4th 1082 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
People v. Stuart
67 Cal. Rptr. 3d 129 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
People v. Superior Court (Dorsey)
50 Cal. App. 4th 1216 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
People v. Superior Court (Du)
5 Cal. App. 4th 822 (California Court of Appeal, 1992)
People v. Russo
25 P.3d 641 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Piercy
116 P. 322 (California Court of Appeal, 1911)
Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court
369 P.2d 937 (California Supreme Court, 1962)
People v. Wilson
427 P.2d 820 (California Supreme Court, 1967)