People v. Thornberry CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 13, 2025
DocketD083497
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Thornberry CA4/1 (People v. Thornberry CA4/1) 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. Thornberry CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 1/13/25 P. v. Thornberry CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D083497

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD299576)

DANIEL LEE THORNBERRY,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Joan P. Weber, Judge. Affirmed as modified and remanded with directions. Brad J. Poore, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Collette C. Cavalier, Kathryn Kirschbaum, and Sahar Karimi, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Daniel Lee Thornberry appeals the judgment sentencing him to prison and ordering him to pay fines and fees after a jury found him guilty of bank robbery. He contends his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to seek pretrial mental health diversion. Thornberry also contends the $5,000 restitution fine the court imposed is unconstitutionally excessive and deprived him of property without due process of law. He contends the abstract of judgment must be corrected to eliminate all other fines and fees, which he says the trial court struck, or, at a minimum, to itemize the penalty assessments and surcharge added to the theft fine. Thornberry alternatively requests we vacate all fines and fees and remand the matter for a full hearing on his ability to pay them. We modify the judgment to include an itemization of the penalty assessments and surcharges for the theft fine, affirm the judgment as modified, and remand the matter for preparation of an amended abstract of judgment that includes the itemization. I. BACKGROUND A. Current Crime Thornberry entered a bank, approached a teller, and handed the teller a note stating he had C-4 explosives in his backpack and demanding $100,000. The teller responded he had no cash. Thornberry became angry and warned the teller “it was a serious situation” and the teller should comply. The teller became frightened, opened a coin drawer, and gave Thornberry $41 worth of coins. Thornberry took the coins and the note and left the bank. He was later arrested. B. Charges, Verdicts, and Findings The People charged Thornberry with robbery. (Pen. Code, § 211; subsequent undesignated section references are to this code.) They alleged he had three prior convictions of bank robbery, each of which constituted a serious felony for purposes of a five-year enhancement (§ 667, subd. (a)) and a

2 strike for purposes of the “Three Strikes” law (§§ 667, subds. (b)–(i), 1170.12). The People further alleged Thornberry had served a prior state prison term (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.421(b)(3)) and was on parole when he committed the current crime (id., rule 4.421(b)(4)). The jury found defendant guilty of robbery. Thornberry waived his right to a trial on the allegations concerning prior convictions, service of a prior prison term, and parole status at the time of the current crime, and admitted the allegations. C. Sentencing Thornberry filed a sentencing brief in which he asked the trial court to strike the allegations concerning two of his prior convictions (§ 1385, subd. (a); People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1994) 13 Cal.4th 497) and to sentence him as a second-strike offender to prison for nine years. The requested sentence consisted of the lower term of two years for the robbery conviction (§ 213, subd. (a)(2)), doubled to four years based on the remaining prior strike conviction (§§ 667, subd. (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1)), plus a consecutive term of five years for the remaining prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)). Thornberry argued the prior conviction allegations should be stricken because imposition of a third-strike sentence would be disproportionate to the severity of his current crime, he committed his most recent prior crime in 2010, his mental health problems and drug addiction played a role in his crimes, and he is law-abiding when he takes his medications. Thornberry also argued his “psychological, physical, or childhood trauma” supported imposition of the lower term. (§ 1170, subd. (b)(6)(A).) Attached to the sentencing brief was a report from a psychologist to whom trial counsel had referred Thornberry for “evaluation to determine what, if any, mitigating factors exist and should be considered.” The report states that Thornberry said he had “endur[ed] and surviv[ed] verbal abuse,

3 homophobia, and recurring rejection and invalidation from his father while growing up,” and he “revealed he is homosexual and has a history of being sexually assaulted.” The report stated Thornberry has had severe mental health problems, including delusions, hallucinations, and multiple suicide attempts, and has abused alcohol and drugs since he was 14 years old. Based on the interview and the results of several psychological tests, the psychologist diagnosed Thornberry with schizoaffective disorder (depressive type) and amphetamine-type substance use disorder (severe). The psychologist noted these diagnoses were supported by Thornberry’s “reported history of continued episodes of psychosis, delusions, and departures from reality”; “notable depressive mood disruptions and dysregulations that coincide with these periods of psychosis”; and “disruptions in relationships, settings, and abilities to function.” The psychologist also noted Thornberry “operates at a below average cognitive capacity,” which is “likely a result of combined psychosis and long-term amphetamine use” and “can also contribute to poor decision making, difficulties with impulse-control, emotional dysregulation, and ineffectual coping.” The report states that Thornberry “expressed openness to therapeutic treatment and a desire to change to improve his life circumstances.” The People submitted a sentencing brief in which they urged the trial court to sentence Thornberry as a third-strike offender to prison for 25 years to life for the robbery conviction (§§ 667, subd. (e)(2)(A)(ii), 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(A)(ii)), plus a consecutive term of 15 years for the three prior serious felony convictions (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)). They argued he is the type of habitual criminal the Three Strikes law was designed to punish. The People alternatively argued that if the court did not sentence Thornberry as a third- strike offender, it should sentence him as a second-strike offender to an

4 aggregate prison term of 20 years. That term consisted of the upper term of five years for the robbery conviction (§ 213, subd. (a)(2)), doubled to 10 years based upon a prior strike conviction (§§ 667, subd. (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1)), plus a consecutive term of 10 years for two prior serious felony convictions (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)). At the sentencing hearing, the court stated it had reviewed the parties’ briefs and the probation officer’s report. After hearing Thornberry’s counsel’s summary of her sentencing brief, the court allowed Thornberry to read a prepared statement he described as an “appeal for leniency.” He told the court that three weeks before the robbery he “had walked away from a sober living program” so that he could “rescue a friend” who had been kicked out of the same program. The friend had repeatedly asked Thornberry to rob a bank to obtain money the friend could use to go to Colorado to take care of his dying ex-wife.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Thornberry CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-thornberry-ca41-calctapp-2025.