People v. Turner CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 20, 2021
DocketC074524
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Turner CA3 (People v. Turner 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. Turner CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 4/20/21 P. v. Turner CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (San Joaquin) ----

THE PEOPLE, C074524

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. SF123036A )

v.

THOMAS JAMES TURNER,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Thomas James Turner was charged with a series of domestic violence acts against the same victim. A jury found him guilty of a single violation of Penal Code section 273.5, subdivision (a),1 and further found that defendant caused great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence (§ 12022,7, subd. (e)). The trial

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code in effect at the time of the charged offenses.

1 court found three prior strike convictions and section 667, subdivision (a) allegations true, and sentenced defendant to a term of 39 years to life. In multiple briefs, defendant contends: (1) the trial court erred in denying his Faretta2 motion to represent himself; (2) the trial court prejudicially abused its discretion by stationing a sheriff’s deputy behind him while he testified at trial; (3) the conviction offense did not qualify him for three strikes and section 667, subdivision (a), sentencing; (4) he should not have been sentenced to two section 667, subdivision (a), enhancements; (5) his prior conviction for a violation of section 417.8, exhibiting a deadly weapon with intent to resist arrest or detention, does not qualify as a serious felony offense and therefore should not factor into his three strikes sentencing or serve as a prior serious offense for section 667, subdivision (a) sentencing; and (6) in light of Senate Bill No. 1393 (S.B. 1393), the case must be remanded to permit the trial court to exercise its discretion to strike the section 667, subdivision (a), serious felony enhancements. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The Charges and Enhancement Allegations Defendant was charged with six counts of inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant (§ 273.5, subd. (a); counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9); criminal threat (§ 422; count 6); dissuading a witness by force or threat (§ 136.1, subd. (c)(1); count 7); and false imprisonment by violence (§ 236; count 8). Count 1 is alleged to have occurred on February 7, 2013. Counts 2 through 5 were all alleged to have occurred between February 8 and February 11, 2013. Count 9 is alleged to have occurred in October 2012. As to counts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9, defendant was alleged to have caused great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence. (§ 12022.7, subd. (e).) As to counts 2,

2 Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L.Ed.2d 562] (Faretta).

2 3, 4, and 9, it was also alleged defendant personally used a weapon in the commission of the crime. (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1).) For count 2, the alleged weapon was a baseball bat; for count 3, a beer bottle; for count 4, a stick; and for count 9, a knife. And as to all counts, defendant was alleged to have three prior serious felony convictions (§§ 667, subd. (a) & 1170.12, subd. (b)) and a prior prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). Prosecution Evidence Defendant and the victim were involved in an off-and-on romantic relationship from July 2012 until February 11, 2013. During that time, they lived together some of the time and apart at other times; the last time they lived together began in January 2013 and ended on February 11, 2013, the date of the last domestic violence incident. Both were homeless and were living along Highway 99 in Stockton. They frequently drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and used methamphetamine. The victim testified that in October 2012, defendant came to the area where she was living, threatened to kill her, and stabbed her six times using two knives. The victim did not seek medical attention or report the attack to anyone. She testified that she used super glue to close the knife wounds. In November 2012, defendant punched the victim multiple times. She sprayed him with pepper spray and fled. She sustained “a black eye and messed up lip.” Again, she did not seek medical treatment or contact the police. On February 7, 2013, defendant and the victim got into an argument because the victim did not want to get drugs for him. He beat her with his fists when she refused. The victim’s eye was blackened and swollen shut. She did not go to the hospital or contact the police; instead, she ran to a friend’s house at a neighboring trailer park. On February 10, 2013, defendant and the victim “fought and argued all day.” In the morning, they began arguing because defendant was using methamphetamine. Defendant dragged the victim down a hill; when the victim attempted to leave, defendant chased her, so she hid from him. She stayed at a friend’s house overnight and returned to

3 their shared encampment the following morning. There, she found defendant using methamphetamine. When she tried to leave, defendant would not let her. She sat on the mattress, where they continued to argue about drugs and alcohol. Later, in the afternoon, February 11, defendant began hitting the victim. He sat on top of her on the bed and repeatedly hit her in the face and on the top of her head with his fists. She testified that as he struck her, she could hear “stuff breaking.” She felt her nose break, felt two of her teeth being knocked out, and felt punches on her face, forehead, and head. She repeatedly asked defendant to stop, which he finally did. He left to get more beer from his hiding place, and the victim remained on the mattress. He brought her a beer, apologized, helped her clean up some of the blood, and they drank together. When the victim told defendant she needed to “go to the bathroom,” he thought she was trying to leave. He grabbed her by the hair, ripping some of it from her head, threatened to kill her, and began to look for knives to stab her. When he could not find the knives, he threw other things at her and appeared to leave, but was actually on top of a nearby bridge. Thinking he was gone, the victim attempted to leave, but she ran into defendant. He dragged her back to the mattress, where she gave up and fell asleep. The victim later awoke to defendant jumping and stomping on her legs. He again threatened to kill her. She screamed and he knelt on top of her and strangled her. She lost consciousness and later awoke to defendant beating her with a beer bottle. He also stabbed her under the arm with a pointed stick. She lost consciousness again and awoke at the bottom of the hill, where she had been dragged by defendant. Defendant was hitting her with his bicycle, and then with a modified baseball bat. He hit her in the forehead with the bat and she heard a “crack.” He continued to break objects on the victim, including a radio and ice chest. The victim tried to crawl away but defendant kicked her in the face and ear.

4 Thereafter, defendant stopped; she could no longer see him, but she could hear him looking for her. She crawled in the dark to the nearby frontage road because she could not walk. A good Samaritan who was driving by saw her in the middle of the road waving him down, and stopped to help her. He testified that she was bleeding and dragging one of her legs behind her. He called 911, and the sheriff’s department and paramedics responded. The responding deputy testified that she found the victim lying in a fetal position, “screaming, moaning, crying in pain” and repeatedly saying that defendant was trying to kill her.

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

Related

Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Faretta v. California
422 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
People v. Houston
281 P.3d 799 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Beltran
301 P.3d 1120 (California Supreme Court, 2013)
People v. Williams
948 P.2d 429 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Horton
906 P.2d 478 (California Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Superior Court (Romero)
917 P.2d 628 (California Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Marshall
931 P.2d 262 (California Supreme Court, 1997)
People v. Marsden
465 P.2d 44 (California Supreme Court, 1970)
People v. Frierson
808 P.2d 1197 (California Supreme Court, 1991)
People v. Windham
560 P.2d 1187 (California Supreme Court, 1977)
People v. Ledesma
729 P.2d 839 (California Supreme Court, 1987)
People v. Burton
771 P.2d 1270 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Watson
299 P.2d 243 (California Supreme Court, 1956)
People v. Stevens
218 P.3d 272 (California Supreme Court, 2009)
Douglas v. Janis
43 Cal. App. 3d 931 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)
People v. Scott
111 Cal. Rptr. 2d 318 (California Court of Appeal, 2001)
People v. Bradford
187 Cal. App. 4th 1345 (California Court of Appeal, 2010)
People v. Henley
85 Cal. Rptr. 2d 123 (California Court of Appeal, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Turner CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-turner-ca3-calctapp-2021.