People v. Twine CA1/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 2025
DocketA169814
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Twine CA1/3 (People v. Twine CA1/3) 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. Twine CA1/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 5/5/25 P. v. Twine CA1/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A169814 v. EDWARD TWINE, (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. 21CR009285) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Edward Twine appeals a judgment entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of murder and other offenses. His sole contention on appeal is that the trial court abused its discretion in limiting expert testimony of his mental deficits, which he offered to support his defense that he did not act with implied malice or reckless indifference to human life. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCDURAL BACKGROUND I. The Crime and Investigation The victim of defendant’s crimes was Halia Gebrezghi. On the night of July 10, 2021, Gebrezghi’s brother, A.K., was sitting in his car near the warehouse where Gebrezghi grew marijuana. A.K. watched out for his brother because Gebrezghi, who made a substantial amount of money, bought and displayed expensive goods, including Rolex watches. Gebrezghi was near

1 his own truck just outside the warehouse, and A.K. saw him waving his hands. A.K. drove over to Gebrezghi, and when he got there A.K. saw “two guns pointed at [him],” held by two people with their faces covered with black masks, wearing black gloves and clothing. Gebrezghi reached into his truck for a gun, and A.K. saw him drop down, having been struck by gunfire. One of the suspects ran away, and the other fell and his gun slid behind Gebrezghi’s truck, and A.K. picked it up and shot at the second suspect. The second suspect ran away. Gebrezghi suffered two gunshot wounds, one of which, to his heart and left lung, was fatal. A bystander who came to the scene to help saw Gebrezghi lying on his back, with a watch next to him as if it had fallen off his wrist. He moved the watch under the truck because it looked “really expensive” and he did not want anyone to take it. Officers who responded found blood and what appeared to be teeth near the rear of the truck, but Gebrezghi did not have any injuries to his mouth or jaw. After making inquiries, an officer learned that a gunshot victim, later identified as defendant, was at a local hospital. Defendant had a gunshot wound to his lip and cheek area. Three of his teeth were missing, and he had not brought the missing teeth with him. Analysis from the teeth and from some of the blood later showed DNA consistent with that of defendant. Near the blood droplets and teeth, officers found a Rolex watch with its clasp open, as well as bullet casings from two different types of weapons. A police detective testified that marijuana businesses are “prime targets” for robberies and burglaries because they contain large amounts of both cash and marijuana.

2 II. Defendant’s Expert Testimony Defendant presented evidence by two psychologists in support of his theory that he did not act with malice because his brain was still at an adolescent stage of development and he had mental deficits that prevented him from being subjectively aware of the possible consequences of his actions. Relevant to this evidence, defendant was 24 years old at the time of the crime. Dr. Paul Martin, a clinical psychologist, testified as an expert in psychological and neuropsychological assessments. He had carried out a psychological assessment of defendant in March 2020 for the purpose of determining eligibility for social supplemental income (SSI), when defendant was 23 years old. The evaluation took about an hour. The standard tests for such an assessment included an I.Q. test, a memory test, a measure of cognitive impairment, and a “trail-making test,” which was a “measure of mental tracking” that provided a measure of prefrontal cortex and executive functions. In the tests, defendant scored in the “extremely low range” for immediate memory, comprised of tests for logical memory and visual reproduction, and in the “delayed memory index” (recalling a story or visual stimulus). At the time of the examination, Dr. Martin did not expect significant change in the next 12 months, the horizon applicable to eligibility for SSI benefits. Another psychologist, Dr. Alisa Crovetti, testified as an expert in child and adolescent development; neuropsychology development; and assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. The limitations the trial court placed on her testimony, both at a hearing pursuant to Evidence Code section 402 outside the presence of the jury and when the

3 court struck testimony the jury actually heard, are at the heart of defendant’s challenge on appeal and will be discussed in detail below. Dr. Crovetti’s Initial Trial Testimony In the presence of the jury, Dr. Crovetti explained that the field of psychology recognizes a difference between the “adolescent brain” and the “adult brain.” A typical age range for a male to have an adolescent brain is 14 to 25 years, although that range might be extended to age 28 for men with developmental disabilities. At age 23, defendant’s age at the time of the evaluation, a male generally still has “features of an adolescent brain.” The brains of those with intellectual disability, such as an I.Q. that is significantly below average, may always function like a younger brain. The frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop, and it does not function at its full capacity during the period a person has an adolescent brain. It governs executive functioning, such as planning, organization, problem solving, and sustained attention, as well as impulse control. The reward center, located deeper in the brain, is less responsive to stimuli in the adolescent brain than in the adult brain, leading adolescents to need higher levels of stimulation—or risk—to experience a sense of reward. Adolescents experience a sense of reward when with their peers, and they are more susceptible to peer pressure than those with adult brains, and more likely to make risky decisions as a result of that pressure. Adolescents are “notoriously bad at assessing risk.” Because of their lower capacity for impulse control, and because the reward center is attracted toward riskier, more exciting activities and to peer pressure, their “decision-making around risk tends to be very problematic.” Dr. Crovetti had never met defendant, but she had reviewed Dr. Martin’s report. She testified that the scores on the tests Dr. Martin

4 administered were consistent in showing global delays in intellectual functioning. The tests showed a “full scale I.Q. score” of 66, falling within the first or second percentile, meaning 98 out of 100 people would score higher. That score was consistent with a mild intellectual disability, and a person with that score would be “extremely low functioning.” Dr. Crovetti continued: a person with an intellectual disability might appear normal in terms of recreational interests and personal care activities, but might find it difficult to hold down a job that was more than “very basic,” might need help organizing activities, and might have difficulty reading social cues and be vulnerable to manipulation. Defendant’s own scores indicated he might have difficulty in academic tasks above a fourth or fifth grade level; his “[c]onceptual problem-solving is probably never going to advance . . . beyond what we would see in early childhood”; and he would never reach a stage of thinking abstractly and weighing variables when making a decision.

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People v. Twine CA1/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-twine-ca13-calctapp-2025.