People v. Wakefield CA1/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 23, 2020
DocketA158164
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Wakefield CA1/1 (People v. Wakefield CA1/1) 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. Wakefield CA1/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Filed 11/23/20 P. v. Wakefield CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A158164 v. DARYL WAKEFIELD, (Solano County Defendant and Appellant. Super. Ct. No. VCR221437)

Following a jury trial, defendant Daryl Wakefield was found guilty of the murder of Erica B., the attempted first degree murder of her son Erick T., as well as related child abuse and assault charges.1 On appeal, defendant contends his convictions should be reversed because the trial court improperly dismissed a deliberating juror and prejudicially erred in excluding proposed impeachment evidence. Defendant also contends the sentencing minute order should be amended to reflect the number of presentence credits ordered by the trial court at the sentencing hearing. We conclude that the abstract of judgment must be modified to reflect 1,841 total days of custody credit and to strike the conduct credit because

Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.90, governing “Privacy in 1

opinions,” we refer to the victims and certain witnesses by their first names and last initials only. such credit is inapplicable to a defendant convicted of murder. Accordingly, we correct the credits as set forth below and affirm the judgment in all other respects. I. BACKGROUND The following is a brief summary of some of the factual and procedural background in this case, which we set out to provide context to the claims raised on appeal. A. Factual Background Defendant was charged with the murder of Erica B. (Pen. Code,2 § 187, subd. (a); count 1); the attempted first degree murder of Erick T. (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664; count 2); two counts of felony child abuse (§ 273a, subd. (a); counts 3–4); and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4); count 5). Count 4 was subsequently reduced to misdemeanor child abuse. (§ 273a, subd. (a).) Defendant met Erica B. through mutual friends in July 2014. According to an acquaintance of Erica, defendant “really liked” Erica and “[h]e made it very clear he wanted to be around her all the time.” Erica’s son, Erick T., testified at trial that in the early morning on July 26, 2014, he woke up and heard defendant and Erica B. arguing in the hallway. Erica tried to leave the house but defendant blocked her path, shoved her towards the bedroom, pulled out a knife, and stabbed her approximately 20 times. When Erick entered the bedroom to help his mother, defendant kicked him, knelt on his head, and slit his neck and lip with the knife. Defendant then left on his bicycle.

2 Unless otherwise indicated, all statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 Erick’s brother, Lorenzo T., testified that he woke up to Erick screaming and saying that their mother needed help. Lorenzo went into his mother’s bedroom and saw her laying on the floor with blood everywhere around her. His mother told him to get help, and he ran to a neighbor’s house where the neighbor called 911. When Lorenzo asked his brother who did this, Erick replied it was Daryl. Vallejo Police Officer Zachary Jacobsen was one of officers who responded to the scene. He testified that a fellow officer provided first aid to Erick, as other officers were trying to figure out what injuries Erica had sustained. When the officers asked who did this to her, Jacobson heard her say it was Daryl. Solano County Deputy Sheriff Corey McLean testified that Erica died at the hospital on July 26, 2014. The director of the trauma program at Oakland Children’s Hospital testified that Erick was flown to that hospital and received treatment for significant and potentially life- threatening injuries. California Bureau of Forensic Services latent print analyst Kent Quong testified about a bloody handprint and boot prints found at the crime scene, as well as related photographs admitted into evidence. Quong opined that the bloody handprint was a match to defendant. Vallejo Police Officer Joseph McCarthy arrested defendant on the morning of July 26, 2014. According to McCarthy, defendant had a box of cigarettes in his pocket that appeared to have a blood smear. A criminalist from the California Bureau of Forensic Services, Jonathan Sewell, concluded the blood smear on the box matched Erica’s DNA profile. Sewell also determined that the source of Erica’s DNA on the box was from blood, as it was highly unlikely the DNA would come from her touching the box.

3 Vallejo Police Sergeant Drew Ramsay was involved in the search of defendant’s residence following the arrest. He testified that work boots were seized and booked into evidence. Sewell determined the insides of the boots were stained with blood and the DNA from the blood matched Erica’s DNA profile. Vallejo Police Detective Mathew Mustard testified that the tread of the boots appeared to match the boot prints at the crime scene. As the lead investigator, Detective Mustard described other aspects of the investigation. For example, he testified that he went to visit Lorenzo in foster care before family members arrived to take custody of him, and spoke to doctors and social workers regarding the medical treatment of Erick. He identified various photographs, including photographs he took of Erick’s injuries and photographs of defendant’s body. He additionally described certain routes and distances between Erica’s and defendant’s residences. Prior to trial, defendant made a motion in limine to introduce evidence of Detective Mustard’s “past misconduct” for impeachment purposes. The motion purportedly attached a California State Bar decision related to a former Solano County prosecutor,3 which defense counsel argued included findings that Detective Mustard “pressured an expert witness to fabricate evidence to fit a theory of the case he believed happened.” The motion also referred to a kidnapping case, in which defense counsel argued Detective Mustard had wrongly accused the victims of being “perpetrators of a hoax.” The trial court denied the motion, concluding the evidence had “very little probative value” and would require an “undue consumption of time” to go into the facts and details of those cases. Defendant testified at trial that he had been at Erica’s house on Marin Street in Vallejo on the night of July 25, 2014, but then left to go to a nearby

3 The attachment is not in the record on appeal.

4 bar, Kesler’s Cocktail Lounge, before continuing to his house on Grennan Street. As he was leaving, he passed a man coming up to Erica’s house. Defendant stated that after watching a video of an interview conducted by Detective Mustard, he identified that man as Erica’s ex-husband Kevin B. Contrary to defendant’s testimony, Kevin B. testified that on the night of July 25, 2014, he was with his girlfriend in Cuttings Wharf, and at that time, he had not seen Erica in months, nor did he know where she lived. B. Jury Deliberations At the end of the first day of deliberations, the bailiff informed the court that Juror No. 6 had approached him and asked if she could write a letter to the court in reference to the case. The bailiff recounted that when she was told no, Juror No. 6 stated “she wanted out.” Juror No. 6 was then questioned by the trial court. She confirmed her “desire to be out” was not related to any medical concerns, and she could continue deliberating in the case. Juror No. 6 asked if she was allowed to say anything, and the trial court cautioned, “Not related to the deliberation in the case.” The trial court followed up about Juror No.

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People v. Wakefield CA1/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wakefield-ca11-calctapp-2020.