People v. Wheeler CA5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 10, 2015
DocketF066696
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Wheeler CA5 (People v. Wheeler CA5) 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. Wheeler CA5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 2/10/15 P. v. Wheeler CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F066696 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Fresno Super. Ct. No. F08901838) v.

DARNELL WEBSTER WHEELER, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Jonathan B. Conklin, Judge. Michael B. McPartland, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Chatman and Michael Dolida, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- INTRODUCTION Appellant/defendant Darnell Webster Wheeler was charged with multiple offenses based on a series of domestic violence and stalking incidents he committed against his estranged wife. He was convicted of first degree residential burglary, based upon his entry of a home which he owned and treated as a rental property, and where his estranged wife was living as a tenant (Pen. Code,1 §§ 459, 460, subd. (a)); felony stalking of his estranged wife committed during a five-month period (§ 646.9, subd. (a)); and misdemeanor disobeying a domestic relations court order (§ 273.6, subd. (a)); with six prior strike convictions and one prior serious felony enhancement. He was sentenced to two consecutive third strike terms of 25 years to life, for a total of 50 years to life plus five years for the prior serious felony enhancement. On appeal, defendant argues his conviction for residential burglary must be reversed because he owned the house that he broke into; he had an unconditional possessory right to enter even though his estranged wife was living there; and the jury was not properly instructed on the elements of the offense. He also contends the court improperly imposed consecutive sentences for burglary and stalking in violation of section 654. Finally, he argues the court erroneously calculated his presentence credits. We will order the correction of his presentence credits and otherwise affirm. FACTS Defendant and Clezel Sewell met in high school in Fresno and periodically kept in touch in the following years. Sewell became a school counselor and lived in Fontana with her teenage daughter. In 1993 and 1994, defendant was convicted of criminal threats (§ 422); kidnapping (§ 207); and felony and misdemeanor corporal injury to a spouse (§ 273.5, subd. (a)). The victim was his former wife.2

1 All further statutory citations are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. 2 According to the probation report, defendant’s prior convictions, which were alleged as the strikes in this case, were from three separate incidents in 1992 and 1993, where defendant kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and repeatedly threatened his previous

2. By 2006, defendant had been released from prison and he lived in Fresno. He was on parole and had to wear an electronic monitor. During that time, he contacted Sewell in Fontana, and they renewed their friendship. Defendant gave Sewell a pink cell phone so he could pay for their long distance calls. He told her to give up her personal cell phone. Sewell accepted the pink cell phone, but she also kept her personal cell phone and continued to use it for other matters. Defendant had the contract and paid the bills for the pink cell phone.3 Sewell testified that soon after she started dating defendant, she learned about his felony convictions and prison record. They talked about what happened, and she decided she was not afraid of defendant and continued their relationship. Early in 2007, defendant proposed to Sewell, and she agreed to marry him. Defendant still lived in Fresno. Sewell planned to stay in Fontana until she finished the school year, and then she would join defendant and move to Fresno. Sewell testified they also decided she would take a year off from her career and help defendant with his various hauling and construction businesses. The DeYoung and Ellery Homes When they started dating, defendant owned and was living in a house on DeYoung Drive (the “DeYoung home”) in Fresno. In January 2007, after they were engaged but prior to their marriage, defendant purchased a larger home on Ellery Way (the “Ellery home”). Sewell was not living with defendant when he bought and furnished the Ellery home and testified that she did not know he was going to spend that much money on

wife after their separation. He was sentenced to 21 years and four months in prison. He was released on parole in 2005. 3As we will explain below, defendant later took the pink cell phone away from Sewell, and it was subsequently found attached to the undercarriage of her car. A prosecution expert testified defendant could have used the cell phone to track Sewell.

3. another house. Defendant told Sewell that he wanted them to live in the Ellery home after their marriage. On March 31, 2007, defendant and Sewell were married. Sewell and her daughter remained in Fontana so she could finish her teaching contract. Defendant moved into the Ellery home, but he still owned the DeYoung home. Sewell testified defendant said there were renters living in the DeYoung home. At trial, defendant also testified he had “several different renters” living in the DeYoung home after he moved out.4 Sewell Moves to Fresno On August 1, 2007, Sewell and her daughter moved from Fontana and lived in the Ellery home in Fresno with defendant. Sewell testified that defendant’s teenage daughter and niece also lived with them. Sewell testified defendant said he could track his daughter using her cell phone, and “he wanted me to switch my daughter’s service over, because she was the only one in the household that wasn’t using the same type of plan, so we could track her, but I never did switch her phone number.” Sewell Moves to the DeYoung Home Shortly after she moved to Fresno, Sewell’s relationship with defendant started to deteriorate because of personal problems and family tensions that were not apparent while they were dating. Sewell tried to talk to defendant about their problems, but things did not change. By the end of August 2007, Sewell decided to separate from defendant and move out of the Ellery home. She asked defendant if she could move into the DeYoung home.

4 As we will discuss below, defendant and Sewell lived in the Ellery home once she moved to Fresno. After their separation, defendant remained in the Ellery home. Sewell moved into the DeYoung home, lived there without defendant, changed the locks, and obtained a restraining order against him. Defendant was convicted of burglarizing the DeYoung home when he hired a locksmith to open the residence while Sewell was not home, and he was found hiding in a closet. In issues I and II, post, we will address his contentions that he could not be convicted of burglarizing a home which he owned.

4. Sewell testified that defendant refused, and said she should “leave period” and return to Fontana if she was not going to help with his businesses. Sewell testified defendant said “that I wasn’t going to stay here and nothing happen to me.” Sewell did not take his statement seriously. Sewell testified that during their relationship, she had loaned “a great sum of money” to defendant for his businesses: $30,000 in cash, written on personal checks from her bank account; and $10,000 on her credit card. He had not repaid the money when they separated. Sewell testified defendant eventually agreed she could move into the DeYoung home upon their separation.

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People v. Wheeler CA5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wheeler-ca5-calctapp-2015.