Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

In October 2017, a family in Santa Rosa was the victim of a violent home invasion robbery involving multiple armed intruders. The defendant was apprehended shortly after the incident with stolen property and marijuana linked to the victims. He was charged and convicted by a jury of home invasion robbery, kidnapping, assault with a firearm, and several counts of false imprisonment. The trial court also found true allegations that he had two prior convictions for active gang participation, qualifying as strikes under California’s Three Strikes law and as serious felonies.On appeal, the California Court of Appeal found insufficient evidence that both prior convictions qualified as strikes and serious felonies, vacated the sentence, and remanded for retrial of the prior conviction allegations and resentencing. On remand, the prosecution retried only one prior conviction, which was again found to be a strike and a serious felony. The trial court then granted the defendant’s Romero motion to dismiss the prior strike conviction, citing changes in sentencing law and the remoteness of the prior offense, and imposed a reduced sentence. The People appealed, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the prior strike and the five-year enhancement under Penal Code section 667(a).The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Two, held that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the prior strike conviction, as remoteness alone cannot justify dismissal under the Three Strikes law. However, following the California Supreme Court’s instructions, the proper remedy is to remand for the trial court to reconsider the Romero motion based on a correct understanding of the law. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in dismissing the five-year enhancement or in imposing the middle term for the principal offense. The order striking the prior strike conviction was reversed and remanded. View "People v. Dain" on Justia Law

Shawn Otis Hernandez was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit first degree residential burglary and attempted first degree residential burglary, following an incident in which multiple individuals attempted to break into a home late at night. Evidence against Hernandez included cell phone records, home security video, DNA analysis, and a prior conviction for a similar crime. During jury selection, the prosecution exercised several peremptory challenges against jurors under the age of 25, prompting Hernandez to object on the basis that these challenges were discriminatory.The Ventura County Superior Court reviewed Hernandez’s objection under Code of Civil Procedure section 231.7, which prohibits discrimination in jury selection based on certain protected categories. The trial court found that the prosecution’s reasons for excusing the young jurors were valid and supported by the record, and that age was not a substantial factor in the use of peremptory challenges. The court also noted that neither party raised objections based on ethnicity or gender during trial, and that the empaneled jury included several males and individuals with Spanish surnames.The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Six, affirmed the judgment. The court held that youth alone is not a cognizable group under section 231.7, and neither Batson v. Kentucky nor Wheeler prohibits excusing jurors solely based on youth. The court further held that objections to the dismissal of jurors based on protected class membership under section 231.7 must be made in the trial court, or the claim is forfeited on appeal. Hernandez’s claims regarding ethnicity and gender were deemed forfeited, and his ineffective assistance of counsel claim was rejected due to lack of deficient performance and prejudice. The judgment was affirmed. View "People v. Hernandez" on Justia Law

A man was convicted of multiple sexual offenses involving his long-term romantic partner’s daughters. The offenses included three counts against his biological daughter and six counts against his partner’s youngest daughter from a previous relationship. The abuse occurred over several years while the family lived in various residences in the Bay Area. The allegations came to light in 2018 after the mother observed suspicious behavior and questioned her daughters, who then disclosed the abuse. The police were notified, and the children underwent forensic interviews and examinations. The defendant was arrested and charged with several counts, including lewd acts, forcible lewd acts, sexual penetration, and oral copulation with minors under the age of 14 and 10.The case was tried before a jury in the Superior Court of Alameda County. The prosecution presented testimony from the victims, their mother, and expert witnesses on child sexual abuse. The prosecution also introduced evidence of uncharged acts of abuse involving other children in the defendant’s extended family. The defense called character witnesses and challenged the reliability of the victims’ accounts. The jury found the defendant guilty on all but two counts, for which the prosecutor later dismissed the charges after a deadlock. The defendant was sentenced to 54 years to life in prison.On appeal, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Four, reviewed several claims, including alleged errors in jury selection, admission of evidence of uncharged acts, admission of prior statements, prosecutorial misconduct, jury instructions, and expert testimony. The court held that the trial court properly overruled the objection to the prosecution’s peremptory challenge of a Black juror, finding no substantial likelihood that race was a factor. The court also found no abuse of discretion in admitting evidence of uncharged acts, prior statements, or expert testimony, and rejected claims of instructional error and prosecutorial misconduct. The judgment was affirmed. View "People v. Garcia" on Justia Law

The defendant was originally sentenced in 2005 to a 10-year prison term for assault with a deadly weapon, with additional time added for inflicting great bodily injury, personal use of a weapon, and three prior prison commitments. Nearly two decades later, the defendant sought recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.75, which invalidates certain prior prison term enhancements. However, by this time, the defendant was no longer serving the original sentence that included the enhancements; instead, he was incarcerated for offenses committed while in prison, with those sentences running consecutively to the original term.After the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation identified the defendant as potentially eligible for relief, the Superior Court of Riverside County examined whether he qualified under section 1172.75. The court found, based on the defendant’s record, that he had completed the sentence containing the prior prison term enhancements and was now serving time solely for in-prison offenses. Relying on People v. Escobedo, the court concluded that section 1172.75 only applies to individuals currently serving a sentence that includes the now-invalidated enhancements, and not to those serving subsequent, separate sentences for in-prison offenses. The court also rejected the defendant’s equal protection argument, finding a rational basis for the legislative distinction.The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, affirmed the lower court’s decision. The appellate court held that eligibility for resentencing under section 1172.75 is limited to defendants currently serving a sentence that includes a prior prison term enhancement. Because the defendant was serving a sentence for in-prison offenses, not the original judgment with the enhancements, he was ineligible for relief. The court also found no equal protection violation in the statutory scheme. View "People v. McKean" on Justia Law

Three siblings, all under the age of 14, lived with their father across the street from the defendant between 2015 and 2017. During this period, the children frequently played with the defendant’s children. In 2021, after moving in with a legal guardian due to their father’s poor health and subsequent death, the siblings disclosed that the defendant had repeatedly sexually abused them over a prolonged period. The abuse included acts of sexual intercourse, sodomy, and oral copulation, often accompanied by threats involving firearms. The defendant was charged with multiple counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years of age or younger, and oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years of age or younger.A jury in the Lake County Superior Court found the defendant guilty on all nine counts and found true the multiple-victim allegation. The defendant was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison, with sentences on the remaining counts stayed. On appeal to the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three, the defendant argued that Penal Code section 288.5 was unconstitutional under the Sixth Amendment’s jury unanimity requirement as interpreted in Ramos v. Louisiana, and also challenged the jury instructions regarding unanimity.The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three, held that section 288.5 does not violate the Sixth Amendment’s jury unanimity requirement. The court reasoned that the statute requires unanimity as to the continuous-course-of-conduct element, even if jurors may disagree on the specific acts constituting that conduct. The court also found the jury instruction claim forfeited, as the instructions given were accurate and did not affect the defendant’s substantial rights. The judgment was affirmed. View "People v. Hill" on Justia Law

In this case, the defendant was charged with the murder of German Carrillo while both were incarcerated in the Santa Cruz County jail in 2019. The prosecution alleged that the murder was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang, specifically Nuestra Familia, and also charged the defendant with active participation in a criminal street gang. Evidence at trial included expert testimony about the gang’s structure and rules, testimony from former gang members about intra-gang discipline and removals, and details about the circumstances of Carrillo’s death, including surveillance footage and gang communications. The defendant testified about his own gang involvement, his actions during the incident, and his subsequent departure from the gang.The Santa Cruz County Superior Court conducted a jury trial, where the jury found the defendant guilty of murder with special circumstances and found the gang allegations true. The court sentenced the defendant to life in prison without the possibility of parole, imposed a consecutive gang enhancement, and a concurrent sentence for the gang participation count. The court also imposed a parole revocation fine, suspended unless parole was revoked. The defendant appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the gang evidence, the exclusion of certain mental health evidence, the constitutionality of his sentence, and the imposition of the parole revocation fine.The California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, reviewed the case. The court held that substantial evidence supported the jury’s findings that the murder and predicate offenses provided a non-reputational benefit to the gang, as required by amended Penal Code section 186.22. The court found no reversible error in the exclusion of mental health evidence, determined the sentence was not unconstitutionally cruel or unusual, and upheld the imposition of the parole revocation fine based on statutory requirements. The judgment was affirmed. View "People v. Cortez" on Justia Law

A defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder for crimes committed at age 17, alongside an adult codefendant. The jury found true allegations of gang involvement and personal use of a firearm, resulting in an aggregate sentence of 75 years to life, plus additional time for unrelated carjacking offenses. After serving 15 years, the defendant petitioned for recall and resentencing under California Penal Code section 1170(d), arguing that his sentence was the functional equivalent of life without parole and that he met several statutory eligibility criteria, including having committed the offense with an adult codefendant.The Superior Court of Los Angeles County reviewed the petition, held a hearing, and denied relief. The court found that none of the eligibility criteria were satisfied, reasoning that the adult codefendant’s conviction had been vacated under a separate statute and that the defendant had not shown sufficient rehabilitation. The court also considered the defendant’s juvenile record and prison disciplinary history, concluding that he lacked potential for rehabilitation.On appeal, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Four, reviewed the trial court’s factual findings for substantial evidence and interpreted the statutory language de novo. The appellate court held that the defendant satisfied the criterion of having committed the offense with an adult codefendant, as the adult was charged and convicted for the same incident, even though her conviction was later vacated due to a change in law. The court reversed the trial court’s order denying the petition and remanded the case for a resentencing hearing in accordance with section 1170(d), without expressing an opinion on the appropriate sentence. View "People v. Gomez" on Justia Law

A defendant was charged with multiple sexual offenses, including forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, unlawful sexual intercourse, and incest, all involving a 17-year-old relative. The alleged incident occurred when the defendant stayed overnight at the victim’s home, entered her bedroom, and engaged in sexual acts. The victim testified about the charged offenses and two prior uncharged incidents. The prosecution presented evidence including pretext phone calls, expert testimony on child sexual abuse victim psychology, and testimony from an investigating officer. The defendant denied all wrongdoing and challenged the credibility and admissibility of certain evidence.The case was tried in the Monterey County Superior Court, where the jury convicted the defendant on all counts. The trial court granted the prosecution’s request to modify the pattern jury instructions regarding the definition of “force” for the forcible rape and oral copulation charges. The defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient for some counts, that the modified jury instructions were erroneous, and that certain evidence and expert testimony were improperly admitted. He also claimed ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to specific evidence and testimony.The California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, reviewed the case. It held that the trial court erred in modifying the jury instructions to define “force” as including any physical movement or positioning of the victim’s body, which was misleading and prejudicial. As a result, the convictions for forcible rape and forcible oral copulation were reversed and remanded for possible retrial. The court found that other asserted errors were harmless and affirmed the convictions for unlawful sexual intercourse and incest. The court ordered retrial and resentencing on the reversed counts. View "People v. Melgoza" on Justia Law

The case concerns a violent incident in which Daniel Orozco, along with three associates, entered rival gang territory in Los Angeles. During two separate drive-by shootings on the same night, one man was wounded and another, who was not a gang member, was killed. Orozco owned the car used in the shootings, and evidence—including video footage, ballistic matches, and phone location data—linked him and his group to the crimes. Police apprehended the group shortly after the shootings, recovering the firearm and related evidence at the scene.At the preliminary hearing in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, a confession by the shooter, Martinez Garibo, was suppressed due to a Miranda violation. Despite this, the magistrate found sufficient evidence to hold Orozco to answer for murder and attempted murder, but not for conspiracy. On the first day of trial, the prosecution was permitted to amend the information to add a conspiracy to commit murder charge, over Orozco’s objection. At trial, Orozco’s defense introduced the previously suppressed confession to support an intoxication defense. The jury convicted Orozco on all counts, and he was sentenced to consecutive terms for murder and attempted murder, with a stayed sentence for conspiracy.The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Eight, reviewed the case. It held that the addition of the conspiracy charge was improper because the evidence at the preliminary hearing, absent the suppressed confession, did not support such a charge, thus violating Orozco’s right to notice. The court reversed the conspiracy conviction but affirmed the murder and attempted murder convictions, finding no merit in Orozco’s other arguments, including claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and improper sentencing notice. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. View "People v. Orozco" on Justia Law

Richard Quntan Garcia was convicted by a jury of several offenses, including attempted second degree robbery, second degree robbery, evading an officer, carjacking, misdemeanor resisting a peace officer, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. The incidents occurred over several days in November 2021 in Paso Robles, California, involving Garcia brandishing a firearm during robberies, fleeing police in a BMW, and later carjacking a vehicle. Physical evidence and witness identifications linked Garcia to the crimes. He was sentenced as a third strike offender to 118 years to life in state prison.Prior to this appeal, the case was tried in the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County. During jury selection, the prosecutor exercised a peremptory challenge to remove a juror perceived to be of mixed race, prompting defense counsel to object under California Code of Civil Procedure section 231.7, which prohibits peremptory challenges based on race or other protected characteristics. The trial court overruled the objection, finding no prima facie case of bias and accepting the prosecutor’s stated reasons related to the juror’s lack of life experience and timid demeanor. The court also denied Garcia’s motion to sever the carjacking count from the other charges, finding the offenses sufficiently connected.The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Six, reviewed Garcia’s appeal. The court held that the trial court did not err in overruling the section 231.7 objection, concluding that the prosecutor’s reasons were supported by the record and not presumptively invalid under the statute. The court also found no abuse of discretion in denying the motion to sever. The judgment was affirmed except for an amendment to the abstract of judgment to reflect the trial court’s oral pronouncement regarding fines and fees. View "P. v. Garcia" on Justia Law