Opinion
B293882
06-08-2020
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. IRA GOLDEN, Defendant and Appellant.
Erica Gambale, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Acting Senior Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Peggy Z. Huang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA108247) APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Richard M. Goul, Judge. Affirmed. Erica Gambale, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Acting Senior Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Peggy Z. Huang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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Ira Golden challenges his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. A jury found Golden stabbed the victim. Golden argues the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on self-defense. Because there was no substantial evidence of self-defense, we affirm. Citations are to the Penal Code.
I
Golden's two-year relationship with the victim was sex for money. On the day in question, the victim rode her bicycle to Golden's apartment and Golden put it inside.
According to the victim, they both smoked crack cocaine, Golden drank alcohol, and they started arguing. Golden accused the victim of stealing his apartment keys, of entering his apartment to sleep and shower when he was not home, and of having sex with his neighbor Ivory Williams. Golden was getting out of control and screaming and cursing.
The victim tried to leave, but Golden would not let her take her bike. He shoved her out of the apartment door, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and pushed her towards Williams's door. Passerby Angelica Rodriguez heard them arguing. The victim asked Rodriguez to call the police. Rodriguez told the 911 operator Golden was aggressive and threatening. The victim sounded distressed and said "don't touch me."
On the way to Williams's apartment, Golden hit the victim and made stabbing motions. Golden called her names and yelled he was going to kill her. Before they got to Williams's door, Golden stabbed her in the upper arm, causing bleeding "like a waterfall." He said he hoped she would die.
The victim banged on Williams's door while Golden pummeled her head, leaving it swollen.
During the attack, the victim lost her glasses. Police found them covered in blood. Golden pulled hair out of her scalp.
Williams eventually came to the door. He called the police. The victim passed out. When officers arrived, they found her alone, lying in a pool of blood in front of Williams's apartment. Blood spattered the wall, door, and ceiling.
At the hospital, the victim was comatose from blood loss. She had bumps on her face and head and needed stitches for the knife wound.
Golden testified to a version of events that, according to Golden's lawyer, was "diametrically opposed" to the victim's. Golden described events this way.
Only the victim smoked crack cocaine. She wanted more drugs, so Golden gave her money for them. They argued. She wanted to get drugs first. He wanted sex first.
They took the argument outside the apartment. Golden was trying to keep his voice down but was getting agitated. The victim asked passerby Rodriguez to call the police. Golden said "Are you fucking serious? You gonna have her call the police?"
Golden and the victim calmed down and returned to the apartment. But then the victim picked up a kitchen knife from Golden's kitchen table and went back outside. She walked toward Williams's apartment.
Golden went to stop her because he did not want Williams involved. Golden said, "At that point, I really did not know what to do; so I came out and—I came out. . . . I'm freaking out now."
Golden's dilemma was that he was friends with Williams: "we've eaten together, partied together. . . . How do I—I don't want to get this man involved in this mess; right?" Golden knew Williams was acquainted with the victim, and now the victim had a knife, "and I don't want—the police is coming, you know, because the lady [Rodriguez] said she was gonna call the cops, who was walking down the alley, and I got her coming and I got her with a knife and getting my friend involved with this."
As Golden approached the victim, "[s]he's knocking on [Williams's] door, trying to get in. She sees me coming. She turns around like, and she puts the knife up like in a defensive, like don't mess with me, you know, and so when she did that, I grabbed it. When she was turned around, I grabbed the knife like this (indicating), but she had a jacket on. She had the jacket and my hand slipped off her hand."
After Golden's hand slipped off, Golden continued to try to take the knife away from the victim.
They struggled.
During the struggle, the victim cut herself with the knife. "So when she jerked her hand away from me, boom. She just barely hit herself." "Total accident." "[A]s soon as she stabbed herself, she dropped the knife," Golden said.
Williams opened his door. Golden picked up the knife and went home. He denied hitting the victim and denied saying he hoped she would die.
When police arrived, they asked through Golden's closed door if he knew what was going on. He denied knowing. "I should not have said that, but I did. And they—they pretty much knew I was lying."
Golden refused to come out, so the officers broke in. They found blood on Golden's forearms and clothes. The bloody knife was in a cabinet.
Golden told police he was not the one who stabbed the victim; rather it was his upstairs neighbor Steve. Why did Golden tell police Steve did it? Golden answered: "I don't like Steve."
An information charged Golden with two counts: 1) attempted murder (§ 664/187, subd. (a)); and 2) assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)). The information alleged use of a knife as to count 1. (§ 12022.7, subd. (b)(1).) It also alleged personal infliction of great bodily injury as to both counts. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a).) Golden pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.
At trial, Golden's counsel requested a jury instruction on self-defense. The trial court noted the self-defense instruction was inconsistent with Golden's trial testimony the victim stabbed herself.
Golden's counsel agreed Golden's testimony was incompatible with self-defense. Counsel did not pursue her request for a self-defense instruction. When the court asked if there was agreement on the jury instructions, counsel said yes.
The jury convicted Golden of count 2, assault with a deadly weapon, and found Golden personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim. It acquitted Golden of count 1, attempted murder.
II
On appeal, Golden argues the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on self-defense. He argues substantial evidence supported self-defense, so the court had a duty to instruct the jury on self-defense on its own motion. We independently review for instructional error. (People v. Cole (2004) 33 Cal.4th 1158, 1210.)
Golden's one argument is incorrect. There was no substantial evidence to support a self-defense instruction. Golden's testimony did not describe a situation where he feared the victim and stabbed her to protect himself. She was not chasing him. He was chasing her.
There was no evidence the victim attacked Golden. The victim's testimony was entirely to the contrary.
Golden's testimony also contained no evidence of her attack or his self-defense. Rather it was evidence Golden was the aggressor who wanted to control the victim, not out of fear of her violence against him, but to protect his reputation and his freedom from prosecution.
Golden's version was he pursued the victim for two complementary reasons. First, he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of involving his neighbor Williams in Golden's dispute with a woman who felt it necessary to arm herself against Golden. Second, the police were responding to Rodriguez's call about Golden's aggression toward the woman. Having an additional witness—Williams—see the fleeing victim with a knife could not help Golden. Evidence that the victim needed to protect herself could validate the caller's claim Golden was attacking the victim. Golden tried to take the knife from the victim, not to save himself from her violence, but to remove evidence corroborating the report of his assault.
The victim never launched a physical attack against Golden. Rather, Golden described the victim's posture as "defensive." He was the aggressor, not she.
Because there was no factual basis for a theory of self-defense, the trial court was under no obligation to give that instruction. (See People v. Mitchell (2019) 7 Cal.5th 561, 582-584.) There must be substantial evidence to warrant an instruction. (Id. at p. 584.) Here there was not. The court did not err by omitting a self-defense instruction.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
WILEY, J. We concur:
BIGELOW, P. J.
GRIMES, J.