Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED.
APPEAL from judgments of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Nos. VA114500 & NA081937 Daniel S. Murphy, Judge.
Lindy C. Hayes, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
KITCHING, J.
Carlos Alexander Sandoval appeals from the judgments entered following a jury trial which resulted in his conviction of false imprisonment by violence (Pen. Code, § 236), assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)) and misdemeanor battery committed on hospital property (§ 243.2, subd. (a)), and the trial court’s finding that he was in violation of probation with regard to a prior conviction of battery, during which he inflicted serious bodily injury (§ 243, subd. (d)), and that the battery amounted to a prior conviction within the meaning of the Three Strikes law (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)). The trial court sentenced Sandoval to six years in state prison. We affirm the judgments.
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
1. Facts.
a. The prosecution’s case.
On February 22, 2010, Dr. Stacy Weeks was a psychologist at the Metropolitan State Hospital. There she did “clinical interviews” and “test[ed] groups.” She worked out of an office in the “program two building, ” where “individuals who [were] on conservatorship [came to] receive services.” Weeks’s office was located on the first floor of the building, just outside an area referred to as the “mall.” In the mall, group activities were conducted several times a day. When the activities were finished, participating individuals were escorted past Weeks’s office and back to their units.
On the afternoon of February 22, after the group activity was finished and Weeks believed that everyone had been escorted back to their rooms, she heard “some feet shuffling.” She did not, however, hear the sound of keys. To Weeks, who had no window in her office, the sound of keys along with feet shuffling indicated that a staff member was outside.
Weeks heard a knock on the door to the office next to hers, but no one answered. Weeks then heard a knock on her office door. Although she was hesitant to open it because she “didn’t know what was going on out there, ” Weeks placed her foot behind the door and opened it a “slight crack.” When she looked outside, Weeks saw Sandoval standing in the hallway.
Weeks had seen Sandoval before and she asked him what he was doing in that area. When Sandoval said that his unit, which is located on the other side of the building on the second floor, had forgotten him, Weeks became alarmed. Patients were not supposed to be in that area unless accompanied by a staff member. Weeks asked Sandoval to stand across the hallway from her office door, which she propped open with a doorstop, then called his unit “to let them know that he was in that location.” She told whomever she spoke to in Sandoval’s unit that Sandoval had said he had been left behind, then asked the individual what they wished her to do. The member of the staff in Sandoval’s unit asked Weeks if she “could bring him back upstairs.” Weeks told the staff member that she would, then told Sandoval that they “were going to be returning to the unit.” Weeks asked Sandoval if he could be “safe and appropriate” and he told her that he could.
Between Weeks’s office and Sandoval’s unit is a stairway which has locked doors at the ground level and locked doors at the second floor. Inside the stairwell are approximately nine concrete steps and a landing, then a second set of concrete steps and a landing. Weeks escorted Sandoval into the stairway, then locked the door behind her. Sandoval walked ahead of Weeks to the middle landing, then “started to hesitate.” He stopped and, instead of walking up the second flight of stairs, he attempted to get behind Weeks. When Weeks turned her body to prevent Sandoval from moving behind her, he turned and, with a “smile or smirk on his face, ” punched Weeks on the left side of the face and the back of her head. Sandoval then attempted to “choke [Weeks] out.” She, however, tried to block him with both of her hands.
Sandoval kept up his attack on Weeks and knocked her down onto her back. Weeks hit the back of her head and the left side of her neck and shoulder on the landing. Weeks was flat on the ground and Sandoval “fell on top of [her] when he pushed [her].” When Sandoval placed his hands around Weeks’s neck, she attempted to push him off of her and started to scream for help. Sandoval, however, took one of his hands and placed it over Weeks’s mouth.
Weeks had an “alarm pen” which she carried on her left hip and she attempted to reach for it to activate the alarm with her left hand. Sandoval, who knew Weeks was reaching for the pen, let go of her mouth and began to fight her for the pen. Although she had her hand on the alarm, Sandoval’s hand was on top of Weeks’s and she was unable to activate the alarm button. Sandoval, still pulling on the pen, began to go down the stairwell, pulling Weeks behind him. She was “flipped on to [her] stomach [and was being dragged] face first down the stairwell.” At this point Weeks was “[t]errified.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Sandoval was able to remove the alarm pen from Weeks’s belt and throw it back up to the top of the stairwell. Weeks used this opportunity to stand up and again begin to scream for help. However, no one responded to her calls and Weeks, realizing that no one was coming to help her, looked Sandoval in the eye and asked him, “ ‘What do you want?’ ” In response, Sandoval stated, “ ‘I want out of here.’ ” Weeks understood Sandoval to mean that he wanted “out of the door” and, after telling him to calm down, told Sandoval that she would let him go. Weeks, who was frightened for her life, felt that she needed to “neutralize the situation to not get hurt any further.” As Weeks unlocked the door with her right hand, Sandoval grabbed her left arm, stepped in front of her, walked out of the stairwell and dragged Weeks alongside of him until he reached the front door to the building. Weeks, afraid that she was going to be taken hostage, nevertheless unlocked the door. Sandoval opened the door, let go of Weeks’s arm and ran from the building.
Weeks ran back to her office, immediately called Sandoval’s unit and told them what had happened. A short time later, staff from several units arrived. They were holding Weeks’s jacket, alarm pen, alcohol gel and her name badge and “looked... perplexed.” Weeks told the staff members that she had just been assaulted and that Sandoval was outside. She had lost each of the items, including her jacket and badge, during her struggle with Sandoval in the stairwell.
Between 30 minutes and an hour after the incident, Metropolitan State Hospital Police Officers arrived and interviewed Weeks in the “group room” of the unit to which Sandoval had been assigned. Photographs were taken to show the redness and swelling on the top of Weeks’s head, the redness and swelling where Sandoval had punched her on the left cheek and the injury she had suffered when he grabbed her on the left forearm.
After being interviewed by the hospital’s officers, Weeks was taken to the hospital to be treated for her injuries. Weeks told the doctors that she had been assaulted by a patient at the hospital where she worked.
At approximately 5:15 p.m. on February 22, 2010, Metropolitan State Hospital Police Officer Gabriel Ramirez was assigned to a post on the hospital grounds. When he heard a noise, he got up, turned around and saw an individual at the “far southeast corner of [the] compound.” The man, who was initially just standing there, then saw the officer and immediately jumped over the 10-foot, chain link fence. The man, who was later identified as Sandoval, “scaled it over, jumped up halfway and put himself over the fence.” After Sandoval jumped over the fence, the officer saw him run south, away from the hospital.
A dispatch to the officers confirmed that there had been a call received from one of the units indicating that an individual had escaped. Ramirez then gave over the radio a general description of the man he had seen and, “[a]t that point, [the] patrol unit responded to [Ramirez’s] location.” Ramirez opened his post’s gate and the unit went southbound from there.
Metropolitan State Hospital Police Officer Christian Buado was on duty at approximately 5:30 p.m. on February 22, 2010. Buado first saw Sandoval approximately two blocks from the Metropolitan State Hospital, on the corner of Imperial and Bloomfield Streets. Buado detained Sandoval and brought him back to his unit at the hospital. Buado then advised Sandoval of his Miranda rights and, after Sandoval waived them, the officer asked Sandoval “if he knew why [the officer] was going to speak to him.” Sandoval replied, “ ‘Yes, I do. About me leaving the building.’ ” Sandoval indicated that he wished to leave the building because he had been bored. He had left by “talk[ing] to a lady[.] [He] saw the lady, and asked the lady to let him out.” When Buado asked Sandoval if he had done anything to hurt the lady, Sandoval indicated that he had put Dr. Weeks in a headlock while they were in a stairwell, then admitted that he forced her to let him out of the building. Sandoval had been planning to leave the building as soon as the opportunity presented itself, even if it meant forcing someone else to let him out.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436.
Buado did not believe Sandoval when Sandoval told the officer that he had not hurt Weeks. Buado had interviewed Weeks before interviewing Sandoval and Weeks had appeared traumatized and distraught. She had a contusion on her head and redness and swelling on her cheek. In addition, she had a mark on her forearm at the point at which Sandoval had grabbed her.
b. Defense evidence.
Sandoval testified on his own behalf. He stated that on the afternoon of February 22, 2010, he had been a patient at Metropolitan State Hospital. At approximately 5:00 p.m. that day, he was on the first floor of one of the buildings, just outside Dr. Weeks’s office. He had been left there by his unit.
Weeks came out of her office and asked Sandoval what he was doing there. When he told her that his unit had left him behind, Weeks called the unit to see if someone wanted to come get Sandoval or if the unit staff wished her to bring him up to them. The person Weeks spoke with on the phone apparently wanted her to bring Sandoval up to the unit so she came out of her office, escorted Sandoval to the stairs, opened the door and told him to go ahead of her.
When Sandoval reached the landing, he was thinking about leaving the hospital. He stated: “I didn’t feel like the place was... good for me. And I was having... difficulty in my mental illness.... So I decided to run away from there because it wasn’t helping me at all. [¶] And I was thinking... suicidal thoughts or sort of schizophrenic thoughts or different type[s] of stuff that was happening to me at that time. I wasn’t able to stand being in the hospital anymore.... [T]hey weren’t helping me at all.”
When Weeks reached the landing, Sandoval grabbed her with his left arm, “clos[ed] her up, ” and reached for her keys. He was unable to get the keys and as Weeks struggled, they “both went down.” Sandoval grabbed Weeks and she fell as they went down the stairs. Weeks then asked Sandoval what he wanted. When he told her that he wanted her to open the door so that he could leave, Weeks first opened the door to the stairwell then, after walking down the hall with Sandoval, opened the door to the building.
According to Sandoval, at no point “did any part of [Weeks’s] body other than her feet make contact with the steps.” Neither did Sandoval punch Weeks in the face or head. Sandoval may have hit Weeks in the back of the head as he was placing his left hand around her neck, but he had not intended to do so. He was simply trying to immobilize her so that he could grab her keys. Sandoval did, however, acknowledge that if one is trying “to put someone in a choke hold, trying to put [one’s] arm around a person’s neck, [one] can foresee or expect the person to resist or fight back[.]”
Sandoval stated that, at no time did he take Weeks’s alarm pen. He believed she “dropped it, grabbed it back and put it back on [the] waist [of] her pants.” Sandoval had not grabbed the alarm and thrown it away in the stairwell. According to Sandoval, Weeks “had it... by the time [they] were down in the bottom by the... [door to the] stairs[.] [T]hat’s when she still had it and... opened the door.... [S]he just had it by her waist....”
When he got to the main exit door, Sandoval made no attempt to take Weeks with him. He ran out, “r[a]n... through the park and through the parking lot and then jump[ed] the fence out [of] the hospital premises.”
Sandoval admitted that he had been convicted of “felony battery with serious injury in violation of... [section] 243[, subdivision] (d) on or about... July 16, 2009.” In that case, Sandoval “battered someone, ” causing them to suffer an injury.
2. Procedural history.
Following a preliminary hearing, an information filed on April 22, 2010 in case No. VA114500 alleged that Sandoval committed the crime of kidnapping in violation of section 207, subdivision (a) (count 1), false imprisonment by violence in violation of section 236 (count 2), assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury in violation of section 245, subdivision (a)(1) (count 3), and battery on school, park or hospital property, a misdemeanor in violation of section 243.2, subdivision (a) (count 4). It was further alleged as to counts 1, 2, and 3, that Sandoval, pursuant to the Three Strikes law (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)), suffered a prior conviction in case No. NA081937 for a serious or violent felony or juvenile adjudication for battery, during which he inflicted serious bodily injury (§ 243, subd. (d)).
Prior to trial, the People made a motion pursuant to Evidence Code section 1101 in which they requested the trial court to allow evidence of Sandoval’s prior violent acts. For example, during one incident Rosalyn McCann had been the nurse behind the nursing station at the hospital to which Sandoval had been committed. Sandoval told McCann that he wished to be allowed into a recreational room so that he could smoke a cigarette. When McCann told him that he could not go, Sandoval reached across the counter and attempted to strike McCann. When McCann managed to dodge Sandoval’s blow, he jumped over the counter, got on top of McCann and punched her nose, head and body, fracturing her nose. After hearing summaries of other such incidents, the trial court stated: “I think under [Evidence Code section] 352, the prejudicial [e]ffect [of] bringing these other incidents in far outweighs any probative value. And as such, ... I am going to deny the character evidence of the other incidents.”
After the prosecution presented its case, defense counsel moved for acquittal of count 1, the charge of kidnapping, pursuant to section 1118.1. After hearing argument from both the prosecutor and defense counsel, the trial court denied the motion. The court stated that, although the victim was not moved a lengthy distance, “a reasonable jury [could] find that [the movement of Weeks by Sandoval] did increase the risk of harm––not only by reducing her escape route, but also by him taking her out of the stairway, a reasonable jury could find that increased her danger. [¶] Also, ... there were other private rooms she could have gone to in that walkway area. And even she was concerned about being taken hostage when she was being dragged from the location.”
After the jury began to deliberate, one juror, Juror No. 8, became ill and was unable to continue to participate in the deliberations. After both defense counsel and the prosecutor agreed, the trial court substituted in the alternate juror and instructed the jury to “set aside any and all past deliberations and begin [its] deliberations all over again.”
After they had deliberated for some time, on November 5, 2010, the trial court received a note from the jurors indicating that they had “reached a verdict on three of the counts and hung on the one count.” The court indicated that it was going to “take the verdict[s] on the three counts and declare a mistrial on the count that [the jury was] hung on.”
The foreperson indicated that the jury had taken six votes on the one count and that the numerical breakdown had been four to eight. It was the opinion of the foreperson, as well as that of the 11 remaining jurors, that “the jury [was] hopelessly deadlocked and [that] any further deliberations would not bring a verdict on that count[.]” Accordingly, the trial court declared a mistrial as to that count, count 1, alleging kidnapping.
The jury found Sandoval guilty of false imprisonment by violence in violation of section 236, as charged in count 2 of the information. The jury also found Sandoval guilty of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury in violation of section 245, subdivision (a)(1) as charged in count 3 of the information and battery on hospital property in violation of section 243.2, subdivision (a), a misdemeanor, as charged in count 4 of the information.
Once the jury had left the courtroom, the trial court indicated that it had the file on case No. NA081937 and that Sandoval was in violation of probation in that matter. The same case amounted to Sandoval’s “alleged strike prior.” The following colloquy then occurred: “The court: The court takes judicial notice of the case NA081937. The court also takes judicial notice of the defendant’s statements during the trial wherein he admitted conviction in that case. [¶] [The prosecutor]: Submitted. [¶] The court: Then so the people rest on that? [¶] [The prosecutor]: Yes. [¶] The court: Does the defense have anything else they wish to add? [¶] [Defense counsel]: No, Your Honor. [¶] The court: The defense rest? [¶] [Defense counsel]: Yes. [¶] The court: In this matter, on the strike prior conviction, the court finds that the defendant Carlos Alexander Sandoval was convicted of the felony, violation of... [section] 243[, subdivision] (d), on July 16, 2009, in case NA081937. [¶] And that this was... adjudicated as a serious felony.”
On December 9, 2010, the trial court indicated that Sandoval’s commission of the crimes, which included his violation of probation, amounted to violent acts which had a traumatic effect on the victim. Under these circumstances, it was the court’s intention to “impose the midterm on all counts concurrent as well as with the probation violation case.” Although the People argued that the case warranted imposition of the upper term, the trial court imposed sentence as follows: “Defendant is to be imprisoned in the state prison for a total of six years. Said term based upon the following: On count 2 he is sentenced to the high term of three years. [¶]... [¶]... On count 3, violation of... section 245[, subdivision] (a), he’s sentenced to the midterm of three years. [¶] As to count 4, violation of... section 243.2[, subdivision] (a), he’s sentenced to one year [in] county jail. All of [these sentences] are to run concurrent. His term is doubled pursuant to... section 1170.12[, subdivisions] (a) through (d) and 667 [, subdivisions] (b) through (i)[, the Three Strikes law.]”
For his convictions in case No. VA114500, Sandoval was ordered to pay a $200 restitution fine (§ 1202.4, subd. (b)), a stayed $200 parole revocation restitution fine (§ 1202.45), a $40 court security fee (§ 1465.8, subd. (a)(1)) and a $30 criminal conviction assessment (Gov. Code, § 70373).
For Sandoval’s probation violation in case No. NA081937, battery during which he inflicted great bodily injury in violation of section 243, subdivision (d), the trial court imposed the midterm of three years in prison. In addition, Sandoval was ordered to pay $200 in restitution (§ 1202.4, subd. (b)), a stayed $200 parole revocation restitution fine (§ 1202.45), a $40 court security fee (§ 1465.8, subd. (a)(1)) and a $30 criminal conviction assessment (Gov. Code, § 70373).
The abstract of judgment in case No. VA114500 indicates that Sandoval was awarded presentence custody credit for 232 days actually served and 116 days of conduct credit. However, the record shows that Sandoval escaped and was taken back into custody on February 22, 2010. He was then sentenced on December 9, 2010. He accordingly asserted that he was entitled to credit for 291 days actually served and 144 days of good time/work time, for a total of 435 days. The trial court agreed and granted Sandoval’s request to correct his presentence custody credits.
In case No. NA081937, Sandoval was awarded presentence custody credit for 623 days actually served and 116 days of good time/work time, for a total of 739 days.
Sandoval filed timely notices of appeal in case Nos. VA114500 and NA081937 on December 9, 2010.
This court appointed counsel to represent Sandoval on appeal.
CONTENTIONS
After examination of the record, counsel filed an opening brief which raised no issues and requested this court to conduct an independent review of the record.
By notice filed May 13, 2011, the clerk of this court advised Sandoval to submit within 30 days any contentions, grounds of appeal or arguments he wished this court to consider. No response has been received to date.
REVIEW ON APPEAL
We have examined the entire record and are satisfied counsel has complied fully with counsel’s responsibilities. (Smith v. Robbins (2000) 528 U.S. 259, 278-284; People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, 443.)
DISPOSITION
The judgments are affirmed.
We concur: KLEIN, P. J., CROSKEY, J.