Opinion ID: 2746860
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carjackings committed as a juvenile

Text: The prosecution presented evidence of two carjackings committed by defendant when he was 17 years old. According to Alice Rox, on January 21, 1988, she parked her car on her way to a swap meet in Los Angeles. When she got out of her car, a male, whom she later identified as defendant, pointed a gun at her and demanded the keys to her car. She tossed the keys to him, and defendant took her car. The car was recovered a few days later. 11 Dwain Edwards testified that on February 4, 1988, he drove his car to a gas station. Edwards was about to fill his car when a male, whom Edwards later identified as defendant, pointed a machine gun at him and demanded his keys. Edwards complied and ran approximately 50 feet away. When he turned around, he saw defendant leaving in his car. Defendant was taken into custody later that day on the campus of a local high school, and police seized a machine gun that a witness claimed to have seen defendant hide. The weapon held a 50-round clip, which contained 40 rounds when it was examined. Defendant admitted committing both the January 21 and February 4 carjackings. Edwards‟s car was recovered several days later. b. September 1994 robbery of Pacific Marine Credit Union On the morning of September 27, 1994 — three weeks after the triple homicide of Hicks, Boyd, and Armstrong and six days before the attempted murder of Hernandez and the carjacking of Navarro — Melissa Lopez was working as the head teller and assistant manager at the Pacific Marine Credit Union in Oceanside. Lopez testified that at approximately 11:30 a.m., the glass double doors of the credit union flew open and three or four African-American men ran inside. They were carrying semiautomatic weapons, which they pointed at the tellers. Two of the men hurdled the first two teller counters and ordered everyone to the ground. Lopez was ordered to get up when she identified herself as the person who was in charge of the credit union that morning. One man, later determined to be defendant, led her to the vault at gunpoint and demanded she open it. Lopez fumbled with the keys. Defendant put his gun next to her temple and said he would shoot her if she did not hurry. After she opened the vault, defendant took the currency and placed it in a bag. Lopez could hear another man on the other side of the credit union ordering tellers to open their drawers. The 12 men left the credit union, and someone called 911. After the robbery, the credit union manager performed an audit and determined that $161,589.23 had been taken. Lopez identified defendant at trial as the man who had forced her back to the vault, held a gun at her head, and took the currency. Michael Loughran worked for a company whose office was inside the credit union. He testified that he heard the commotion in the credit union that morning. He looked around his door and saw an African-American man, whom Loughran identified in court as defendant, pointing a gun at him. Defendant told Loughran to come into the bank and lie down by the tellers. Loughran complied, and heard sounds from the vault area. Then defendant, holding a big bag, jumped over the counter and landed next to Loughran. Defendant put his knee on Loughran‟s chest and asked if he had any money. Loughran reached into his top pocket, where he usually kept his cash, but pulled out his business cards by mistake. Defendant hit Loughran in the head with his gun and said, “Give me all your money, white boy.” He pointed the gun at Loughran‟s face. Loughran remembered his money was in a different pocket. He handed defendant two $100 bills. Defendant took Loughran‟s pager, stood up, and walked out of the credit union. Loughran identified defendant at trial as the man who pointed the gun at him and took his money and pager. According to Bloods gang member Kipchoge Johnson, defendant bragged about the robbery of the credit union. Johnson explained that defendant did not have a job; defendant‟s job was being a gangster. Johnson said that defendant would rob banks and kill people, go to prison, get out and do the same thing over again. Santa Monica Detective Steiner interviewed defendant in 1999. According to Steiner, defendant said that he and Chauncey Bowen had robbed the credit 13 union in Oceanside in September 1994. According to defendant, they stole almost $200,000. Defendant described his role in the robbery to Steiner. Melissa Lopez testified regarding the impact the robbery had on her life. According to Lopez, she had worked at the Pacific Marine Credit Union for three and a half years at the time of the robbery. She loved working there and felt she had a strong future. After the robbery, she immediately started looking for a different job. She completely changed her field of work. She required six months of posttraumatic stress syndrome therapy, seeing a therapist twice a week. She suffered nightmares for a long time after the robbery. At the time of trial in 2003, she was still frightened of doors opening quickly and of people who looked “suspicious.” She did not trust people and avoided public areas after dark. Defendant‟s face was forever ingrained in her head and she “freaked out” whenever she saw someone who resembled defendant. c. October 1995 shooting of George Minor One night in October 1995 — two weeks after defendant had been released from custody — George Minor, a drug dealer and gang member, was standing in the front yard of his home speaking with some neighbors. According to Minor, defendant and two other African-American men approached him. One of the men asked for an individual named “Ray Ray.” Minor said Ray Ray was not there. Defendant, who was holding a gun, then moved the two other men aside and stepped up to Minor, saying, “You Ray Ray.” Defendant announced he was “East Coast,” a rival gang, and he and one of the other men began shooting at Minor. Minor was hit in the arm and the leg before he ran behind a car parked in the driveway. Both shooters fired multiple additional shots at the car and the house. When the gunfire ceased, the men scattered. 14 Minor testified that he ran into his house, and someone called 911. Although a number of bullets went through the walls of the house, Minor‟s sisters and nieces who were inside were not injured. Minor was taken to the hospital, where he stayed for several weeks. At the hospital, Minor selected defendant‟s picture from a photographic lineup as one of the shooters. He also identified defendant at trial as the man who called him Ray Ray and shot him. He had no doubt about his identification. Minor‟s wife, Saudia, testified that she was coming home from the store when she saw the men shooting at her husband. Defendant was one of the shooters. When she saw everyone scatter, she got out of the car and went into the house, where she was told Minor had been shot. Paramedics arrived and Minor was taken to the hospital. Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Angel Jaimes was patrolling with his partner on the night of the shooting. Upon hearing approximately 10 gunshots, Jaimes testified that he drove toward the sound of the gunfire and was flagged down by a man who was standing in the middle of the street. The man said he had seen the shooters and that they were headed west. Jaimes allowed him to get into the rear seat of the patrol car and they drove west. When they spotted a white Cadillac with two African-American males inside, the man got excited and pointed, saying, “That‟s him, that‟s him.” Jaimes and his partner requested assistance and conducted a traffic stop of the Cadillac. Defendant and another man exited the Cadillac. Jaimes searched the car and found two hidden handguns, a .9-millimeter automatic and a .380-caliber automatic. Both men were taken into custody. During booking, Jaimes tested defendant‟s hands for gunshot residue. Subsequent analysis determined that gunshot residue was present on both of his hands. A criminalist testified that analysis of the bullet casings and an expended 15 bullet recovered from the scene of the shooting determined that they were fired from the two guns recovered from the Cadillac. Minor testified that after he was subpoenaed as a witness regarding the shooting, he received a phone call telling him not to come to court. Saudia testified that she received multiple strange phone calls after she was subpoenaed as a witness. According to Saudia, the calls to her were from a woman and a man. On one occasion, she was asked by the caller to attend a court hearing and lie about what she saw. On another occasion, a man said he knew where Saudia‟s daughter went to school and that Saudia worked at International House of Pancakes. Saudia testified that she was frightened. Both Minor and his wife testified that they believed the calls were “three-way” calls from the county jail. According to Saudia, she responded to the subpoena and went to court, but when she saw defendant behind a window, she left because she was worried about her family‟s safety. At defendant‟s capital trial, however, Saudia identified defendant as one of the shooters. d. August 1997 robbery of Vandenberg Federal Credit Union and killing of Christine Orciuch Defendant was released on parole on July 15, 1997. On the morning of August 8, 1997, Jasper Altheide was working as a teller at the Vandenberg Federal Credit Union in Lompoc. He testified that four men, including Chauncey Bowen and defendant, entered the credit union. Bowen walked over to the counter and pretended to fill out a deposit slip or envelope. Defendant then ran up to the counter with a shotgun. Defendant began screaming, “Get the fuck down or I‟ll shoot you.” He jumped over the counter and asked for the manager. When no one responded, defendant said he would shoot someone. Another credit union employee, Moira Philley, testified that she told defendant that the manager was in the back. Defendant told Philley to get up and kicked her 16 hard in the foot. When she rose, defendant put the shotgun against her back and shoved her. Philley led defendant toward the back where the manager was. According to Philley, as she and defendant were walking through a doorway, two gunshots were fired. The gunshots came from the other side of the counter near the front door and were not fired by defendant. Defendant screamed, “What the fuck?” Someone said, “let‟s get out of here,” and defendant and the other robbers left the credit union. Philley raced to call 911 and report the robbery. An audit later determined that the robbers had taken a little over $11,000 from the teller drawers. Octavio Gallardo was approaching the front door of the credit union while the robbery was in progress. He had a broken left leg and was walking on crutches. Gallardo testified that a woman, later determined to be Christine Orciuch, asked if he needed help and opened the door for him. After he entered, a man wearing a mask pointed a handgun at him and told him to get down. According to Gallardo, the man shot him in the right thigh before he could comply. Gallardo fell to the ground. The woman, who was behind Gallardo, turned and ran out. The man with the gun yelled at her to stop and come back. Gallardo then heard another gunshot. Orciuch was fatally shot and immediately fell to the sidewalk. Someone said, “Let‟s go,” and Gallardo heard the sound of running toward the parking lot. One of the robbers stopped to take a backpack from Orciuch before running away. Orciuch‟s 11-year-old son, Quentin, was waiting for his mom in their car when he heard the gunshots and heard his mother scream his name. According to Quentin, he jumped out of the car and saw his mother lying facedown on the ground. Three men were running from the credit union. Quentin ran to the side door of the credit union, where he banged on the door and yelled that his mother 17 had been shot. He was allowed inside, but was prevented from going to his mother‟s body. Defendant‟s former fellow gang member Fennelle testified that a few weeks before this robbery and murder, Fennelle spoke with defendant and Bowen at the house of Sabrina Johnson. The two men told Fennelle that they were planning an armed bank robbery. They said they needed cars, and that they would collect a lot of money. They asked Fennelle if he wanted to participate. Fennelle refused and tried to convince Bowen and defendant not to do it. He warned them that if someone was killed in the robbery, they would be equally responsible for the murder. Defendant told him that he did not care and was determined to go ahead as planned. According to investigating officers, defendant admitted, in interviews after his arrest, that he was present during the robbery.2 Several witnesses testified concerning the impact of the robbery and shooting on them and their family as follows. Jasper Altheide testified that she had difficulties after the robbery because during the robbery she had lain under the counter, and although she had the keys to the vault and could have given the robbers the money, she did not do so because she was so frightened. According to Altheide, she felt very guilty about not allowing Orciuch‟s son to see Orciuch after Orciuch was shot and felt directly responsible for her death. Every time she saw Orciuch‟s family, her heart hurt. Altheide had nightmares, was fearful, and no longer wanted to be around people. 2 In his application for a new penalty phase trial, defendant acknowledged that he was subsequently convicted of the Vandenberg Federal Credit Union robbery and murder and had received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. 18 She constantly worried and had difficulty working at the credit union. She had counseling, and testified that “the innocence of living is gone.” Moira Philley testified that the robbery and shootings at the Vandenberg Federal Credit Union had a tremendous effect on her life. Her marriage almost “fell apart from it.” She and her children were “freaked out” by it. She would not open the front door and installed an alarm system. She testified that she was constantly watchful, had anxiety attacks when at work, and eventually had to receive trauma counseling. She had nightmares of Quentin screaming, and felt guilty because she survived, but Orciuch did not. She knew the Orciuch family and felt for them. For years, the credit union maintained a memorial near the flower beds where Orciuch died and Philley found it terrible to watch Orciuch‟s husband light the candles every night and then blow them out every morning. Octavio Gallardo testified that the shooting at the credit union caused him to be very fearful. For a time he was afraid to leave his apartment. He required medical attention for his gunshot wound and his leg still hurt when the weather was very cold. Orciuch‟s husband, Chester Orciuch, testified that at the time of his wife‟s death, they had three children; a daughter age 17, a daughter age 14, and a son, Quentin, age 11. When he arrived at the hospital, he was taken to a room and told that his wife had been fatally shot. He screamed “Oh, no” and asked for his family. He was taken to another room where his eldest daughter was trying to comfort Quentin, who was asking if his mommy was okay. Chester told his children that their mother had gone to heaven. They went to the emergency room and said a prayer at her body. Chester was overwhelmed by her death. Christine had been the caretaker of the family and home-schooled all three children. Chester testified that he had difficulty as a single father and sometimes woke up in 19 the morning with dry heaves. There were also times that he woke up in the night screaming. According to Chester, he lacked focus at home and at work. Quentin Orciuch testified that after his mother was shot and he was allowed into the credit union, he tried to page his father, but he was crying too hard. He tried to run outside to see his mother, but was stopped. Eventually, a fireman drove him to the hospital where he waited for his father and sisters to arrive. After they arrived, his father told him his mother had died. He was devastated. According to Quentin, everything was difficult after his mother‟s death. He thinks about her every day and spent approximately one and one-half years in counseling after her death. e. March 1998 attempted escape and carjacking Defendant and Bowen were held in custody in the Santa Barbara County jail after their arrest for the Vandenberg Federal Credit Union robbery. On a morning in mid-March 1998, they escaped with another inmate from the jail exercise yard. According to witnesses, the three African-American male inmates were seen walking down the hill from the jail to a parking lot, where they surrounded Matilde Ulrich‟s car. One of the inmates pulled Ulrich from her car, while defendant got in on the passenger side and pushed Ulrich out. The inmates drove off in Ulrich‟s car, which was spotted by a sheriff‟s deputy a short time later and was chased by the California Highway Patrol. A spike strip was used to stop the car. Defendant, Bowen, and the third inmate were captured without further incident. f. Acts of force or violence or threats of force or violence while in custody Witnesses testified concerning 12 different incidents involving defendant‟s use of force or violence, or threats of force or violence during the periods of time that he was held in custody as follows. 20 Defendant and Antoine Phillips were both in custody at Avenal State Prison in March 1994. The men were members of different Bloods gangs. Defendant started an argument with Phillips regarding the murder of one of defendant‟s “homegirls” by a member of Phillips‟s gang and they agreed to fight. A few weeks later, Phillips was lying on the grass of the prison yard when defendant walked up and kicked him in the mouth. Later that evening the two men fought and defendant broke Phillips‟s jaw. In November 1997, Sheriff‟s Deputy Brian Parker was conducting a security check at the Santa Barbara County jail. Parker told defendant to remove several items that defendant had secured into his cell wall in violation of jail rules. Defendant became verbally abusive and challenged him to enter the cell and fight. In November 1998, while he was in a holding cell at the Santa Maria courthouse, defendant broke a plastic coat hanger that had been used for his civilian clothes, took a large piece and began sharpening it to a point on the concrete floor. Defendant hid the other pieces of the coat hanger in clothing in the corner of the cell. Deputies entered the cell and took from defendant the sharpened piece of plastic, as well as the hidden pieces. In September 2000, while he was being held in the Los Angeles County jail, defendant became upset when he was told that the nurse did not have his medication. Sheriff‟s Deputy Phillips directed defendant to calm down. Defendant challenged Phillips and two other deputies to enter his cell and fight him, threatening to harm them. In February 2001, defendant was housed on the disciplinary row in the Los Angeles County jail. Defendant handed Sheriff‟s Deputy John Hermann a note and told him to post it in the guard booth so that everyone could see it. Defendant specifically said that he wanted Deputy Lindenmayer to see it. The note consisted of a cartoon drawing of stick figures, which depicted defendant announcing his 21 gang membership, beating up Lindenmayer, and Lindenmayer lying on the ground dead. Both Lindenmayer and Hermann took the note as a threat to Lindenmayer. In July 2001, Sheriff‟s Deputy Charles Nowotny searched defendant‟s cell in the Los Angeles County jail and found a handmade “club” in a manila envelope in defendant‟s personal property. The club consisted of a tightly rolled-up newspaper with a torn white sheet wrapped around it to form a handle. This was a contraband item that could be used as a weapon. In September 2001, sheriff‟s deputies were escorting defendant from the medical clinic to his single cell in a lockdown module of the Los Angeles County jail. When they arrived at defendant‟s cell, defendant saw a third deputy removing several gang photographs from his cell. Defendant began cursing and refused to enter his cell until his photographs were returned. Eventually defendant was convinced to go back inside his cell. However, while the deputies were removing defendant‟s handcuffs and waist chain, defendant pulled the chain into the cell and began swinging it, hitting the door and walls. Defendant yelled that he was “going to tear this place apart,” and, “If I get out of here, I am going to tear you apart, too.” The deputies were able to close the gate and secure the latch so that defendant could not hit them with the chain. It took approximately one hour to talk defendant into handing over the chain. During this time, defendant was cursing and threatening people. Not quite three weeks later, sheriff‟s deputies approached defendant‟s cell in the Los Angeles County jail to provide defendant with his dinner. When defendant‟s food was passed through the food tray slot, defendant refused the food and threw a white watery liquid at Sheriff‟s Deputy Alejandro Martinez, saying, “Take that, fuckin‟ deputy.” The liquid landed on Martinez‟s face and upper body. Sheriff‟s Deputy James Brown sprayed pepper spray into the cell so that the food slot could be closed. As the slot was being closed, defendant threw more of 22 the liquid at Brown, which landed on Brown‟s face and upper body. When Martinez sprayed additional pepper spray into the cell, defendant loudly said, “You fucking bitches,” and attempted to throw more liquid at the deputies. Martinez testified that he did not know what the liquid was, but it might have come from a milk container. Martinez explained that when an inmate throws something at an officer, it is commonly called “gassing.” In February 2002, defendant complained to Sheriff‟s Deputy Martinez at the Los Angeles County jail that Deputy Valente kept “fucking with [him] and said that [he was] going to get him.” Defendant gave Martinez a note that he wanted given to the floor supervisor. The note said, “I give you my word as a man that I will slice or stab this guy the first chance I get.” Martinez understood the note to refer to Valente. After giving Martinez the note, defendant said he would “gas” a deputy if he were given the chance. In June 2002, when defendant was housed in the Los Angeles County jail‟s “high power” module, a jail inmate trustee, Douglas Lance, was picking up trash and food trays along the walkway in the cell block. As Lance picked up a trash bag attached to defendant‟s cell, defendant reached through the bars with his left hand and swiped across the right side of Lance‟s neck. Lance cried out in pain and called for help. As Sheriff‟s Deputy Damien Ortega responded, Ortega heard the toilet flush in defendant‟s cell. Lance told Ortega that defendant had cut him. Lance had a two-and-one-half inch laceration from under his ear to the front part of his neck. The laceration was about one-quarter inch deep and was bleeding profusely. Lance was taken to the medical clinic, and subsequently transferred to an emergency room for treatment. When Ortega saw Lance two weeks later, he noticed a sizeable scar on Lance‟s neck. In January 2003, Sheriff‟s Deputy Mat Taylor was sitting in the control booth at the Los Angeles County jail when he heard a loud thud against the 23 concrete wall of one of the rows of cells. Taylor looked down the row and initially saw nothing. But when he heard noises sounding like an assault, Taylor stood up and saw defendant on top of another inmate, Richard Aguirre. Only Aguirre was supposed to be out of his cell; defendant had escaped from his cell. Defendant was savagely striking Aguirre, who was curled up in a ball, and blood was “flying everywhere.” When Taylor saw that each of defendant‟s blows was creating an injury that produced blood, he knew that a jail-made shank was involved. Taylor and his partner went down the row to break up the fight. Taylor pepper-sprayed defendant and Aguirre, but defendant continued to hit Aguirre. As additional deputies arrived, defendant ran back to his cell. Taylor did not find any weapons on Aguirre, who was covered in blood. His clothing had multiple slash marks. Aguirre was taken to the medical clinic and then transferred to a hospital trauma center. Sometime after the incident, defendant told Taylor that he wished he had “finished the job” on Aguirre and that he should have done the job right the first time. Aguirre was a “validated” associate of the Mexican Mafia, which is a large Hispanic prison gang. In March 2003, Sheriff‟s Deputy Thomas Davis searched defendant at the Los Angeles County jail before he was brought to court. Inmates in defendant‟s module were segregated so that they did not come into contact with other inmates and Davis was looking for, among other things, any notes that could be passed to other inmates during their transportation to court. During his search, Davis found a handwritten note at the bottom of a page of transcript. The note read, “Breezo is a rat . . . . Breezo and Marlo need to die.” It was signed with defendant‟s gang moniker and other gang terms. According to Lompoc Police Officer Harry Heidt, who had been assigned to investigate the 1997 robbery and murder at the Vandenberg Federal Credit Union, the transcript on which the note was written was of a telephone conversation Heidt had in December 1997 with Sabrina 24 Johnson, known as “Breezo,” regarding the conversation that had taken place at her apartment between defendant, Bowen, and Fennelle. (Fennelle had testified that the conversation concerned defendant and Bowen‟s plan to commit an armed bank robbery.) Heidt understood the term “rat” to refer to an informant or “snitch” and believed that the writer of the note wanted to have Johnson killed. Defendant‟s mail was monitored while he was in the Los Angeles County jail. Several letters were confiscated. In those letters, defendant referenced his robbery of a credit union, his cutting of a “white boy with a razor blade in the face” while in custody, and his serious cutting and beating of “a Mexican” in January 2003 while in lockup. 2. Evidence submitted in aggravation under factor (c) of section 190.3 In September 1993, defendant was convicted of discharging a firearm with gross negligence. (§ 246.3.) He received a sentence of 16 months in prison. Defendant was paroled one year later, on September 3, 1994 — four days before the murders of Hicks, Boyd, and Armstrong. 3. Aggravating evidence of victim impact a. Dayland Hicks Dayland Hicks was 22 years old when he was killed. His uncle, Gregory Shoaf, testified that Hicks was respectful, quiet, good-natured, and “very lovable.” He liked to play basketball, football, and video games. He enjoyed dancing, rapping, singing, and going to church. He was learning the Bible and taking “his life in that direction.” Shoaf believed Hicks was on the right path, but never had the chance to straighten his life out. Shoaf loved Hicks like his own son. Shoaf was in shock when he received the news that Hicks had been killed. The hardest thing Shoaf had to do was tell Hicks‟s sister Jamise that her brother was dead. Hicks and Jamise were very close and Jamise had no family left after Hicks‟s 25 death, other than Shoaf and his family, because her mother and father had both died earlier. Shoaf testified that he thought about Hicks every day and missed his smile and the things they did together. Shoaf tried to look out for Hicks‟s son, who was four or five months old when Hicks was shot, but he knew he would never replace Hicks. Hicks‟s death also “took a toll” on his grandmother. Jamise Shoaf testified that she was nine years old when her brother was killed. She cried when she was told of his death and it left her with an empty feeling. He was her only sibling, and it was hard to go on without him. She testified that she thought about his death every day. She missed his laugh, his silliness, and watching television with him.