Opinion ID: 2552553
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Defendant's Formative Years Before the Crimes

Text: Witnesses testified that Pierre Sarrazin preferred defendant's younger sister Chantal to him, which angered defendant. One witness described defendant's role in the family as akin to a piece of lint on a suit. Sydnie Goldfarb, who was then pursuing a master's degree in marriage and family counseling, became acquainted with defendant's family through a social connection in the spring of 1992, about a year and a half before defendant's crimes. She testified that Sarrazin basically ignored defendant, but when he spoke to him it was in a demeaning tone. Markita Thornton showed no affection toward defendant and ignored him. Sarrazin and Markita Thornton bickered regularly and did not seem to have a close relationship. In general, defendant seemed to be a particularly unhappy adolescent. When defendant was 16 years old and in tenth grade, he lived with the family of Berta Siy from Monday through Friday of each week in order to be eligible to spend the 1990-1991 academic year at Hoover High School. He liked the Siys and asked the Siy family to adopt him. Siy testified at trial that defendant is very nice and was nice when he was in the tenth grade as well. Defendant's academic performance at Hoover High School, however, mirrored his experiences with schoolwork elsewhere, which were problematic. He was classified as learning-disabled during his school years, struggled to learn, had attendance and behavioral problems, and dropped out of high school in 1992. At Thousand Oaks High School, he was placed in a class for the emotionally disturbed. In 1992, just before defendant dropped out of high school, school records noted that he was contemplating suicide, would cry, had no money or food, was experiencing problems with his mother and stepfather, and was living in a car. An educational consultant, Carol Horwich Luber, testified that the school system failed to provide early intervention, during elementary school, with the type of specialized services that would have made him a much more successful student in elementary, junior high and high school. In April of 1993, about five months before defendant committed his crimes, his mother attempted suicide. During that time, Sydnie Goldfarb went to defendant's house and found defendant crying and his sister distraught. Defendant had no bed or bedroom at his house and slept on the floor. At other times, when Sarrazin and Markita Thornton could not tolerate his presence, he slept in his car or at friends' houses and was emotionally overwrought. He held a job at an automobile oil-change establishment for only 11 days. During this time, Pierre Sarrazin and Markita Thornton attempted to evict him after Sarrazin caught him siphoning gasoline out of his truck, but the police informed defendant's parents that they could not force him to leave the house before age 18. So defendant stayed for a short time before being taken to Bakersfield to live in a trailer with his maternal grandmother, Lois Thornton, and her boyfriend. He soon returned home; his mother again asked him to leave but eventually relented and let him live in a tent in the back yard. At the time defendant assaulted Erika S. in October 1992, he was suffering emotional stress and contemplating suicide. He again went to live with Lois Thornton, this time in Oceano, in San Luis Obispo County, where he was depressed and could not sleep. When he returned home to Ventura County, police arrested him on a charge of automobile burglary. Defendant found work at an automotive repair shop and remained employed about a month, until his stepfather, who also worked there, fired him because he disapproved of defendant's spending his money on radio-controlled model racing cars.