Opinion ID: 2718100
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Deputy Arthur Penate

Text: Los Angeles County Sheriff‘s Deputy Arthur Penate testified that on January 31, 1999, he was conducting a security check of the seventh floor of the Twin Towers jail facility. The seventh floor housed two types of prisoners in single cells: mentally ill inmates and extremely violent inmates. Deputy Penate understood that defendant fell into the latter category. Deputy Penate opened a small slot in the cell door to give defendant his food. As he received the tray, defendant bent down and threw a carton containing feces and urine at Deputy Penate. Defendant aimed at Deputy Penate‘s face but struck him in the torso. In the days following the incident, defendant laughingly told Deputy Penate, ― ‗See. See. I told you I was going to get you.‘ ‖ Defendant also wrote, ―Penate is a bitch‖ and ―Fuck off‖ on the interior walls of his cell, along with various gangrelated comments. Deputy Penate further testified that a few days before the incident, defendant accused Deputy Penate of ―disrespecting‖ him when Deputy Penate told another inmate that defendant was a troublemaker. On a separate occasion about two weeks before the incident, defendant complained that his food was late. When Deputy Penate told him to be patient, he replied: ― ‗No. No. No. No. No. Let me tell you who I am and how it is. [¶] Let me tell you who I am and what I am capable of doing. [¶] . . . [¶] You know who I am? [¶] You better ask your deputy friends and ask who I am.‘ ‖ 16 Finally, Deputy Penate testified that defendant ―continuously manipulates and tries to control other deputies‖ and that defendant would often condition his compliance with orders from prison staff on receiving special items such as extra clothing or blankets. b) Circumstances of the Crimes (1) Crimes against Coleman and Latasha W. The prosecution presented substantially the same evidence in the penalty retrial that was presented at the guilt phase of the trial, including the testimony of Detective Sal LaBarbera, Latasha W., and Dr. Pedro Ortiz. The parties stipulated to the substance of the DNA evidence testimony provided by Madeline Marini, Michael Mastrocovo, and Dr. Robin Cotton. (2) Gang Expert Testimony Los Angeles Police Detective Christopher Barling testified as an expert on the Harvard Park Brims gang, also known as the Six Deuce Brims gang. The Harvard Park Brims gang was an African-American Bloods gang affiliate that was associated with the color red. It was not uncommon for members of the Harvard Park Brims gang to refer to themselves as ―Blood.‖ The Coleman and Foster crime scenes were within the territory of the Harvard Park Brims gang. Defendant had the letters H.P.B., short for Harvard Park Brims, tattooed on his left arm. (3) Crimes against Foster The prosecution presented substantially the same evidence in the penalty retrial that was presented at the guilt phase, including the testimony of Detective Frank Weber, Yvonne McGill, Patricia Manzanares, and Officer Marcelo Raffi. The parties also stipulated to the following facts: (1) the gun recovered by Officer Raffi was the murder weapon in the Foster shooting; (2) the recovered gun contained six live rounds, including two CCI brand rounds and one Speer brand 17 round; (3) the Speer round in the recovered gun and the Speer cartridge casings recovered from the Foster crime scene were the same types of rounds that were found in the ammunition box recovered from defendant‘s residence; (4) police executed a search warrant at defendant‘s residence and recovered four red T-shirts, an empty nine-millimeter luger ammunition box, and a jacket; (5) Dr. Steve Scholtz performed an autopsy on Foster and determined the cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head; and (6) a blood screening revealed cocaine metabolite in Foster‘s system. c) Victim Impact Testimony — Chandra Vinning Coleman was survived by his elder sister Chandra Vinning (Chandra), his mother Sandra Vinning (Sandra), and his daughter. Because Sandra suffered from a medical disability that made it difficult for her to write, Chandra wrote a letter that summarized Sandra‘s feelings about losing her son. Chandra testified that Coleman had been a great help to Sandra, ensuring that she went to her numerous doctor‘s appointments by driving her or giving her cab fare. Sandra‘s health had deteriorated since Coleman‘s death. Chandra further testified that Coleman‘s daughter was ―the joy of his life.‖ She identified a photograph depicting Coleman with his daughter, who was then four years old. On the night of his murder, Coleman had taken his daughter to an amusement park.