Opinion ID: 844204
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jail incidents

Text: Defendant was held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga while awaiting trial in the case. In December 1996, eight months after his arrest, he had a violent outburst during a “shakedown” search of the unit where he was being housed. Deputy Joseph Perea of the San Bernardino County Sheriff‟s Department testified that during the shakedown, when the inmates were lined up in front of their cells, defendant mumbled something under his breath as one of the deputies passed by him. Perea and another deputy took defendant to the multipurpose room and asked him to sit down, but defendant did not comply. When Deputy Mark James intervened and attempted to push defendant down into his chair, defendant punched him on the left side of the face, rendering him unconscious. Perea sprayed defendant with pepper spray, but defendant managed to throw a food cart at the officer, hitting him in the right arm. Defendant then ran to a utility room, grabbed a push broom and started swinging it wildly. The deputies managed to knock the broom out of defendant‟s hands by throwing plastic chairs at him, then attempted to tackle him, eventually getting defendant under control by handcuffing him and shackling his legs. 16 Defendant had a second violent confrontation with deputies five months later. According to the testimony of Deputy Timothy Nichols, in May 1997, Deputy David Llewellyn ordered defendant to go into his cell and “lock it down” for disrespecting one of the deputies. Defendant first disregarded the directive, then took a combative stance and responded, “Fuck you.” Deputy Nichols sprayed him with pepper spray, but it had no effect. Defendant then stepped toward the deputies, and he and Llewellyn started hitting each other with their fists. When Nichols attempted to place defendant in a “choke hold,” defendant threw him off and punched him repeatedly on the side of the head and in the groin as he tried to get up off the ground. Defendant then picked up Nichols and tried to throw him over the second-tier railing. After releasing his hold on Nichols, defendant resumed fighting with Llewellyn until he was subdued by other deputies. A third incident occurred approximately one month before the start of the first guilt phase trial. Deputy Alejandro Barrero testified that in November 2000, he removed from defendant a sharpened metal instrument known as a “shank.” The homemade shank had a cloth handle with a leash made of rope that would permit the user to retrieve the weapon in the event it slipped or was grabbed away.