Court Opinion

ID: 9570637
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:24:51.234274+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:12:11.700526
License: Public Domain

GRODIN, J.
I concur in the judgment granting the petition for writ of habeas corpus and vacating the judgment of conviction. I note, however, that in his appeal defendant claims that there was insufficient evidence of an intent in carrying off the murder victim other than the murder itself. If so, retrial on that special circumstance is barred. (Burks v. United States (1978) 437 U.S. 1 [57 L.Ed.2d 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141]; People v. Thompson (1980) 27 Cal.3d 303, 332-333 [165 Cal.Rptr. 289, 611 P.2d 883]; People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 62 [164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468].) I concur in the judgment therefore with the understanding that defendant is not precluded by our failure to address this arguably meritorious issue from asserting the bar of double jeopardy to retrial on that special circumstance allegation. (Cf. In re Jordan (1974) 12 Cal.3d 575, 582 [116 Cal.Rptr. 371, 526 P.2d 523].)
I concur in the decision setting aside the judgment of conviction because I agree that defendant did not receive constitutionally adequate representation by his attorney. I believe that defendant has carried the burden placed on a petitioner for writ of habeas corpus of demonstrating that counsel’s performance was so inadequate and inept as to undermine confidence in the verdict, and that there was a consequent breakdown of the adversarial process toward which the constitutional guarantee is directed. Therefore, while I do not agree with the majority that defendant has demonstrated specific prejudice as a result of counsel’s omissions, the judgment must be set aside.
The majority acknowledge appropriately that the standards by which reversal of a judgment for ineffective assistance of counsel is usually deter*243mined under both the Sixth Amendment guarantee of effective counsel, and the equivalent guarantee of article I, section 15, of the California Constitution, require that the defendant demonstrate that counsel’s errors and omissions have caused him specific, identifiable prejudice. He must show that but for counsel’s failings the decision reached would reasonably likely have been different. (Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 693-694 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 697-698, 104 S.Ct. 2052]; People v. Fosselman (1983) 33 Cal.3d 572, 583-584 [189 Cal.Rptr. 855, 659 P.2d 1144].) The majority also recognize that when a defendant collaterally attacks a judgment by petition for writ of habeas corpus he bears the burden of proving the facts upon which his right to relief turns by a preponderance of the evidence. (In re Lawler (1979) 23 Cal.3d 190, 195 [151 Cal.Rptr. 833, 588 P.2d 1257]; In re Imbler (1963) 60 Cal.2d 554, 560 [35 Cal.Rptr. 293, 387 P.2d 6].) In my view, however, petitioner has not met this burden, and the majority has not properly applied the rules under which relief is to be granted.
In particular, the majority implicitly finds prejudice in counsel’s failure to further investigate and present a diminished capacity defense. The opinion nowhere identifies the manner in which such a defense might have led to a more favorable verdict, however. Instead, overlooking the burden on the defendant, the majority assert that the People have not shown that a more favorable result would not have resulted had counsel presented such a defense. The question, however, is whether defendant has offered evidence that counsel should have discovered that would have supported a diminished capacity defense, and which, if offered, might have led to a more favorable verdict.
Although medical and psychiatric experts offered evidence at the habeas corpus reference hearing on the impact of PCP on the cognitive abilities of a user, and one testified that he believed defendant would have had diminished capacity to form intent, neither had examined the defendant. More importantly, neither offered an opinion on whether a person suffering from the type of diminished capacity he believed would have been present in defendant could have had an intent to steal. In a felony-murder prosecution, of course, it is not necessary to establish that the defendant had the ability to or did intend to kill or to premeditate the killing, to deliberate, or to harbor malice. All that must be established is that the killing occurred during the commission of, or attempted commission of, as in this case, a robbery. The only mental state that might be affected by diminished capacity in such case would be the intent to permanently deprive the victim of his property. The record offers no basis on which to suspect that defendant was unable to achieve this state of mind, or that evidence of drug ingestion might *244have persuaded the jury that he was not guilty of first degree robbery based on a felony-murder theory.
The majority next faults counsel for failing to move pretrial to exclude reference to the victim’s extrajudicial identification of defendant. Two aspects of the prejudice analysis flowing from this omission trouble me. First, although pretrial “in limine” motions are common practice, the failure to make such motions cannot itself be considered prejudicial in circumstances in which a ruling on the motion is not binding at trial. As we had occasion to note in People v. Campa (1984) 36 Cal.3d 870, 885-886 [206 Cal.Rptr. 114, 686 P.2d 634], except as to motions made pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5, rulings on such motions are subject to reconsideration at trial when the evidence is actually offered, and if objection is not made at that time the objection is waived notwithstanding the pretrial ruling. (See People v. Superior Court (Zolnay) (1975) 15 Cal.3d 729, 735 [125 Cal.Rptr. 798, 542 P.2d 1390]; Saidi-Tabatabai v. Superior Court (1967) 253 Cal.App.2d 257, 266 [61 Cal.Rptr. 510]; People v. Beasley (1967) 250 Cal.App.2d 71, 76-77 [58 Cal.Rptr. 485].) For that reason, only the objection at trial is crucial. In addition, it is far from clear that evidence of the out-of-court identification of defendant by the victim was inadmissible hearsay. That conclusion assumes that the only relevance of that evidence was for the truth of the victim’s statement—that defendant was the robber. But the statement was also relevant to establish that defendant, being aware of the identification, had a motive for the murder—to eliminate the witness— and thus to establish the identity of the killer. Counsel’s failure in this regard, therefore, does not support the conclusion that his performance here caused specific prejudice to defendant by permitting the jury to learn of the identification.
Defendant similarly failed to carry his burden of establishing prejudice as a result of counsel’s failure to object to admission of evidence of the intercepted telephone call. While it is true that on motion to exclude or suppress evidence seized without warrant the People bear the burden of establishing the lawfulness of the seizure, here, on habeas corpus, the defendant has the burden of establishing that a motion to exclude would have been meritorious. Thus he, not the People, must establish whether the seizure was lawful. He offered no evidence to establish that the entry and subsequent conduct of the police officers was not with the consent of the occupants of the home. In failing to establish that the evidence was inadmissible, he failed to show that he was prejudiced by counsel’s failure to object.
Nonetheless, I conclude that the circumstances under which counsel undertook the representation of defendant, and under which he conducted the trial, although circumstances of his own making, were such that no attorney *245could effectively present a meaningful or competent defense to a capital charge in which the issues were complex and required a skilled and loyal advocate. Counsel’s failure to investigate defenses that should have been apparent to him; his failure to utilize available evidence and objections; his admission that his trial preparation and performance were essentially nil as a result of his own compulsive gambling, lack of sleep, and consequent lack of mental alertness; his abandonment of his client in proceedings subsequent to the guilt phase; coupled with the other omissions identified by the referee preclude any confidence in the verdict of first degree murder and in the appropriateness of the verdict of death.
In circumstances in which it is established that although counsel has been afforded a defendant, he is unable to discharge his duties, it is unnecessary to identify specific prejudice. “The right to the effective assistance of counsel is . . . the right of the accused to require the prosecution’s case to survive the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing. When a true adversarial criminal trial has been conducted—even if defense counsel may have made demonstrable error—the kind of testing envisioned by the Sixth Amendment has occurred. But if the process loses its character as a confrontation between adversaries, the constitutional guarantee is violated. .. . [I]f counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing, then there has been a denial of Sixth Amendment rights that makes the adversary process itself is [s/c] presumptively prejudicial.” (United States v. Cronic (1984) 466 U.S. 648, 656-659 [80 L.Ed.2d 657, 666-668, 104 S.Ct. 1338].)
I am satisfied that while defendant failed to demonstrate specific prejudice, he has established that counsel’s performance was so deficient as to bring about a breakdown of the adversarial process, and that but for his omissions the outcome of the trial might not have been a verdict of first degree murder, or, at least, might not have been the imposition of a sentence of death.
I therefore concur in the judgment granting the petition for writ of habeas corpus and vacating the judgment:
Lucas, J., and Panelli, J., concurred.
*246Appendix A
The Woods Report
Fermin was bom in Corpus Christi, Texas, 3/21/51, to a migrant family. He was the fifth child in a family of eight children. During the picking season the Ledesma’s traveled extensively throughout the south. Fermin and his brothers were required to pick alongside their parents. Fermin stated that during his younger years (up to 8 years old) he doesn’t remember much except picking fruit, playing with his oldest brother Pascual, and Rudy, and getting beaten by his father if they misbehaved. They traveled extensively and he had no sense of a home at this time.
When Fermin was eight they moved to California to pick crops in Campbell. The family decided to stay in this area so that Fermin was enrolled in school for the first time. He was, however, put in the first grade. This was humiliating and painful to him which was coupled with the language problem. They were still required to work in the fields and Fermin states that he felt like a “slave,” in that he had to work hard, give his father all the money and got little in return except beatings. (The father apparently had a second family in Mexico which he sent money to and Fermin felt resentful and used by his father—he talks of having to wear old, used clothes to school which embarassed him further with the other kids.) With regard to schooling, therefore, he was set up for failure from the onset of his “education.” He began to cut school in the fifth grade, which he continued to do until he eventually dropped out in his first year of high school. He looked more and more to his street friends to fulfill his needs. He also began to sniff glue. He continued to work, however, and had his own car at 14.
His interaction with the juvenile court began at 13 and 14 where [s/c] he had problems with truancy and “out of control.” He spent time at Juvenile Hall, Boys Ranch and ultimately CYA for car theft during his teenage years.
A critical part of Fermin’s childhood development revolves around his relationship with his father. Throughout his childhood he felt unloved by his father. He admits that he desperately wanted his father’s approval and was never able to communicate with him. Fermin felt that he was merely expected to follow orders and, if he did not do so, he was beaten. His father was an extremely punitive man and Fermin has been hit with belts, cable wire, an axe handle, extension cords, or “whatever he could get his hands on.”
He spoke of one time when he came home from “cutting” school and his father discovered his actions. Fermin was forced to get on his knees in front of his father and be punched in the face and all over his body. At 15 Fermin was thrown out of his home.
Another critical element of Fermin’s psychological development concerned his interaction with his brother, Ray. Ray, the second eldest, was his father’s favorite son. As Fermin got older, as well as his father, Ray became delegated by his father to beat up Fermin if he misbehaved. All of his father’s affection and approval therefore were showered on Ray and Fermin fell resentful and rejected. To this day, the two brothers are estranged.
Violence was a common phenomena [sic] in Fermin’s childhood. Fermin also observed his mother getting hit by his father. Beatings were frequent and severe. When I asked him to relay to me a happy memory from his childhood he responded, “I don’t have any, only bad ones—all the beatings and the marks I got from them.” In addition to beatings at home he also met with violence among his peers in the neighborhood. He told of being “rat banged” several times as a teenager as well as bearing the scars of three stab wounds from fights. (Rat banging is a phenomena [s/c] where eight or ten guys jump on one person and severely beat and batter them.)
Coupled with the violence in his life, there was a lack of nurturance and emotional fulfillment. Being fifth in a family of eight, he felt as if he never got enough love or attention. *247Fermin states that he never felt wanted or needed by his family. He has, in fact, been designated as the “black sheep.”
Fermin stated that he never knew if his family loved him although he was sure that he loved them. His response, therefore, was to withdraw into himself and look for a “family” on the streets with the “wrong crowd.” During our interview Fermin often repeated that he felt that his father didn’t like him. He learned, subsequently, to respond to frustration, his own sense of failure and lack of love by developing a hard street attitude to protect himself—violence was a learned response (reaction) as well as a sense of rage, to pressure and became ingrained as a part of him. (My impression of talking somewhat with family members is that, in fact, only “token” concern is being given to Fermin’s plight and that he is considered to be the black sheep. Fermin has been writing to them regularly with little response. He has also requested money which took several days to get to him. My impression is that he was often left out of family functions, etc.)
Of his brothers, Fermin felt close at one time to Pascual, the eldest. When Pascual went to Viet Nam, Fermin was 17 and he felt lonely and rejected once again. During this same year Fermin got busted with another car theft offense. Since he had already been at the Ranch, his P.O. told him that he either had to join the Army or go to Y.A. Fermin chose the Army which was ultimately a traumatic negative experience for him which further reinforced the violence and abuse he had been subjected to all of his life. While in the Army he began to go AWOL after completing boot camp and continued to return home although he did not live with his parents, rather on the streets or with his brothers. Fermin states that the reason that he didn’t like the Army was because of the lack of respect as well as the treatment he received by the sergeants. He indicated that it was difficult for him to have to stand at attention and listen to them insult him as well as to [r/c] make remarks about his mother. Because of frequent remarks and responses which Fermin gave during these interviews, it appears as if he is unable to cope with strict, unflexible, hard authority figures because of the abuse which he had been subjected to by them throughout his life (especially with regard to his father). His response to situations in which he finds himself dealing with authoritative, punitive figures is to “fight” back with all of his will in an attempt to save his own sense of self worth and dignity-
In terms of the Army, however, his resolution to the problem was simply to bear the situation which coupled with the fact that he had initially been pressured to join.
When Fermin was AWOL he managed to stay at home for long periods of time before he got caught and brought back to Fort Ord. A traumatic event occurred for Fermin during this time when the family was informed that Pascual was missing in action in Viet Nam. They subsequently informed the family that he was dead (although this later proved to be incorrect) and Fermin was deeply upset. He said that this was the final “straw” for him and the Army and that he had no desire to go back there. Unfortunately, however, his brother Ray called the MP’s on Fermin informing them of his whereabouts and he was returned to Fort Ord. Ray’s rationale for his actions was that he was concerned about Fermin not going anywhere with his life.
Fermin was sentenced to 96 days in the stockade. During this time, the prisoners went on strike in order to protest the prison conditions of food, etc. During a recreation break in the prison yard, all of the prisoners began yelling. Fermin yelled, “Fuck you Sergeant Thermin” and, unfortunately, an MP was behind him. He was thrown into the “hole” for 8 or 14 days (he doesn’t remember). The “Hole” was a very small steel room with no bedding, heat or windows. Usually the food is pushed through an opening in the door. In Fermin’s case, however, when he was fed, which was three times a day, three MP’s came each time with clubs and severely battered him. His face was swollen and he was bruised all over his body. This treatment continued for the entire length of his stay in the hole. Obviously his sense of rage, hatred and violence was greatly increased by'this incidence as well as his negative, powerless feelings with regard to the Army. (The other psychological effects of this incident should also be explained more in depth.) Fermin revealed to me that after he was released from the stockade, he went and got a shotgun and was waiting for the MP who did this to him after he got off of work. Fermin spoke of waiting in his car for the man to approach as he planned to *248shoot him. At this time, however, Fermin still had a coping rationale mechanism inside of him which enabled him to realize that he could not do this as well as the possible consequences of his actions. He, therefore, drove home, not harming or even seeing the MP involved.
During his third AWOL time period, Fermin met and married a friend of his sister, Adelita Chiodo. He fell in love with her and they were married on March 16, 1970. In May of that year he got busted for suspicion of car theft. He fought the case and lost it. While the courts were determining whether or not he was “fit” for adult court, he was transferred to Tracy Penitentiary where he spent three months. He was 19. The parole board decided to send him to CYA and he subsequently finished his time fighting fires at Ben Lomond in Santa Cruz. During this time he was discharged from the Army.
It should be noted that Fermin has continued to work when he has been on the streets. He was a steady, reliable worker and when he got out of YA he began to build a life for himself and his wife. For the next year and a half that they were together Fermin remembers as a happy time in his life. His wife got pregnant and had twin girls. Fermin states, “I was working and we got a house which I furnished with nice things ... we had good credit.”
Adelita and Fermin split up in 1972 after Fermin found out she was cheating on him. Fer-min describes this as a turning point for the worst in his life as he loved her intensely. He felt rejected and angry. After this occurred, his life-style changed dramatically. He could no longer hold down a job and wanted to spend all of his time “partying.” Fermin states, “I did a lot of grass, and especially crystal [i.e., PCP]. I didn't really care about my life.” He also began to get involved with a crowd of people who were involved in criminal activities.
His first serious girlfriend after his wife was a woman named Lettie. He was involved with her for four or five years but never married her because of his feelings for his wife. He did, however, love her and when they broke up last May he felt rejected once again by someone that he had loved. Lettie ended their relationship because she felt he was “getting too crazy” because of his drug consumptions of KJ [a combination of marijuana and PCP]. When I asked Fermin if this was in fact true, he affirmed. He stated that he couldn’t remember things that he did and that he was not eating, losing a lot of weight, etc.
After Fermin’s breakup with Lettie, he subsequently states that life for him got very bad. He lost his job and subsequently began a heavy drug involvement. “I just didn’t care. ...” “I was taking eight KJ’s a day from May to August when I left for Utah.” While in Utah, he also consumed LSD several times. When Fermin returned to San Jose, he once again went on a KJ binge and the four days prior to his arrest were spent in a constant high.
Fermin’s drug use is a very important variable with regards to his psychological development and current mental state. He began glue sniffing at a very young age and rapidly progressed to marijuana, LSD and KJ. He states that he has been using KJ for the past seven years. He remembers several “bad trips” which he had when he got high. During these bad trips he would become very paranoid and would have hallucinations of monsters, etc. He spoke of often being so high he couldn’t walk. He also stated that almost every time he got high he had hallucinations. Once an incident occurred when he was driving home high on KJ and he thought that his body was beginning to evaporate and that he would soon disappear altogether. It was terrifying to him. In addition to KJ, Fermin also has a history of using LSD. He states that he has taken more LSD than he can even remember and he would take three or four hits at a time. (It is recommended that some type of neurological testing be done on Fermin to determine the extent of damage done to him because of his drug abuse.) Fermin now describes himself as a “bum out case.” He says that he often can’t remember things and sometimes has trouble reading and writing. (For example, he’ll be in the middle of writing a word and forget how to spell it although he used to know how.)
In essence, Fermin is a man who has learned that violence is the only way to resolve his problems. He has apparently never had nurturance in his life and has been subjected to extreme and unusual violent abuse. In every incident that he in fact gave his love and trust to someone in his life, he was rejected by them. His family seems to have little interest in him although he is making attempts to reach out to them. Lack of approval or affection by his father has also seriously damaged his self image. He describes himself as a loser and a loner *249who has no friends and this, in fact, seems to be true. Throughout his life he often speaks of feeling alone. When I asked Fermín what he thought his problems were, he responded, “I don’t worry about the future ... I just live for today.”
Throughout my interviews with Fermín of his life history, I was aware of a tragic sense of rage which was building up in him throughout his life because of the oppressive violent environment which he lived in and his particular situations and occurrences. He seemed like a clock which was getting wound up too tight. Intuitively, I feel as if Fermín is a man with a lot of potential. I’ve also identified some positive attributes; such as, his love of his daughters, etc. He has, however, adopted a hardened attitude to cover his pain.
In summary, there are several important elements which we could key into:
1. Battered child—effects of.
2. Lack of love and bonding (a psychologist could assess this—he was separated from his mother for four days at birth because of a mouth operation so that the important bonding never took place.
3. Violent role models.
4. Time spent in the “hole” and how he was beaten—effects of this psychologically.
5. Break up and rejection of his wife and others he loved.
6. Drugs—effects of KJ—LSD, etc.