People v. Gomez-Villeda CA4/1 ( 2014 )


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  • Filed 4/28/14 P. v. Gomez-Villeda CA4/1
    NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
    California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for
    publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication
    or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
    COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION ONE
    STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    THE PEOPLE,                                                         D064112
    Plaintiff and Respondent,
    v.                                                         (Super. Ct. No. SCD235999)
    ELAINA EUGENIA GOMEZ-VILLEDA,
    Defendant and Appellant.
    APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Albert T.
    Harutunian, III, Judge. Affirmed.
    Patrick J. Hennessey, Jr., under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for the
    Defendant and Appellant.
    Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Julie L. Garland, Assistant
    Attorneys General, Scott C. Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Deputy Attorneys General for the
    Plaintiff and Respondent.
    A jury convicted Elaina Eugenia Gomez-Villeda of making a criminal threat (Pen.
    Code,1 § 422; count 1) and assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2); count 2). It found
    true allegations that defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of count 1
    within the meaning of sections 12022.5, subdivision (a) and 1192.7, subdivision (c)(23).
    The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on three years of
    formal probation and ordered her to pay various fines and fees. Defendant contends the
    evidence does not establish she made a criminal threat within the meaning of section 422.
    She further contends the trial court prejudicially erred by failing to instruct the jury on
    count 2 on brandishing a firearm as defined in section 417, subdivision (a)(2). We affirm
    the judgment.
    FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
    On the afternoon of August 16, 2011, Carmen Ruiz and her then three-year-old
    daughter visited Ruiz's friend, Maria Garcia, who lived on Fairmont Avenue in San
    Diego. Ruiz and Garcia had been friends for eight years but Ruiz had only been to
    Garcia's house four or five times. Ruiz parked her car in Garcia's parking area, close to
    the back door of Garcia's house. After another friend of Ruiz's, Maria Anguiano, arrived,
    Ruiz and Anguiano left in Anguiano's car for about 45 minutes to run an errand. When
    Ruiz and Anguiano returned, they walked from the alley into the parking area toward the
    back door. As they approached Garcia's door, they saw defendant and her two children.
    Ruiz had never spoken with defendant before.
    1      All statutory references are to the Penal Code.
    2
    After Ruiz entered Garcia's home, Garcia and Garcia's sister in law, Cynthia
    Ornelas, told Ruiz that defendant had called a tow truck to tow Ruiz's car, but the tow
    truck did not take it because it was parked in Garcia's spot. Garcia and Ornelas appeared
    angry and had argued with defendant over the parking spot. Ruiz got her car keys and
    went outside to move her car, followed by Anguiano, Garcia, Ruiz's daughter, and
    Ornelas.
    Ruiz got to her car and opened the door when defendant approached her, pointing
    a black gun at her. Defendant put the gun to the side of Ruiz's head and said in a very
    angry tone, "I'm not playing, I'm not fucking joking."2 Ruiz was very afraid. She
    thought defendant was actually going to kill her because defendant was serious, and very
    upset and angry. Ruiz believed defendant had the ability to shoot her, and behaved as
    though the gun was working. She estimated that defendant held the gun to her head for
    about a minute, which to her felt like a long time. Ornelas estimated the incident took
    close to one minute. Ruiz understood defendant to be demanding that she move her car,
    because Garcia had already told Ruiz that she and defendant had argued about the
    problem. Still yelling, defendant turned around and returned to her house. Thankful that
    she was not shot, Ruiz eventually moved her car after defendant returned to her house.
    Ruiz parked and returned to the front of Garcia's house to pick up her daughter. Ruiz was
    2      On cross-examination Ruiz said defendant said something like, "What the fuck do
    you think, I'm not joking." Ornelas testified that defendant said, "Move your fucking car,
    do you think I'm fucking playing with you."
    3
    afraid for a "long time" after the day ended; she became depressed and returned to
    Mexico because she was afraid that something would be done to her or her daughter.
    Silvia Vasquez, the office manager for the company managing the apartment
    complex, testified that on August 1, 2011, defendant sent her an email complaining about
    her neighbor, and telling her they had been hoarding trash, not cleaning up after their
    animals, and having a large number of people coming in and out of their unit at all hours
    of the night. She wrote that the police had been called, but did not show up in time and
    considered it low priority. The last line of defendant's email read: "I am trying to take
    the responsible approach on this instead of getting ghetto and really causing a problem. I
    am not really sure what to do." Vasquez had received earlier complaints from defendant
    about her neighbors keeping outside lights on unnecessarily and leaving trash outside
    their unit. In response, Vasquez instructed defendant to continue to call police, and the
    management company had sent her neighbor a notice. Vasquez testified that on the day
    of the incident defendant had phoned her to complain that the driveway was being
    blocked by another vehicle so nobody could get in or out.
    Police officers responding to the August 16 incident searched defendant's home
    and found a live bullet for a .32-caliber revolver, a trigger lock in two pieces, and a gun
    pouch of a size consistent with a .32-caliber gun. They did not locate any firearms in her
    house.
    Defendant claimed that when she told Ruiz to move her car, she was only holding
    her car keys and cell phone. She denied having or owning a gun, and denied having any
    4
    weapon or gun at any time that day. Defendant denied threatening to do bodily harm to
    anyone, or to Ruiz specifically, on the day of the incident.
    DISCUSSION
    I. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Support Conviction for Making a Criminal Threat
    Defendant contends the evidence is insufficient to establish she made a criminal
    threat within the meaning of section 422. Specifically, she maintains there was no
    evidence of any threat and though she was angry, after the incident she turned and walked
    back to her apartment. She also argues the evidence does not show Ruiz was in a
    sustained period of fear within the meaning of the statute. Defendant argues her
    comments, taken in context, suggest only a verbal outburst and not a serious, deliberate
    statement of purpose to inflict pain or physical injury on Ruiz. Further, defendant asserts
    the evidence does not show Ruiz was reasonably in sustained fear for her own safety that
    was more than momentary, fleeting or transitory.
    A. Standard of Review
    " 'A reviewing court faced with [a claim challenging the sufficiency of the
    evidence] determines "whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to
    the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the
    crime beyond a reasonable doubt." [Citations.] We examine the record to determine
    "whether it shows evidence that is reasonable, credible and of solid value from which a
    rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
    [Citation.] Further, "the appellate court presumes in support of the judgment the
    existence of every fact the trier could reasonably deduce from the evidence." [Citation.]
    5
    This standard applies whether direct or circumstantial evidence is involved. "Although it
    is the jury's duty to acquit a defendant if it finds the circumstantial evidence susceptible
    of two reasonable interpretations, one of which suggests guilt and the other innocence, it
    is the jury, not the appellate court[,] that must be convinced of the defendant's guilt
    beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citation.] ' "If the circumstances reasonably justify the trier
    of fact's findings, the opinion of the reviewing court that the circumstances might also
    reasonably be reconciled with a contrary finding does not warrant a reversal of the
    judgment." ' " ' " (People v. Virgil (2011) 
    51 Cal.4th 1210
    , 1263.)
    B. Elements of Offense
    There are five elements to a section 422 offense of making a criminal threat. (In
    re George T. (2004) 
    33 Cal.4th 620
    , 630.) The People must prove: " '(1) that the
    defendant "willfully threaten[ed] to commit a crime which will result in death or great
    bodily injury to another person," (2) that the defendant made the threat "with the specific
    intent that the statement . . . is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually
    carrying it out," (3) that the threat . . . was "on its face and under the circumstances in
    which it [was] made, . . . so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to
    convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of
    execution of the threat," (4) that the threat actually caused the person threatened "to be in
    sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety," and
    (5) that the threatened person's fear was "reasonabl[e]" under the circumstances.' " (In re
    George T., at p. 630, fn. omitted.)
    6
    C. Defendant's Statement was a Threat within the Meaning of Section 422
    In In re George T., 
    supra,
     33 Cal.4th at page 635, the court explained: "With
    respect to the requirement that a threat be 'so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and
    specific as to convey to the person threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate
    prospect of execution of the threat,' we explained . . . that the word 'so' in section 422
    meant that ' "unequivocality, unconditionality, immediacy and specificity are not
    absolutely mandated, but must be sufficiently present in the threat and surrounding
    circumstances . . . ." ' [Citations.] 'The four qualities are simply the factors to be
    considered in determining whether a threat, considered together with its surrounding
    circumstances, conveys those impressions to the victim.' [Citation.] A communication
    that is ambiguous on its face may nonetheless be found to be a criminal threat if the
    surrounding circumstances clarify the communication's meaning." Thus, a " 'threat is not
    insufficient simply because it does "not communicate a time or precise manner of
    execution, section 422 does not require those details to be expressed." ' " (People v.
    Wilson (2010) 
    186 Cal.App.4th 789
    , 806.) " 'While the statute does not require that the
    violator intend to cause death or serious bodily injury to the victim, not all serious
    injuries are suffered to the body. The knowing infliction of mental terror is equally
    deserving of moral condemnation.' " (Ibid.)
    Here, viewing the entire incident in context, a reasonable trier of fact could find a
    sufficient threat from the evidence of defendant's angry approach with gun raised and
    leveled at Ruiz's head. Though defendant did not expressly threaten bodily harm, her use
    of the gun while yelling at Ruiz that she was "not playing" and "not fucking joking,"
    7
    constituted a threat under circumstances that conveyed a gravity of purpose and an
    immediate prospect of execution. And, contrary to other cases in which gravity of
    purpose was not found (see In re Ricky T. (2001) 
    87 Cal.App.4th 1132
    , 1138 (Ricky T.)),
    defendant's angry words were accompanied by a show of physical violence. A rational
    trier could have found that defendant expressed her intention to hurt Ruiz if Ruiz did not
    immediately move her vehicle. A rational trier could have further concluded that by
    pointing the gun and holding it at Ruiz's temple, defendant expressed a gravity of purpose
    and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat.
    In view of these circumstances, we do not accept defendant's characterization of
    her words as merely "suggest[ing] an angry outburst and nothing more." And, though
    defendant claims she "immediately" turned and walked away, the evidence does not
    necessarily support that proposition; Ruiz testified that at some point when she had
    started to get into the driver's seat, defendant turned around to go back to her house, still
    yelling. In sum, the evidence amply supports the jury's finding that defendant made a
    threat within the meaning of section 422.
    D. The Evidence is Sufficient to Show Ruiz was Reasonably in Sustained Fear
    The sustained fear element "requires proof of a mental element in the victim."
    (People v. Allen (1995) 
    33 Cal.App.4th 1149
    , 1156.) "The phrase to 'cause[ ] that person
    reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety' has a subjective and an
    objective component. A victim must actually be in sustained fear, and the sustained fear
    must also be reasonable under the circumstances." (Ricky T., 
    supra,
     87 Cal.App.4th at
    pp. 1139-1140.) "[S]ection 422 requires that the communication must be sufficient 'on its
    8
    face and under the circumstances in which it is made' to constitute a criminal threat. This
    means that the communication and the surrounding circumstances are to be considered
    together." (In re Ryan D. (2002) 
    100 Cal.App.4th 854
    , 860.)
    Though neither section 422 nor case law has identified any particular length of
    time for a finding of sustained fear, "sustained" as used in the statute has been described
    to mean "a period of time that extends beyond what is momentary, fleeting, or
    transitory." (People v. Allen, supra, 33 Cal.App.4th at p. 1156 & fn. 6 ["[N]o minimum
    time period is required, only a period 'not insubstantial' "]; Ricky T., 
    supra,
     87
    Cal.App.4th at pp. 1139-1140.) Thus, not any experience of fear will suffice to meet the
    standard. (Id. at p. 1140 ["Clearly, if any experience of fear constitutes a 'sustained'
    experience, then the term is superfluous."].) In Allen, the appellate court held the
    evidence was "more than sufficient" to support a finding of sustained fear for purposes of
    section 422 where the defendant was "armed, mobile, and at large" for a sustained period
    of 15 minutes after he had threatened to kill the victim and her daughter, against whom
    he had a long history of stalking and domestic violence. (Allen, at pp. 1151-1156.) The
    court found the victim's knowledge of the defendant's prior conduct was relevant to
    establish the victim was in a state of sustained fear. (Id. at p. 1156.)
    In People v. Fierro (2010) 
    180 Cal.App.4th 1342
     (Fierro), the victim and his son
    were at a gas station when they got into an altercation with the defendant, whom they had
    never previously met. (Id. at p. 1344.) The defendant appeared to drive off, but then
    circled back around. (Id. at p. 1345.) The victim attempted to leave the premises, but
    before he could, the defendant confronted him and his son in their car, displayed a
    9
    weapon in his waistband to them while yelling obscenities, and threatened to kill them.
    (Id. at pp. 1345-1346.) This second encounter lasted about a minute, and the threat itself
    lasted about 40 seconds. (Id. at p. 1349 & fn. 5.) When the victim was finally able to
    drive away and onto the freeway, he called the police, still scared. (Id. at p. 1346.)
    Fierro summarized the victim's testimony of his fear: "Mr. Ibarra testified clearly
    and more than once that he was horribly scared, and his fright was not fleeting.
    Regardless of who was at fault during the first confrontation, it had ended. Appellant had
    driven away. But then appellant circled and returned with the obvious intent of
    confronting Ibarra again and, this time, frightening him. In light of the (albeit recent)
    history between these people, appellant amply succeeded. Facing what he thought was a
    gun and hearing words to the effect that he and his son were about to be killed, Mr. Ibarra
    was in sustained fear for his and his son's life. The fear lasted not only through the
    minute or so that appellant stood there exposing his weapon, but for up to fifteen minutes
    after Ibarra drove away. It is entirely reasonable that he would react as he did for as long
    as he did. That is exactly what appellant wanted to accomplish." (Fierro, supra, 180
    Cal.App.4th at p. 1349.) The Fierro court concluded that under the circumstances the
    victim's fear was not momentary, and thus there was substantial evidence to support the
    section 422 offense. (Ibid.)
    Fierro contrasted the facts of Ricky T., 
    supra,
     
    87 Cal.App.4th 1132
    , in which the
    reviewing court concluded a teacher's fear was fleeting and insufficient to support a
    section 422 offense. (Fierro, supra, 180 Cal.App.4th at p. 1349, citing Ricky T., at pp.
    1135-1136.) In Ricky T., a 16-year-old student left a classroom to use the bathroom and
    10
    found the classroom door locked upon his return. He pounded on the door and when the
    teacher opened it, the door accidentally hit the student. The student became angry, cursed
    the teacher and threatened to "get" him and stated he was going to "kick [his] ass," but
    made no physical movements or gestures. The teacher felt threatened and responded by
    sending the student to the school office. (Ricky T., at pp. 1135-1136.) The Court of
    Appeal held the teacher's fear insufficient in the absence of evidence showing he felt fear
    beyond the moment of the angry utterances. (Id. at p. 1140.) It observed the police were
    not called until the next day, there was no history of disagreements between the student
    and the teacher, and there was no accompanying show of force or violence. (Id. at pp.
    1138, 1140.) Indeed, the student complied with the teacher's demand by leaving the
    scene and going to the school office. The court concluded that the student's "statement
    was an emotional response to an accident rather than a death threat that induced sustained
    fear." (Id. at p. 1141.)
    The facts here are more like those in Fierro supra, 
    180 Cal.App.4th 1342
     than in
    Ricky T., 
    supra,
     
    87 Cal.App.4th 1132
    , and compel us to uphold the jury's finding as
    supported by substantial evidence. Ruiz testified that she was very afraid and thought
    defendant was going to kill her during the time that defendant held the gun to her head,
    which she testified was close to a minute. Ruiz then moved her car but was forced to
    return to get her daughter, and she testified she was afraid for a long time beyond the day
    of the incident; that "until now that day had its consequences" causing her to leave the
    United States and return to Mexico. It is not for us to question Ruiz's credibility, as that
    is a jury question. Though Ruiz and defendant had no prior history, defendant did live
    11
    next door to Ruiz's good friend. But the absence of a prior relationship, in our view, is
    not dispositive in view of Ruiz's testimony, which establishes her fear was more than
    fleeting or transitory. Under the circumstances, it was objectively reasonable for a person
    in Ruiz's situation to be in fear for her own personal safety both during and after the
    incident, more than for a period that is merely fleeting or limited to the moments of the
    encounter. A reasonable jury could find Ruiz reasonably suffered the kind of sustained
    fear sufficient to convict defendant of a criminal threat within the meaning of section
    422.
    II. Claim of Failure to Instruct on Lesser Included Offense
    Defendant contends the trial court prejudicially erred by denying her request to
    instruct the jury on brandishing a firearm as a lesser included offense of assault with a
    firearm. She argues the issue was addressed by People v. Wilson (1967) 
    66 Cal.2d 749
    and People v. Coffey (1967) 
    67 Cal.2d 204
     (Coffey)3, as well as in People v. McKinzie
    (1986) 
    179 Cal.App.3d 789
    , whose holdings have assertedly been ignored or contradicted
    by other courts, including People v. Steele (2000) 
    83 Cal.App.4th 212
    . According to
    defendant, the holding in McKinzie was approved by the California Supreme Court in
    People v. Booker (2011) 
    51 Cal.4th 141
    , suggesting Steele was wrongly decided.
    3      Disapproved on another point in People v. Colantuano (1994) 
    7 Cal.4th 206
    , 218,
    fn. 8. The court in People v. Escarcega (1974) 
    43 Cal.App.3d 391
    , 400 examined Coffey,
    supra, 
    67 Cal.2d 204
     and concluded its statement on the lesser included offense issue was
    dictum and without precedential value as it was not responsive to any issue raised and
    unnecessary to the decision. (Escarcega, at p. 400.) We agree.
    12
    Defendant maintains the error deprived her of her federal and state constitutional rights
    and constitutes prejudicial error under Chapman v. California (1967) 
    386 U.S. 18
    .
    A. Legal Principles
    The trial court has a sua sponte obligation to instruct on a lesser included offense
    when there is substantial evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude the
    defendant committed the lesser, but not the greater, offense. (People v. Breverman
    (1998) 
    19 Cal.4th 142
    , 162.) Two tests are used to determine whether an offense is a
    lesser included offense: the statutory elements test or the accusatory pleading test.
    (People v. Ramirez (2009) 
    45 Cal.4th 980
    , 984-985; People v. Licas (2007) 
    41 Cal.4th 362
    , 366; People v. Lopez (1998) 
    19 Cal.4th 282
    , 288.) The statutory elements test is
    satisfied when " ' "all the legal ingredients of the corpus delicti of the lesser offense [are]
    included in the elements of the greater offense." ' " (Lopez, at p. 288.) Thus, "if a crime
    cannot be committed without also necessarily committing a lesser offense, the latter is a
    lesser included offense within the former." (Ibid.; see People v. Birks (1998) 
    19 Cal.4th 108
    , 117.) Under the statutory elements test, the characterization of an offense as a lesser
    included offense is made solely with reference to the elements of that offense; "[t]he
    evidence actually introduced at trial is irrelevant . . . ." (People v. Wright (1996) 
    52 Cal.App.4th 203
    , 208; see also People v. Escarcega, supra, 43 Cal.App.3d at p. 396.)
    The accusatory pleading test is met " ' "if the charging allegations of the accusatory
    pleading include language describing the offense in such a way that if committed as
    specified the lesser offense is necessarily committed." ' " (Lopez, at pp. 288-289.)
    13
    The duty to instruct on a lesser included offense attaches only if the evidence
    would allow a reasonable jury to convict on the lesser included offense instead of the
    greater offense. (People v. Breverman, 
    supra,
     19 Cal.4th at p. 162.) That is, the "trial
    court need not . . . instruct on lesser included offenses when the evidence shows that the
    defendant is either guilty of the crime charged or not guilty of any crime." (People v.
    Barton (1995) 
    12 Cal.4th 186
    , 196, fn. 5.)
    B. The Court Did Not Err in Declining to Instruct on Brandishing a Firearm Because
    Brandishing is Not a Lesser Included Offense of Assault with a Firearm
    In People v. Steele, supra, 
    83 Cal.App.4th 212
    , the appellate court rejected the
    defendant's argument that brandishing a firearm in violation of section 417, subdivision
    (a)(2) was a lesser included offense of assault with a firearm, holding instead in accord
    with numerous authorities that brandishing under that section is a lesser related offense
    of assault with a firearm. (People v. Steele, at pp. 217-218 [citing cases].) Relying on
    People v. Escarcega, supra, 
    43 Cal.App.3d 391
    , the court reasoned it is "theoretically
    possible to assault someone with a firearm without exhibiting the firearm in a rude, angry
    or threatening manner, e.g., firing or pointing it from concealment, or behind the victim's
    back." (People v. Steele, at pp. 217-218.) Steele stated that the California Supreme Court
    had only implied in People v. Wilson, 
    supra,
     
    66 Cal.2d 749
     that brandishing was a lesser
    included offense of assault, it did not directly so hold, and its statement had no prior case
    support and only scant subsequent support. (People v. Steele, at p. 219.) Further, Steele
    observed that the court in Wilson did not follow its own rule for analysis of lesser
    14
    included offenses, which has continued unabated and was affirmed in People v. Birks.
    (People v. Steele, at p 221, citing People v. Birks, 
    supra,
     19 Cal.4th at p. 117.)
    When we apply the statutory elements test in keeping with People v. Birks, 
    supra,
    19 Cal.4th 108
    , we can only conclude that brandishing cannot be a lesser included
    offense of assault with a firearm. "Section 245, subdivision (a)(2) punishes '[a]ny person
    who commits an assault upon the person of another with a firearm.' Assault is defined as
    'an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the
    person of another.' [Citation.] 'Once a defendant has attained the means and location to
    strike immediately he has the "present ability to injure." ' " (People v. Licas, supra, 41
    Cal.4th at pp. 366-367, italics omitted.) The offense of brandishing a firearm is defined
    as exhibiting "any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, in a rude, angry, or threatening
    manner" in the "presence of any other person." (§ 417, subd. (a)(2).) Assault with a
    firearm does not require the defendant to display the weapon in a rude, angry, or
    threatening manner, as Steele points out. (People v. Steele, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th at
    pp. 217-218.) Thus, under the statutory elements test, defendant's request for a jury
    instruction on brandishing was properly rejected because very simply, brandishing is not
    a lesser included offense of the crime of assault with a firearm.
    None of defendant's arguments explain how the greater crime of assault with a
    firearm cannot be committed without necessarily committing the crime of brandishing a
    weapon. Her argument on the point is merely that "[o]n the facts of [her] case it is clear
    that [she] committed a violation of Penal Code section 417." But, as stated, when
    determining whether one offense is a lesser included offense of another, the evidence
    15
    adduced at trial "is of no consequence . . . ." because we view the offenses in the abstract.
    (People v. Dixon (2007) 
    153 Cal.App.4th 985
    , 1002; People v. Steele, supra, 83
    Cal.App.4th at p. 219.) Defendant further maintains Steele was wrongly decided. She
    asserts it is based on a mistaken belief that brandishing a weapon requires an awareness
    of the victim that the weapon has in fact been displayed. Defendant argues People v.
    Wilson, 
    supra,
     
    66 Cal.2d 749
     has not been directly abrogated, and is consistent with
    People v. McKinzie, supra, 
    179 Cal.App.3d 789
    , which does not require such awareness.
    According to defendant, McKinzie's holding on this point was approved recently by the
    court in People v. Booker, supra, 
    51 Cal.4th 141
    .
    In Booker, the California Supreme Court quoted McKinzie in deciding whether the
    trial court had erred by admitting evidence of the defendant's uncharged violent criminal
    conduct, including evidence that he had displayed a knife while others fought. (People v.
    Booker, 
    supra,
     51 Cal.4th at p. 187.) The question there was whether the jurors were
    convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had engaged in conduct
    involving the use or attempted use of force or violence, or express or implied threat to use
    force or violence. (Ibid.) The court observed the defendant did not dispute that he drew
    his knife during the fight, and explained that brandishing a weapon may be committed by
    drawing or exhibiting the weapon in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, and it need not
    be pointed at the victim to be threatening. (People v. Booker, 
    supra,
     51 Cal.4th at p.
    189.) It quoted from People v. McKinzie, supra, 
    179 Cal.App.3d 789
    , in which that court
    stated that to establish brandishing, " '. . . it is enough that the brandishing be in public, in
    the presence of the victim, where some third party happening along might get the idea
    16
    that either the victim or brandisher need help, or might think a brawl is in the making
    which he might join. The thrust of the offence is to deter the public exhibition of
    weapons in a context of potentially volatile confrontations.' " (Booker, at p. 189.)
    Booker noted parenthetically that McKinzie had ruled the victim's awareness of the
    weapon was not required. (Booker, at p. 189.) Booker does not involve a question of
    lesser included offenses, and we do not read its observation about McKinzie as adopting
    or ratifying that decision on that point.
    Because the statutory elements test is not satisfied, we turn to whether the
    information encompasses the crime of brandishing. Defendant does not explain if or how
    the accusatory pleading describes the crime of assault with a firearm in such a way that if
    committed in the manner described, the lesser offense of brandishing must necessarily
    have been committed. The information simply alleges defendant "did unlawfully commit
    an assault on . . . Ruiz with a firearm . . . ." So worded, the allegations in this case do not
    encompass the crime of brandishing a firearm, and they do not transform brandishing into
    a lesser included offense.
    17
    DISPOSITION
    The judgment is affirmed.
    O'ROURKE, J.
    WE CONCUR:
    HUFFMAN, Acting P. J.
    McINTYRE, J.
    18
    

Document Info

Docket Number: D064112

Filed Date: 4/28/2014

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 4/18/2021