People v. Box, S019798.

• Citation: 5 P.3d 130,99 Cal.Rptr.2d 69,23 Cal.4th 1153
• Decision Date: 17 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. S019798.,S019798.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (California)
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Christopher Clark BOX, Defendant and Appellant.

99 Cal.Rptr.2d 69

23 Cal.4th 1153

5 P.3d 130

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Christopher Clark BOX, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S019798.

Supreme Court of California.

August 17, 2000.

Rehearing Denied October 3, 2000.

Alan S. Yockelson, Eugene, and Richard P. Siref, San Diego, under appointments by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren and Bill Lockyer, Attorneys General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Garrett Beaumont and Carl H. Horst, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BROWN, J.

A jury found defendant Christopher Clark Box and Manuel Flores, Jr., guilty of the first degree murders of April Gilhousen, her three-year-old son Bryan, and a houseguest, Kevin Chandler (Pen.Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189),¹ the attempted premeditated murder of Rodney Almond (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a), 189), first degree robbery (§ 211), conspiracy to commit robbery (§ 182, subd. (a)(1)), and residential burglary (§ 459). The jury also found that defendant and Flores had personally used a deadly weapon in the robbery and burglary, and in the murders of April Gilhousen and Kevin Chandler (§ 12022), and that defendant had personally used a deadly weapon and inflicted great bodily injury in the attempted murder of Almond (§§ 12022, 12022.7). The jury further found true as to defendant the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of robbery and burglary, and multiple murder. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3), (17)(A), (17)(G).) Defendant was sentenced to death.

The case is before us on defendant's automatic appeal. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11; Pen.Code, § 1239, subd. (b).) For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment in its entirety.

I. Facts

A. Guilt Phase

1. Prosecution Evidence

On August 9, 1989, April Gilhousen, her fiance, Michael Ross, and their two children, Bryan and Aspen, resided at 4341 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego. Also residing temporarily at the house was a friend, Kevin Chandler. Flores lived nearby.

On August 9, 1989, between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., Ross left for work. At that time, his children and Chandler were sleeping. Bryan was celebrating his third birthday that day. April had purchased a bicycle for him, but assembly was required.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., Randi Renken, a friend of April's, and another woman arrived at the Gilhousen residence. Entering through the unlocked front door, Renken discovered a broken telephone in the living room, a disassembled bicycle in the kitchen, and April's body in her bedroom. She notified authorities.

April died as a result of blunt head injuries and a stab wound that completely penetrated her heart. Either injury would have been fatal. Her ear was nearly ripped in half, her forehead split open and skull fractured, and a pattern abrasion appeared on her forearm, cheek, and neck. There were defensive injuries on her arm and hand.

Bryan's blanket-wrapped body had been discovered that morning in a carport. He died as a result of asphyxia by strangulation with a contributing factor of blunt head injuries. His collarbone was broken. His face was congested or plethoric. The entire left side of the head was bruised as a result of an impact that crushed the tissues and caused bleeding. He suffered abrasions and bruises about the face, head, upper torso, arms, and legs, and there were numerous small abrasions and bruises around the neck, mouth, and nose.

Kevin Chandler's blanket-wrapped body was also discovered, in a different carport, at approximately 10:45 a.m. on August 9. His skull was crushed and he had a deep incised throat wound that severed his trachea. Either injury would have been fatal. There were no defensive or postmortem injuries.

Four-month-old Aspen was found by a responding firefighter, lying unharmed on the floor by April's bedroom door. Bryan's bedroom window was broken. April's purse and the living room couch, in which drug proceeds were kept, contained no currency. Also missing were a pound of marijuana, a baseball bat, and a butcher knife.

Defendant and Flores had previously visited the Gilhousen residence. On one occasion, Jason De Blasio accompanied defendant to the residence. He waited outside for defendant and entered the residence when he grew impatient. Defendant was sitting with April in the living room. As De Blasio entered the room, the conversation stopped and defendant picked up a plastic baggie containing a white rock-candy-like substance and put it in his pocket.

On another occasion several days before the murders, defendant and Flores visited April together. Randi Renken overheard defendant and April discussing the purchase of a pound of marijuana. April told defendant she had picked up her pot and had obtained a pound for him as well, and that when defendant had the money, all he had to do was come over and get it. April also mentioned she had made $1,200 during the past few days.

On the Sunday before the murders, Flores told Marcus Boykin about a woman across the street who had a pound of marijuana, and that he and defendant were going to try to make a deal. According to Flores, defendant had been to the house before, had seen the marijuana in a bag, and knew where it was located in the house.

Just before 8:00 a.m. on August 9, Flores's mother was waiting at a bus stop, and saw defendant and Flores drive by in defendant's Chevrolet S-10 Blazer.

Between 8:30 and 8:50 a.m., Rodney Almond (also known as Rodney Nicholson) arrived at the Gilhousen residence. After parking his car in an alley behind the house, Almond approached the open back door. He heard a slamming sound. Flores brushed past Almond. Almond stared at Flores, and then turned to see defendant coming out of the doorway with a baseball bat raised over his head. Defendant swung at Almond's head; Almond blocked the blow with his left arm. Defendant swung again striking Almond's left shoulder. Almond ran out onto the middle of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard with defendant in close pursuit; this chase was witnessed by two passersby. One of these witnesses saw a person whose physical description matched that of defendant return to the Gilhousen residence. This witness also saw a person whose physical description was consistent with Flores wave the person who looked like defendant inside the house.

Almond ran into a Thrifty gas station and took refuge in a back room. He declined offers to call the police, was asked to leave, and obtained a ride from a stranger to his friend Dennis Burns's house.

Shortly after 9:00 a.m., Flores's younger sister Yvonne, accompanied by a friend, encountered Flores outside a nearby Von's store. Flores was driving defendant's Blazer. Brief pleasantries were exchanged.

Michael Schwanbeck, who resided next door to the Gilhousens, came out of his residence on his way to work about 8:50 to 8:55 a.m. Schwanbeck saw two men whose physical descriptions were consistent with that of defendant and Flores outside the Gilhousen residence carrying a rolled up comforter. He was struck by the fact that it required two men to carry "something that looked so light as that." The two men approached a blue Blazer parked behind the Gilhousen residence.

Approximately 9:30 a.m., Randi Renken telephoned April. An unfamiliar male voice answered the telephone and then hung up. Calling back a second time, Renken again spoke with the unidentified male.

About 10:00 a.m., Almond, Burns, and David Samples returned to the alley behind the Gilhousen house to recover Almond's car. Shortly after they arrived, defendant and Flores appeared. Burns, who was armed with a shotgun, and Almond confronted them. Defendant apologized, and drove with Almond to a nearby 7-Eleven store. While in the car, defendant told Almond there had been an accident and April had been killed. Defendant appeared to have a large sum of money, and gave Almond a $100 bill to pay for an X-ray.

On August 10, 1989, defendant and Flores were apprehended. Police recovered $1,105 from defendant's girlfriend, Jeane Harkleroad. Defendant gave her the money late in the evening on August 9. Sometime between August 9 and the time he was arrested on August 10, defendant told Harkleroad he had a large quantity of marijuana. A search of Flores's bedroom revealed $600 wrapped in a plastic bag hidden beneath the carpet, and another $600 inside a backpack identified as belonging to Flores.

2. Defendant's Evidence

The defense consisted primarily of character and reputation evidence. According to teachers, coaches, and friends, defendant was a warm, popular person who loved children and was an outstanding athlete. He was also a nonviolent person and generally had a reputation as such.

On August 9, 1989, about 7:30 a.m., Lori Sooy, April's neighbor, heard yelling from the alley area, and the loud voices of adults and children. Approximately 9:00 a.m., Sooy's two small boys pushed open the door of the Gilhousen residence. Sooy pulled the door shut; as she did so she could hear a phone ringing without being answered.

Richard Shaw, chief of the toxicology laboratory at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, testified that the toxicology analysis of Chandler's bodily fluids revealed the presence of alcohol and a relatively high amount of methamphetamine. Chronic use of methamphetamine can cause paranoia. Forensic analysis of defendant's urine sample by a different toxicologist, Norman Pawchuk, revealed a relatively low level of methamphetamine. Flores's blood and urine samples were negative for all drugs tested.

Daniel Rattiner, defendant's fellow student, also knew Almond and Chandler. Almond appeared to be a drug abuser who acted in a nervous, excited manner. Chandler also appeared to have a drug problem. He had a "bad attitude" and used racial epithets. Rattiner had never, however, seen Chandler use a racial epithet to anyone's face.

Several months before the homicides...