People v. Callahan
| Decision Date | 16 August 2022 |
| Docket Number | D080019 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MICHAEL JOSEPH CALLAHAN, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County No SWF1907227 Timothy F. Freer, Judge. Affirmed.
Stephen M. Hinkle, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, and Melissa Mandel and Seth M. Friedman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Michael Joseph Callahan was convicted of second degree murder for crashing his car into California Highway Patrol (CHP) Sergeant Steve Licon while driving intoxicated at 65 miles per hour on the shoulder of 1-15. On appeal, Callahan argues: (1) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser offenses of gross vehicular manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (c)(1)),[1] involuntary manslaughter (id., § 192, subd. (b)), and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (id., § 191.5, subd. (a)); (2) the trial court abused its discretion under Evidence Code section 352 by admitting a photograph of the victim while alive and autopsy photographs of the victim's uniform, helmet, and body; and (3) the trial court erred by imposing $4,500 restitution fines without determining that Callahan had the ability to pay. We find no error and affirm the judgment.
In 2004, Callahan pled guilty to a prior DUI charge. As part of his sentence, he completed a first offender alcohol program and attended classes sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In those classes, people shared personal experiences regarding the dangers of drunk driving, including vivid stories about people who had lost loved ones.
Sometime around 2010, Callahan drove home intoxicated and parked on the curb. He characterized this as a "reality check for [him]." Callahan's wife also warned him about the dangers of drunk driving and told him not to do it.
Callahan had discussed his DUI conviction with coworkers at Costco, where he worked as a manager. About a month before the charged crime, Callahan told a coworker that he was glad the police had stopped him in 2004," 'as opposed to [him] hurting somebody.' "
On Saturday, April 6, 2019, Callahan finished his usual early morning shift at Costco and went to Big Al's in Ontario to celebrate a job transfer. Big Al's is a family entertainment center with a sports bar.
Callahan entered Big Al's around 10:35 a.m. and took a seat in the bar area with two coworkers. Several more coworkers arrived later.
Over the next few hours, Callahan consumed approximately three shots of tequila and four 22-ounce beers with high alcohol content. He got progressively more intoxicated and unruly. Among other things, Callahan repeatedly pressed his pelvis against the buttocks of a female coworker, grabbed another female coworker, and had to be restrained from taking food from someone else's table.
At some point before leaving Big Al's, Callahan talked with a coworker about the fact that they both had prior DUIs. They agreed "it wasn't worth it" to drink and drive.
Shortly after 3:00 p.m., Callahan went out to the parking lot with other members of his group. He was visibly swaying. He also had trouble tying his shoe.
Callahan's companions were concerned about the possibility he might try to drive himself home to the Lake Elsinore area, which was about an hour away. One of them, Josue E., asked his girlfriend Jennifer to give Callahan a ride, and she agreed. But Callahan protested," 'No, I'm fine. I can drive home.'" Josue and another coworker, Cesar V., persisted, telling Callahan," '[D]on't drive home. You're not safe.'" Callahan did not want to listen.
Josue offered to let Callahan stay at his house or get him an Uber. He asked Callahan to hand over his car keys and said he would call Callahan's wife to come get him. Callahan would not turn over his keys or provide his wife's phone number.
Josue and Cesar walked Callahan over to Jennifer's car. Cesar put his arm around Callahan to make sure he did not fall, since he had already "stumble[d] a few times." Josue and Cesar did their best to coax Callahan into Jennifer's car, but he refused, and instead went back inside Big Al's.
At 3:17 p.m., Callahan reentered Big Al's, swaying as he walked. A minute later, he took food from someone else's table, which resulted in a Big Al's manager ejecting him. The manager could see that Callahan was too intoxicated to drive and urged his friends to take care of him.
Callahan exited to the parking lot, walking with an unsteady gait. Josue and Jennifer were still worried about Callahan driving himself home. Jennifer asked if she could call Callahan's wife or get him an Uber, and she tried in vain to take his keys away. Josue told Callahan," 'Don't drive,'" and urged him to accept a ride, but he still refused.
Callahan became more belligerent. He snapped," 'Just leave me alone, bitch. I got it. Take your fucking girlfriend out of here. I don't need you guys. I can fucking drive home by myself" Callahan took a swing at Josue, but missed and fell backward to the ground. Josue helped Callahan up and continued trying to convince him not to drive. Callahan insisted he was fine and wanted to prove it by driving to Starbucks. Josue and Jennifer agreed to ride with him. Callahan managed to make a roundtrip drive to a Starbucks in the same parking lot.
After they returned to Big Al's, Callahan continued his verbal abuse, especially toward Jennifer, and he also hit Josue in the head. Josue finally decided" '[e]nough is enough'" and gave up trying to persuade Callahan not to drive. Josue and Jennifer got out of Callahan's car, and he drove off.
Around 3:45 p.m., Callahan drove his Toyota Corolla onto southbound 1-15. It was sunny with scattered clouds and "100 percent" visibility. The freeway was clear, and traffic was lighter than usual.
Despite the conditions, Callahan was driving erratically. He alternated between driving too slow or too fast for the flow of traffic, frequently changed lanes, had trouble staying in his lane, straddled lanes, swerved into the median to pass other vehicles, twice nearly sideswiped another car, and repeatedly forced other vehicles to honk or take evasive action to avoid colliding with him, resulting in at least one person calling 911.
At approximately 4:25 p.m., near the Nichols Road exit in Lake Elsinore, Callahan sped up and veered onto the right shoulder of the freeway, with his vehicle partially in the gravel beyond the paved portion of the shoulder. There was no apparent reason for Callahan to be driving on the shoulder. According to one witness, he was "just driving like 60 miles an hour on the shoulder like it was nothing."
Farther ahead, CHP Sergeant Licon had pulled Raymundo R. over onto the southbound shoulder for speeding. Sergeant Licon was off his motorcycle, standing on the shoulder behind Raymundo's car, writing the ticket.
Callahan's car accelerated as it approached Sergeant Licon. While still driving on the shoulder at about 65 miles per hour, Callahan hit Sergeant Licon and crashed into the back of Raymundo's car. The impact sent Sergeant Licon flying 108 feet through the air. He landed face down on the concrete, where he lay unconscious. Later that night, Sergeant Licon died from massive, internal blunt-force trauma to the left side of his body.
Law enforcement officers contacted Callahan at the scene. Callahan "reeked" of alcohol and had "extremely" red, watery, and bloodshot eyes. The CHP conducted a DUI investigation at the scene, including field sobriety tests and a preliminary alcohol screening test, then arrested Callahan.
Following his arrest, Callahan was taken to a CHP station, where breath and blood samples were collected for blood alcohol content (BAC) analysis. At 7:22 p.m., Callanah's BAC was 0.158 percent. Extrapolating backward, Callahan's BAC was between 0.195 and 0.233 percent when he started driving home, and between 0.188 and 0.218 percent when he crashed into Sergeant Licon. A person is too impaired to drive safely with a BAC of 0.08 percent or above. (See Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (b).)
Officer Timothy Fenton, a CHP drug-recognition evaluator, performed an assessment of Callahan the same night. Callahan admitted to drinking that day. His speech was slurred, he was sweating, and he still smelled of alcohol. Officer Fenton administered the typical field sobriety tests (i.e., horizontal gaze nystagmus, vertical nystagmus, Romberg balance test, walk-and-turn, one-leg stand, and finger to nose). Based on his investigation, Officer Fenton concluded that Callahan was obviously under the influence of alcohol and could not safely operate a motor vehicle.
Callahan was charged with murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and personal infliction of great bodily injury in the commission of the murder (§ 12022.7). The amended information alleged that Callahan violated section 187, subdivision (a) "in that . . . [he] did willfully and unlawfully murder STEVE LICON, a human being," without any additional details.
At trial, Callahan asked the court to instruct the jury with CALCRIM No. 590 on the lesser related offense of gross vehicular manslaughter while...
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