People v. Carey

• Decision Date: 31 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. S058489.,S058489.
• Citation: 158 P.3d 743,41 Cal.4th 109,59 Cal.Rptr.3d 172
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Dewayne Michael CAREY, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

59 Cal.Rptr.3d 172

41 Cal.4th 109

158 P.3d 743

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Dewayne Michael CAREY, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S058489.

Supreme Court of California.

May 31, 2007.

Michael J. Hersek, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, and Gary D. Garcia, Deputy State Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Sharlene A. Honnaka and John Yang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

KENNARD, J.

A jury found defendant Dewayne Michael Carey guilty of one count of first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a))¹ with the special circumstances of murder in the commission of robbery and burglary (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A), (G)), one count of first degree residential robbery (§ 211), and one count of first degree burglary. (§ 459.) The jury further found that defendant personally used a deadly weapon, a knife, in the commission of the murder. (§ 12022, subd. (b).) Defendant waived a jury trial on prior conviction allegations, and the trial proceeded to the penalty phase, at which the jury returned a verdict of death.

The trial court found true the previously bifurcated allegations that defendant suffered a prior serious felony conviction within the meaning of section 667, subdivision (a)(1), that defendant served a prior prison term under section 667.5, subdivision (b), and that defendant fell within the provisions of section 1170.12, subdivisions (a)-(d) (the "Three Strikes" Law), and it denied defendant's automatic application to modify the verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)). The court sentenced defendant to death for the murder and to a determinate term, stayed, on the noncapital counts and enhancements. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm the judgment.

I. FACTS

On April 19, 1995, Billy Campbell found his wife, Ernestine, dead in the hallway of their home in Harbor City in Southern California. Ernestine's body was in an upright position at the bottom of the staircase; her hands were tied to the handrail. She had been stabbed to death, and many items of property had been stolen from the home. On the morning of the murder, defendant was seen leaving the Campbell home, and he was later connected to property stolen from the Campbells. After his arrest, defendant confessed to killing Ernestine Campbell.

A. Guilt Phase

1. Prosecution's case

a. Ernestine Campbell's murder

At 9:00 a.m. on April 19, 1995, the day of Ernestine Campbell's murder, Bertram Ashe, who lived two houses away from Billy and Ernestine Campbell, was taking a walk in the neighborhood when he heard the front door to the Campbell residence open and close. He watched defendant walk from the Campbells' porch toward the sidewalk. Defendant greeted Ashe and continued toward the house next door, where he lived with his aunt and uncle, Naomi and Herbert Baker, and their daughter Pamela.

That morning Ernestine Campbell attended a class at Los Angeles Harbor College from 9:00 a.m. until about 9:50 a.m. Around 10:30 a.m., Robert Lee Vaughn, a family friend, arrived at the Campbell residence to do maintenance work. When Vaughn knocked on the door, he heard Ernestine call out from inside, asking him to return in 30 minutes.

Just before 11:00 a.m., Vaughn saw defendant come out of the Bakers' garage and walk to his yellow Ford pickup truck, which was parked on the street. Defendant started his truck and then, leaving the engine running, asked Vaughn for a ride to the gas station, explaining that he did not have enough gas to drive there himself. After a second knock on the Campbells' door went unanswered, Vaughn agreed to drive defendant to the gas station.

Vaughn mentioned to defendant that Ernestine Campbell had not answered the door. At defendant's suggestion, Vaughn telephoned the Campbell residence from a phone booth at the gas station; no one answered.

Sometime after 11:00 a.m., Jack Shaw, who lived across the street from the Campbells, was in his driveway working on his car, when he heard a scream; he was unsure from where it came and did not respond. Several minutes later, Shaw saw a yellow Ford pickup truck drive past his house; the driver waved as he drove past Shaw.

After visiting the gas station, Vaughn returned to the Campbell residence. Vaughn knocked on both the front and side doors, but received no response. A few minutes later, he walked to Billy Campbell's office and told him that the latter's wife had not responded at the house. Billy Campbell telephoned home, but no one answered.

Campbell and Vaughn then drove to the Campbell Residence, where Campbell discovered his wife's body tied to the banister of the interior staircase. Campbell called 911, and he told a paramedic, "I think my wife has fallen on a knife and killed herself." Vaughn testified that when he entered the hallway he saw Ernestine Campbell's body sitting upright on the staircase with her hands tied to the handrail. After calling 911, Billy Campbell retrieved a small steak knife from the kitchen and cut his wife's body down from the railing.

At about 11:40 a.m., Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Robert Stevens arrived at the Campbell home. Stevens searched the home and saw that the screen on the kitchen window had been partially removed. He also found blood on the stairs and on the blade of a kitchen knife that lay near Ernestine Campbell's feet. A severed electrical cord was tied to the banister and a second, smaller knife lay at the top of the stairs.

When Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics Brian Dallas Jones and Derrick Ho responded" to the scene at 11:42 a.m., Ernestine's body lay on the floor at the bottom of a stairway. In a vain effort to resuscitate her, Jones cut open Ernestine's shirt, revealing stab wounds to her chest and neck. Ho saw a large kitchen knife next to Ernestine's left hand and a second knife lying at the top of the stairs.

About 2:05 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriffs Homicide Detective Byron Wisberger arrived at the Campbell residence. He saw a large butcher knife on the first step of the stairway, a cut electrical cord attached to the stairway handrail, and a second, smaller knife on one of the upper stairs. He also saw a single earring and a bracelet on the stairs. On the kitchen counter was an open purse, its contents scattered about the stove. In an upstairs bedroom, Wisberger found two other purses, their apparent contents strewn about the bed. All the doors were locked, except for a closed but unlocked sliding door leading to the patio. The kitchen window was also closed but unlocked, and its glass was smudged with handprints; the window screen was hanging loosely.

Los Angeles County Deputy Medical Examiner Solomon Riley testified that Ernestine Campbell died as a result of multiple stab wounds. Seven of the wounds were to the left side of her chest, penetrating the heart and left lung. To the right side of the neck were two stab wounds one of which was an inch deep and penetrated the thyroid gland. There were abrasions on the bridge of the nose and between the upper lip and nose. There also was bruising under the skin of the right wrist. Blood leaks from the victim's eyes indicated a lack of blood supply to the brain, which could have resulted from suffocation or strangulation.

b. Defendant's activities after the murder

Defendant's friend Robert Leach testified that defendant arrived at his house around 11:30 a.m. or noon on April 19, 1995. Defendant was in good spirits and was better dressed than usual. Defendant asked Leach to help him remove some items from his truck, including a .12-gauge shotgun and a large Sparkletts water bottle containing change and paper money. They counted the money from the bottle, which totaled about $1,200. The two men then had dinner, after which defendant left Leach's house. Defendant left behind the items from his truck, saying he would return the next day.

Detective Wisberger testified that, in an interview conducted about 8:45 p.m. on April 19, 1995, defendant mentioned getting a ride to the gas station with Vaughn and thereafter leaving home around 11:00 a.m. to visit his friend Leach. Defendant denied any knowledge of Ernestine Campbell's murder. After the interview, Wisberger saw a full gasoline can in defendant's truck.

That same evening between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m., defendant telephoned Leach and said the police had questioned him for two hours about a neighbor who had been killed earlier that day. After telling Leach that he had given the detectives Leach's name, address, and telephone number, defendant asked Leach not to tell the police about the money or the gun that Leach had earlier helped remove from defendant's truck.

The next day, Leach took the gun and some of the coins to his friend Christopher Floyd's house and stored the items in Floyd's garage. Leach told Floyd that the gun belonged to defendant. After leaving Floyd's house, Leach encountered defendant on a nearby street. When Leach inquired about the money and the gun, defendant assured Leach they were "legit."

Several days after the murder, Leach and two female companions exchanged some $780 worth of coins from the Sparkletts water bottle for paper currency. Defendant then picked up the money from Leach and gave him about $100.

On April 21, 1995, defendant came to the house of his former girlfriend Michele Leathers to visit their young daughter. According to Leathers, defendant gave his daughter approximately twelve $2 bills; he gave her half sister one or two. Defendant told Leathers that he got the money "legally." Leathers recalled that defendant appeared calm during the visit.

Defendant's cousin Pamela Baker testified that, on April 22, 1995, defendant attended a family barbeque. Baker was surprised that defendant had bought meat for the barbeque because he usually...