People v. Carpenter

Citation935 P.2d 708,15 Cal.4th 312,63 Cal.Rptr.2d 1
Decision Date28 April 1997
Docket NumberNo. S004654,S004654
Parties, 935 P.2d 708, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3058, 97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 5375 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. David Joseph CARPENTER, Defendant and Appellant.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court (California)

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Fern M. Laethem, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Margot Garey, Robert D. Bacon and Kent Barkhurst, Deputy State Public Defenders, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Carol Wendelin Pollack, Assistant Attorney General, John R. Gorey, Susan Lee Frierson, Robert S. Henry and Pamela C. Hamanaka, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

CHIN, Justice.

Evidence at the guilt and penalty trials established that defendant is the "Trailside Killer" who terrorized Californians in 1980 and 1981. Over several months, he assaulted hikers on remote paths in Santa Cruz and Marin Counties, shooting to death seven at close range with a .38-caliber Rossi revolver and raping some of them. An eighth shooting victim survived to testify against him.

In the case we now review, tried in Los Angeles County following a change of venue, a jury found defendant guilty of these crimes in Santa Cruz County: the first degree murders of Ellen Marie Hansen and Heather Scaggs, the attempted murder of Steven Russell Haertle, the attempted rape of Hansen, and the rape of Scaggs. The jury found true special circumstance allegations of multiple

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murder, rape murder as to both murders, and lying in wait as to the Hansen murder. As to the attempted murder, it found that defendant personally used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury.

Following the penalty phase, a different jury returned a verdict of death. The court denied defendant's automatic motion to modify the verdict and sentenced him to death. 1 This appeal is automatic. We affirm.

I. FACTS
A. Guilt Phase
1. Prosecution Evidence
a. The Hansen/Haertle Crimes

In March 1981, Steven Haertle was a junior and Ellen Hansen a sophomore at the University of California, Davis. The last weekend of the month, they went camping at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They spent Saturday night in the park, then visited Monterey on Sunday, March 29. That afternoon, they returned to the park and, around 4:00 o'clock, decided to go for a hike. The two walked to an observation deck, then along the Ridge Trail towards the Cathedral Redwoods. About a mile from the deck, they met a man the evidence showed to be defendant. Defendant was walking in the opposite direction, and they passed without speaking. Haertle and Hansen continued to the Cathedral Redwoods, where they sat for a few minutes enjoying the view. They decided to retrace their steps and return to their campsite. While hiking back along the Ridge Trail, they again encountered defendant.

Defendant said, " 'Oh, we've met again,' " and then pulled out a black revolver. He pointed the weapon at the students and ordered, " 'Do what I say.' " Haertle put his hands up until defendant told him to put them down. Defendant told the two, " 'Do what I say. You won't get hurt.' " Haertle warned Hansen, " 'Be careful, Ell. He's got a gun.' " Defendant gestured at Haertle and told him to go down the trail. Haertle stepped backwards, then heard Hansen say, " 'Don't listen to him, Steve. Don't listen [to] what he says.' " Haertle pleaded with defendant to let them go. Defendant told them, " 'Now, listen to me and do what I say.' " He approached the two and, looking at Hansen, said, " 'I want to rape you.' "

Hansen responded, " 'No, I'm not going to let you.' " Haertle advised her, " 'Ellen, stay away from him, he has a gun.' " Defendant ordered them to "move towards the bushes off the side of the trail," and gestured with his gun. They "both stayed away from the gun. As the gun moved [them] over to the edge of the trail, [they] went towards the edge of the trail." Haertle started to lose his footing, "and then shots went off." Haertle "felt like somebody hit [his] neck with a sledge hammer." He also felt something hit his right hand. The next thing Haertle remembered was "waking up lying on the ground."

Haertle observed Hansen "lying face down on the ground and her head was in a pool of blood." He "picked up Ellen's head to see if she was alive. She wasn't." He saw defendant "across the trail with his back" to him. Haertle got up and, bleeding from the neck, fled towards the observation deck "as fast as [he] could."

Leland and Kenneth Fritz, father and son, were also in the park that afternoon. Around 5:00 o'clock, they saw defendant on the observation deck and briefly conversed with him. Defendant occasionally peered towards the Ridge Trail with binoculars. Defendant then left, and walked to the Ridge Trail. Two other campers, Fred and Maureen Morse, saw defendant get a drink of water at a fountain near the deck. A few minutes later, the Fritzes and Morses heard gunshots from the direction of the Ridge Trail. The Fritzes began walking down the trail in the direction of the shots. They soon met the wounded Haertle fleeing towards them. He told them what had happened. The Fritzes assisted Haertle to the observation deck, left him with the Morses, and went to summon help. Maureen Morse, a nursing

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assistant, began applying first aid. Fred Morse went down the trail to seek Hansen. He met defendant on the way. Defendant told Fred that someone had been shot along the trail then continued walking.

While Haertle was receiving assistance, he saw defendant walk up the trail. He stood, pointed at defendant, and yelled at Maureen, " 'Lady, that's the man that shot me, get out of here.' " Defendant kept going. Maureen testified defendant "was walking through the clearing ... like he didn't see us or hear [Haertle] yelling." As soon as defendant disappeared from view, Maureen walked down the path towards Fred. Haertle fled to the campground, from which he was eventually taken to a hospital. Law enforcement officers soon arrived, but were unable to apprehend the gunman. Leland Fritz and a young girl in the area saw defendant speed away in a red Fiat.

Haertle's initial assessment that Hansen was dead proved correct. She died of two gunshot wounds to the head and one to the right shoulder fired from close range. Haertle had been shot in the back of the neck. That night he underwent surgery, and the bullet was removed from behind the sternum. It had hit an artery and missed the heart by about two inches. Without prompt attention, Haertle could have bled to death. He was in the hospital for eight days and, as of trial, still suffered lingering effects from his injuries.

b. The Heather Scaggs Crimes

Heather Scaggs and defendant were coworkers at a trade school in Hayward. Scaggs lived in San Jose with her boyfriend. On May 2, 1981, she arranged to drive to Santa Cruz with defendant, where she hoped to purchase a car from a friend of his. Her own car was inoperable. Scaggs left home that morning and did not return. No one saw her alive after that day.

That night some of Scaggs's friends spoke with defendant to try to find out what had happened to her. Defendant confirmed that Scaggs and he had planned to go to Santa Cruz together, but claimed he overslept, had car trouble, and never saw her. A few days later, on May 8, he told the police the same thing.

On May 24, 1981, hikers found a nude, decomposed body in mountainous, wooded terrain 136 yards off the roadway in the Big Basin State Park in Santa Cruz County, about 12 to 15 miles from the Henry Cowell State Park. Dental records proved it was Scaggs. She had died of a single gunshot wound to the face from close range. The vaginal tract contained a high concentration of seminal fluid with a large number of sperm, some with intact tails indicating they had been placed in the vagina around the time of death. The pathologist who performed the autopsy believed that the sperm were placed in the vagina within an hour of the gunshot wound. The condition of the sperm and body was consistent with the body being shot from above while lying on the ground after intercourse. Forensic analysis of the semen was inconclusive.

c. Evidence of Defendant's Guilt

Ballistics analysis established that a single gun, a .38-caliber Rossi revolver, was used to shoot Scaggs, Hansen, and Haertle. Documents and testimony established that Mollie Purnell, defendant's friend, purchased the weapon in the fall of 1980. Purnell testified under a grant of immunity that she bought it at defendant's request and gave it to him. He paid for it. When she was first questioned by law enforcement agents after defendant's arrest, Purnell said the gun had been stolen. Defendant had told her to say that "if anything happened." Two other witnesses testified that defendant showed them a similar-appearing weapon in late 1980 and early 1981. The police found the revolver buried under broken asphalt in a vacant lot in San Francisco. Shane Williams led them to it. Williams and his wife Karen, both bank robbers, testified that defendant gave them the gun on May 13, 1981, shortly before his arrest. Shane used the gun in a bank robbery, then hid it in the vacant lot after defendant was arrested.

The gunman who assaulted Haertle and Hansen was clean shaven. When arrested, defendant wore a beard, which he had started to grow after that assault. Witnesses

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viewed him in a physical lineup in which all the participants were bearded. Pursuant to a court order, defendant appeared clean shaven at trial. Haertle positively identified defendant as his assailant at the lineup and in court. Leland Fritz also identified defendant both at the lineup and in court. The girl who saw the red Fiat speed away from the crime scene identified a different person at the lineup, but defendant in court. Kenneth Fritz...

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