People v. Chandler, A114037 (Cal. App. 2/18/2009)
| Decision Date | 18 February 2009 |
| Docket Number | A114037. |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JANINE SIMONE CHANDLER, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Contra Costa County, Super. Ct. No. 050217356.
On the evening of September 1, 2002, Gregory Chandler (Chandler) brought Tiffany Donaville to his apartment, intending to have sex. Unbeknownst to Chandler or Donaville, Chandler's wife, Janine Simone Chandler, was waiting in the apartment with a gun and a very different intent. She shot Donaville once in the back, killing her, and shot Chandler in the arm. For this, Ms. Chandler (hereafter defendant) was charged with the first degree murder of Donaville, and the attempted premeditated murder of Chandler (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 6641 ). Each count was accompanied by allegations that during the commission of the offense defendant had personally discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subds. (b)-(d)). After an extensive trial, the jury found defendant guilty as charged on both counts, and further found that both enhancement allegations were true. Following imposition of an aggregate sentence of 50 years to life, defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.
Defendant advances numerous claims of error, contending that: (1) the trial court erred in allowing Chandler's preliminary examination testimony to be read to the jury after finding that he was unavailable for the trial; (2) crucial matters were discussed in her absence without her waiving her right to be present; (3) her trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective in a number of particulars; (4) the trial court erred in excluding evidence that was vital to defendant's ability to present a defense; (5) the trial court committed several instances of instructional error; and (6) the enhancement to the attempted murder count must be reversed because the jury did not in fact find that it was true. We affirm.
Chandler and defendant were married in 1999. They lived together in an apartment in Antioch.
On the evening of September 1, 2002, Donaville set out to go to Chandler's apartment. Chandler testified at the preliminary examination that when he and Donaville entered the apartment, and went into the kitchen to fix drinks, they had no idea that defendant was in the apartment. In fact, Chandler was trying to telephone defendant when he heard a shot. He saw defendant holding a gun. According to Chandler, defendant "told me she was tired of the butt whippings." "So I go to threatening her and telling her that I was gonna beat her ass again." The next thing he knew he "got shot." After struggling with his wife, Chandler recovered the gun, and hit defendant in the face with it. He then called 911 and reported "I been shot."
Shortly after midnight, Antioch police officers were dispatched to Chandler's apartment where a shooting had been reported. They found the apartment door open and the sounds of arguments coming from within. They entered and found Chandler and defendant, the former bleeding copiously from a gunshot wound to his right arm. A two-shot .38 derringer was lying on the floor; the gun had blood on it, and both shells had been fired. As the officers entered, they heard Chandler say "She shot me," and observed him point to defendant. Defendant then said, in an angry tone, "That's what happens when you bring that bitch into . . . my house."
On the floor of the apartment's small kitchen,2 the officers found the lifeless body of Donaville. She had been shot once in the back. Defendant was described as looking calm, but she was clearly distracted, telling one officer that "she did not remember what hand she fired the gun with." She also stated that Chandler had punched her after she shot him.
Two of the officers talked to Chandler after he was taken to the hospital. Asked what had happened, Chandler responded that he picked up the victim and took her to his apartment intending "to have drinks and sexual intercourse." Then "the bitch," meaning defendant, "shot me," and "I was trying to take the gun away."3 Specifically, Chandler told the officers that it was only after defendant shot Donaville, and while Chandler was still in the kitchen, that she said "You brought that bitch into my house." Defendant then pointed the gun at his chest and told him "Goodbye, motherfucker." As she fired, Chandler "instinctively raised his right arm to try and block the shot."
The officer further testified that Chandler recounted how he struggled with defendant and gained possession of the gun. Chandler then threw the gun aside "because he didn't want the police to see him with a gun" because they might shoot him. Defendant ran toward a closet where a shotgun was kept.4 Chandler intercepted defendant, and again struggled with her until just before the officers arrived. Chandler also told both of the officers that he and defendant had been arguing about "other women" for several days prior to the date of the shooting. He also said that he "intended to have sex with Tiffany that night." Chandler expressed his opinion that defendant had been hiding in a closet before emerging and beginning firing. He also said he did not want to "pursue charges" against defendant.
Defense cross-examination of the officers revealed that Chandler had felony convictions for possessing a sawed-off shotgun; domestic violence; making terrorist threats against a woman; residential burglary; selling drugs; and attempting to prevent a witness from testifying.
The lead detective on the case testified that his conclusion, based on what Chandler told him, was that defendant was "lying in wait" in the apartment for several hours before she emerged from a closet and began shooting. Chandler also told this detective that he had been shot before. A records check showed that the derringer was registered to defendant.
A subsequent search of the bedroom disclosed two photo albums with pictures of women in what an officer described as "various states of dress, undress." The same officer testified finding in a bedroom closet magazines which he described as
The officers also found, and removed, a home computer. Experts in forensic computer investigation testified that the hard drive of the computer—which was stipulated to be defendant's—was copied. Examination of the copied hard drive's files showed that Chandler and Donaville exchanged emails from June 27 to August 12, 2002. Other evidence showed that defendant and Chandler were, in the words of one of the experts, "using the Internet to have relationships with other individuals." There was also a file with numerous "sexually explicit" photographs of defendant and Chandler. Finally, the hard drive also revealed "chat logs" of emails that were "of a sexual nature with other couples."
The defense introduced evidence that, prior to marrying defendant, Chandler had three relationships with women that were punctuated by violence, threats, and verbal abuse, which continued even after each of the women ended the relationship. The defense also produced several witnesses who testified to seeing defendant repeatedly exhibiting injuries and bruises following her marriage to defendant. Defendant admitted that the injuries were due to "altercations" with Chandler.5 One of these witnesses saw Chandler hit defendant. Several of the witnesses heard defendant express anger at Chandler's infidelity.
Defendant testified that after she married Chandler he became possessive and controlling. Arguments became common, physical violence not infrequent. Soon after they were married, defendant learned that Chandler went to prison because he "broke into a woman's house, beat her, and threatened her." Defendant knew Chandler cheated on her, which made her angry.
Defendant further testified that she knew Chandler would be meeting Donaville because she read his e-mails. On the afternoon of September 1, defendant was in the apartment's storage room when she heard Chandler come home. They had argued the night before, and Chandler was in a foul mood. Without revealing her presence in the apartment, defendant heard Chandler calling her pager, telling her The calls went on for several hours, with Chandler becoming increasingly angry. Defendant continued to hide under a bed for the next 13 hours because "If he knew I was already there and I didn't answer at first, there would have been another fight," and another fight "means me being hit."
According to defendant, she fell asleep for a time. When she awakened, she saw Chandler asleep on the living room sofa. Defendant returned to the storage room, where she hid herself and fell asleep again. Because she had her pager with her, defendant knew that Chandler's messages had become more menacing, i.e.,
Defendant further testified that when she awoke for the second time, she heard the sound of unfamiliar voices. Carrying the derringer—which was kept in one of Chandler's boots in the storage room and was always loaded—defendant tried to leave the apartment. Chandler spotted her and yelled "What the fuck are you doing here?," and "I'm gonna kick your ass." When Chandler moved towards her, defendant testified "I fire at him." Chandler "takes a step back, . . ....
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