People v. Demetrulias

• Decision Date: 10 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. S046733.,S046733.
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gregory Spiros DEMETRULIAS, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

45 Cal.Rptr.3d 407

39 Cal.4th 1

137 P.3d 229

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gregory Spiros DEMETRULIAS, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S046733.

Supreme Court of California.

July 10, 2006.

Joseph Baxter, Santa Rosa, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, William M. Wood and Teresa Torreblanca, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

WERDEGAR, J.

[137 P.3d 5]

Gregory Spiros Demetrulias was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Robert Miller in the commission of a robbery or attempted robbery against Miller. On his automatic appeal, we affirm the judgment in its entirety.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant fatally stabbed Miller in Miller's room on the evening of January 10, 1989. The prosecution maintained he did so while robbing Miller. Defendant at trial admitted killing Miller, but claimed he did so in a struggle Miller initiated when defendant came to collect money Miller owed him.

Guilt Phase Evidence

Prosecution

The victim, Robert Miller, 56, lived in a second floor room at the Mar Mac Manor, a boarding house in Riverside. On January 10, 1989, around 6:45 p.m., he had dinner at the Yum Yum Restaurant, where he was a regular customer. When he paid for his meal, he took from his pocket what, to the cashier, appeared to be several hundred dollars in cash. Bank records showed he had withdrawn $480 in the preceding week and on January 17, 1989, had an account balance of $1,151.

[137 P.3d 6]

Defendant, then 35 years old, was living with his parents in Riverside. According to the parents, on the day of the crimes defendant drank a large amount of beer, may have been taking prescription drugs, and displayed an angry or hostile attitude. That evening, defendant's mother, at his request, drove him to the Round Up Bar, not far from the Mar Mac Manor. She also gave him $30 or $40. Defendant had been going to the Round Up Bar regularly over the previous month or so, as had the victim, Robert Miller. Defendant got to the Round Up Bar around 7:30 p.m. His speech slightly slurred, he ordered a beer and drank about half. He then slammed his drink on the bar, acting very upset. The bartender asked him to leave; after finishing the beer, defendant did so, stating he was going to get a beer at the Stop-and-Go convenience store next door. Through the bar window, a witness in the bar saw defendant walk back and forth between the bar parking lot and the Stop-and-Go several times over the course of the next hour and a half, drinking. About 9:30 p.m., he walked away.

Robert Hanshaw, a second floor Mar Mac Manor resident like Robert Miller, testified that just before 10:00 p.m. on January 10, 1989, he was awakened by someone running up the stairs. Hanshaw heard someone say, "Give me your wallet," in a loud, demanding voice. About 45 seconds later, Hanshaw heard steps descending the stairs; Miller then came out of his room and announced: "He stabbed me in the heart. He's killed me."

Eric Carson lived on the first floor of the boarding house. Sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m., he heard banging and stomping, then someone say in an aggressive voice: "Give me your money. Give me your wallet." Carson went out into the first floor hallway, where he was joined by the building manager, Herb Hamilton. After Hamilton yelled something, Carson saw defendant, who seemed to have something in his hand, hurry down the stairs. Defendant said something, rushed by Carson and Hamilton, and left by the front door. Miller then staggered down the stairs and, saying he had been stabbed in the heart, collapsed by Carson and Hamilton.

Miller died of a seven-inch-deep stab wound to his chest. He had also been stabbed in the face, back, and upper arm. All the wounds were inflicted with a knife that had one sharp and one dull edge. Directly outside Miller's room, investigating officers found such a knife blade, almost eight-inches long, with blood on it. In the kitchen of the Mar Mac Manor, on the first floor, a drawer containing knives and other implements was partially open. Miller's wallet was in a fanny pack on the dresser in his room. No money was in it, but $34.70 in cash was in his pants pocket. The fanny pack also contained papers, including a pawn shop loan receipt, dated December 2, 1988, for $10.

[137 P.3d 7]

About 4:30 the next morning (January 11, 1989), a police investigator assigned to the Miller homicide encountered defendant walking on a street near the Mar Mac Manor, appearing very intoxicated. Defendant, who resembled a composite sketch based on Carson's observations of the assailant, acted evasively when the investigator approached him. The officer detained and searched defendant. His clothes had apparent bloodstains. In his pockets police found $1,274 in cash, as well as two knives, numerous coins, four .38-caliber cartridges, and a wallet and drug prescription bottle with identification for one Clarence Wissel of Colton.

Police went to Wissel's house, less than a mile away, and found it had been ransacked. Wissel's belongings, some gathered in plastic bags, were in the doorway, on the driveway, and across the street. Wissel, 82, was in a bedroom, bound with a telephone cord and with a heavy dresser placed on top of him. Dried blood was on the walls, as well as on Wissel's head and on a telephone beneath him. In the same room, police found a wallet with defendant's identification and a revolver with the cylinder removed. Beer bottles and a knife were in the kitchen sink, and another knife was on the washing machine. Wissel's dentures were found in a toilet. Wissel had suffered stab wounds to his neck, elbow, and chest, as well as brain injuries, and was comatose when he arrived at the hospital.

In a field about halfway between the Mar Mac Manor and Clarence Wissel's house, investigators found shoe prints the same size as defendant's shoes and matching the Reebok print pattern of the athletic shoes defendant was wearing when arrested. The same prints were found at and around Wissel's house. A woman who lived by the field had heard her neighbor's dogs bark loudly around 10:00 p.m. on January 10, which indicated to her that someone was outside.

Defense

The owner of the Mar Mac Manor testified, from her business records, that Miller had paid his $275 rent in cash on January 10, 1989. A woman who was with Eric Carson in his room the night of Miller's killing testified that Carson had described the assailant to her as a Black man. (Defendant is not Black.) A defense investigator testified that Robert Hanshaw had told him he did not hear another person say, "Give me your wallet" or any words to that effect, but heard only Miller say, "He stabbed me." A sample of defendant's blood taken at 10:15 a.m. on January 11, 1989, showed a blood-alcohol level of .04 percent (suggesting a higher level, around .10 percent, three hours

[137 P.3d 8]

earlier), a therapeutic-range level of diazepam (Valium), and an unknown amount of Lorazepam, also a sedative.

In support of defendant's claim that he knew Miller and had lent him money, Maria de Vries, the owner of the Round Up Bar, testified she had seen defendant and Miller in the bar together on one occasion, but did not remember if they had talked with one another. Contradicting herself, she also testified she had never seen the two in the bar at the same time, or at least did not remember seeing them together. Martha Smith, a bartender, also testified she saw defendant and Miller talking together at the bar one evening. She was uncertain of the date, but thought it was two or three weeks after she had begun working, which was just after Christmas 1988. On rebuttal, the prosecution produced, through de Vries, timesheets for Smith's employment. The earliest was for April 1989, after Miller's death. Smith, however, testified that when she began working at the bar they used a sign-in sheet, instead of individual timesheets, to keep track of shifts worked.

Defendant testified on his own behalf. He admitted felony convictions for burglary in 1976, theft offenses in 1980 and 1983, and robbery and assault with a deadly weapon for the attack on Clarence Wissel in 1989.

According to defendant, he and Miller met while both were drinking at the Round Up Bar in December 1988. They talked in the bar a few times after that. On January 6 or 7, 1989, defendant lent Miller $40, which Miller promised to repay at the bar on the evening of January 10.

During the day of January 10, 1989, defendant consumed about 12 beers and took Valium and other prescription drugs, up until 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. A couple of hours later, his mother drove him to the Round Up Bar, where he was to meet Miller. After drinking one or two beers, defendant got tired of waiting for Miller, slammed his beer on the bar, and left. He went to the adjacent market, bought a few more beers, and drank them while he paced and waited, for about an hour. Having previously learned from Miller where he lived, defendant decided to go there. Walking, he arrived at the Mar Mac Manor about 10:00 p.m.

After knocking, defendant entered the boarding house through the front door and went up the stairs to Miller's room. Miller's door was open, and Miller was sitting there with the television on. Standing in the doorway, defendant asked Miller why he had not been at the Round Up Bar and whether he had defendant's money. Miller said he was broke and, to defendant's further inquiry, said he did not know when he would have the money to repay defendant. Defendant entered the room, and an argument

[137 P.3d 9]

ensued. Miller yelled at defendant to get out, while defendant "could have" said something like "Just give me the money."

Miller reached down and picked up something, then charged at defendant with a knife in his hand. Defendant wrested the knife...