People v. Field, D018084
| Decision Date | 02 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. D018084,D018084 |
| Citation | 31 Cal.App.4th 1778,37 Cal.Rptr.2d 803 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John FIELD, Defendant and Appellant. |
John Field, in pro. per., and Paul Bell, San Diego and Diana L. Cuomo, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, Los Angeles, for defendant and appellant.
Daniel E. Lungren, Atty. Gen., George Williamson, Chief Asst. Atty. Gen., Gary Schons, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., Garrett Beaumont and Janelle B. Davis, Deputy Attys. Gen. for plaintiff and respondent.
Following a mistrial declared because of a hung jury, the jury in John Field's second trial found him guilty of first degree murder (PEN.CODE, § 187)2. The jury also found true allegations Field personally used a firearm in the commission of the offense within the meaning of sections 1203.06, subdivision (a)(1), and 12022.5. The trial court sentenced Field to the indeterminate term of 25 years to life on the murder count and imposed a consecutive two-year term for the section 12022.5 firearm allegation.
Field appeals. His main assignments of error are the trial court erred by (1) prohibiting the defense from impeaching a key prosecution witness with a prior Oklahoma felony conviction, (2) allowing evidence that Field had claimed he had shot a policeman, and (3) allowing evidence of prior consistent statements by prosecution witnesses. By leave of this court, Field himself has filed supplemental briefs in propria persona, contending (1) he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial; (2) the trial court erred by allowing evidence of his claim he had shot a policeman and also erred by not sufficiently dealing with juror misconduct; (3) there was misconduct by the prosecutor who failed to provide discovery in a timely fashion and misled the court on why she offered evidence of Field's claim of shooting a policeman; (4) there was jury misconduct in failing to follow instructions from the court and not disclosing information sought by the court; and (5) the bailiff failed to perform his duties.
On July 7, 1989, William Donald "Billy" Richardson was shot and killed while he was in the cab of Russ Wilson's (Wilson) pickup truck parked outside the Oceanside apartment complex where Wilson lived. At 4 a.m., police found Richardson's body lying on Farel Street. There were seven casings on the street near the body.
An autopsy disclosed Richardson was shot six times at close range; each of the bullet wounds would have been fatal.
Police never recovered the murder weapon or the pickup truck, and the case remained unsolved for more than a year. In September 1990, Oceanside police detectives interviewed Wilson and his wife, Buffy Jo Wilson (Buffy), in Oklahoma. Each identified Field as the killer of Richardson. Also during the interviews with the Wilsons, the name of Teresa Marandola, Field's girlfriend at the time of the homicide, was mentioned. Upon their return to Oceanside, the police detectives interviewed Marandola, who also identified Field as the killer of Richardson. After obtaining an arrest warrant, police arrested Field in Massachusetts.
In 1989, Field, Richardson and Wilson were associated in the business of manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in the Oceanside area. In addition to dealing methamphetamine, the trio, as well as Buffy and Marandola, regularly used methamphetamine and did so on the day of the Richardson homicide. Regular users of methamphetamine, also known as "tweekers," often develop bizarre thinking patterns and/or paranoia, believing there is a conspiracy out to get them.
Several weeks before Richardson was killed, Wilson invested $1,500 with Richardson and Field to participate in a "cook," a single session of manufacturing methamphetamine. Richardson was supposed to return the money to Wilson within 96 hours, but he never did. Richardson told Wilson the manufacturing session was moved and delayed. For the next two months, Wilson tried unsuccessfully to get his money back from Richardson; the two often argued over the matter.
On July 4, 1989, Richardson was at Wilson's apartment and wanted to visit a woman who lived in Escondido. Although Wilson and Buffy, who were then engaged to be married, were planning to go to Tijuana with their friend Earl Rojillo, Wilson told Buffy to drive Richardson to Escondido. Wilson and Rojillo were to wait for Buffy to return before proceeding to Tijuana. Buffy did not return for several hours because Richardson raped her after they arrived in Escondido.
Wilson and Rojillo eventually left for Tijuana without Buffy and did not return until 4 a.m. the next day. When they returned, Buffy had "a big knot[ ] on her head, a big ole bruise on her face," and the apartment was in a state of disarray. Buffy, who had blackened her own eye, falsely told Wilson the apartment had been burglarized and the burglars had beaten her. She did not tell Wilson that Richardson had raped her. To explain why she had not immediately returned to the apartment from Escondido, Buffy concocted a story about Hell's Angels pulling her over on the highway and detaining her while they demanded to know where Richardson was. Upon hearing this story, Wilson became enraged and, armed with an AK-47 rifle and a .45 caliber automatic pistol, left to find Richardson; he believed Richardson was "directly responsible" for Buffy's injuries. When Wilson found Richardson, they engaged in a 10-minute "knock down, drag out fist fight" that lasted until they "beat the crap out of each other." Then the two of them decided to look for the people who supposedly roughed up Buffy.
Before July 6, 1989, Richardson had borrowed Wilson's pickup truck and departed from the area; he left a couple of duffel bags in Wilson's apartment. At 8 or 9 p.m. on July 6, 1989, Field and Marandola went to Wilson's apartment. According to Buffy, Field was looking for Richardson. According to Wilson, Field said Richardson had sent him over to pick up his duffel bags. According to Buffy, Field was "very uptight," and "very, very upset." According to Wilson, Field was acting normally. Field and Marandola stayed a short time and left with Richardson's bags.
Between 2 and 3 a.m. on July 7, 1989, Field and Marandola returned to Wilson's apartment and woke them up. According to Wilson, this time Field was "ranting and raving and raising hell about how he has got [Richardson] down in the truck." Field also said he had come to take away Buffy because Wilson was beating her up. Field, who was waving a .22 caliber automatic pistol, said he was tired of Wilson and Richardson lying to him and was "going to get to the bottom of what was going on ... tonight." Field told Wilson:
Wilson suggested they "get this settled" by talking to Richardson and finding out what was wrong. Field then walked outside and returned in three or four minutes and said Richardson was asleep in the truck. Field said: "Now is the time we can go down there and get him." After arguing some more with Field, Wilson suggested they all go outside. Field, Wilson, Marandola and Buffy left the apartment. Field approached the truck by himself. Wilson heard a shot and started running toward the truck; he heard three or four more shots as he ran. When Wilson was near the truck, he saw Field dragging Richardson out of the truck. Richardson fell onto the street and was left there.
Field ordered Wilson at gun point to get into the truck; Wilson complied and Field drove the truck away. While driving, Field told Wilson to get rid of the gun; Wilson took it, cleaned off the blood and fingerprints and threw it out the window. Buffy and Marandola followed in Buffy's car. After stopping at a gasoline station, the two vehicles were driven to the Escondido Auto Park, where a car belonging to Marandola's mother was parked. Field, Wilson, Marandola and Buffy got out of the vehicles. An extremely excited Field was talking about having just killed a guy and what the group needed to do next. Eventually, Field drove Buffy's car, Buffy rode with Marandola in her mother's car and Wilson drove the truck; all of them arrived at the apartment of Marandola's mother in Mira Mesa.
The four of them entered the apartment quietly as Marandola's mother slept and went into Marandola's room, where Field told the others they were accessories to murder and threatened to turn them in if they told the police what had happened. Field showed them a notebook containing newspaper clippings of crimes and accidents and claimed to have something to do with them. Over a defense objection, Wilson testified one of the clippings was about a policeman who was shot and Field said, "I shot this policeman" and threatened to do the same to his three companions if they did not "play along, get our alibis straight." 3
On their way home, Wilson and Buffy stopped at a convenience store and purchased vinegar to clean the blood from the truck. At their apartment complex, they parked the truck in visitor parking so it would not be associated with them. A few days later, they sold the truck. Shortly thereafter, Wilson and Buffy moved out of their apartment and stayed with friends in San Marcos until they moved back to Oklahoma around Labor Day of 1989. Wilson and Buffy were married in Oklahoma at the end of September 1989.
In September 1990, Buffy was interviewed by Oceanside police detectives in Oklahoma. Buffy initially told the police she and Wilson were in Tijuana when Richardson was killed; she testified she lied to the police because she was scared. However, after several hours of...
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