People v. Gallegos
| Decision Date | 26 June 2012 |
| Docket Number | D058301,Super. Ct. No. SCN246146 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MELVIN GALLEGOS, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Michael D. Wellington, Judge. Affirmed.
Melvin Gallegos appeals from a judgment convicting him of premeditated attempted murder and other offenses. He asserts the trial court erred by: (1) denying his motion to exclude statements he made to the authorities without being provided Miranda1 warnings; (2) adding language to the standard instruction on premeditation and deliberation stating that it was not necessary to prove the defendant "maturely and meaningfully reflected"; and(3) providing standard instructions on the use of evidence of uncharged domestic violence or elder abuse to infer his propensity to commit the charged offenses. We find no error and affirm.
The offenses in this case occurred on May 10, 2008, when Gallegos, age 76, stabbed his wife, Penelope Gallegos, age 69. Penelope survived the assault and testified at trial.
Penelope and defendant were married in 1982, and about 10 years later defendant started becoming verbally abusive. Penelope coped with the verbal abuse by periodically leaving their home to stay with her daughter. On April 16, 2007, the verbal abuse escalated into physical abuse. During this incident, the couple got into an argument and defendant pushed Penelope against a wall and put his hands on her throat. Penelope ran out of the house and called 911 on her cell phone. Defendant was arrested, charged with misdemeanor spousal battery, and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disturbing the peace. Penelope obtained orders prohibiting defendant from having any contact with her and requiring that he move out of their house. In September 2007, Penelope decided to try to reconcile with her husband. She had the stay-away order modified to allow contact; they went to counseling; and defendant moved back into their home. Although defendant was trying to treat her better, Penelope felt he was still angry because she had him "thrown away from the house."
The night before the stabbing incident, Penelope was speaking on the phone with her neighbor, Mary Ann Lopez. Penelope told Lopez that she did not think she could stay in the marriage because she had no respect for defendant and was afraid of him, and if he ever touched her "like that again" she would have him removed from their home. While Penelope and Lopez were talking, they heard a "click" on the phone. Lopez asked if defendant was listening and Penelope said he was not. Defendant then came out of his room, appearing upset. When Penelope asked if he had been listening in on her phone call, he said yes.2 Lopez heard defendant scream,
Defendant went outside and started walking his dog. Lopez heard him screaming to a neighbor about his wife and Lopez talking on the phone. The neighbor told him to calm down.
When defendant returned home, he did not appear angry but seemed strangely calm. He did not say a word to Penelope, and they went to bed in their separate bedrooms. The next morning, Penelope made coffee and defendant came into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. The couple did not speak to each other and defendant was "quiet." While Penelope was drinking her coffee, defendant put her in a choke hold, told her he was going to punch her in the face, and repeatedly punched her in the face. She fell to the floor and defendant kicked her in the head. Defendant said he was not going to punch heranymore but was going to kill her. He pulled a knife from the kitchen drawer; stabbed her in her breast and stomach areas; and stabbed himself in the stomach.
Penelope left her house and managed to go to the home of her next-door neighbor (Tatiana Stillwell). Penelope told Stillwell that defendant was trying to kill her, he punched her in the face and stabbed her, and he stabbed himself. Penelope was bleeding heavily and she passed out on the floor. Stillwell called 911. When the police arrived, Penelope told them that she had been stabbed by her husband; her husband was still at their home next door; and her husband had stabbed himself.
Penelope was transported by emergency personnel to the hospital. She had sustained multiple bruises on her face and two abdominal stab wounds; she was in critical condition; and she required immediate surgery. She was in the hospital for about five and one-half months; she underwent multiple surgeries including the removal of her spleen and portions of her liver, stomach, and duodenum; and she was in a rehabilitation center for about six weeks. She had to learn to walk again, has to take medication for seizures, has trouble with her balance, and has nerve damage.
When the authorities arrived at defendant's home, they found defendant lying on the bed in Penelope's bedroom with a knife in his stomach. The police set up a recorder in the room, and the police and paramedics questioned him while he was being treated and prepared for placement in an ambulance. When asked about what occurred, defendant stated that his wife was going to "throw" him out in the street with "lies" again and that she accused him of making holes in the wall with a nail; he did not want any help and wanted to "leave the planet"; he used the same knife to stab his wife and himself; and the knife wasthe "biggest one [he] could find." While in the ambulance, he told the paramedic that he was putting pictures up on the wall and his wife kept "nagging and nagging and nagging"; he "told her once and told her a thousand times" and he was "fed up"; and "that bitch will never nag at [him] again."
The jury convicted defendant of deliberate and premeditated attempted murder, elder abuse likely to cause great bodily harm or death, and corporal injury to a spouse resulting in a traumatic condition. The jury also found true allegations that he personally used a deadly weapon, and personally inflicted great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempted murder, and a five-year determinate term for the great bodily injury enhancement for this offense. The court stayed the sentences on, or dismissed, the remaining counts and allegations.
Defendant asserts the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude the recorded statements that he made at his home without the provision of Miranda warnings. The statements were made when the police set up the recorder in the bedroom where defendant was lying and defendant was questioned prior to his transfer from the bedroom to an ambulance. As we shall explain, we conclude there was no Miranda violation because the questioning was conducted in an investigative, noncustodial environment.
When the police contacted Penelope at her neighbor's home, she told them that her husband had stabbed her and stabbed himself and that he was still at their home. The police then went to defendant's home and found him lying in the bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Rene Bowman arrived at defendant's home, told some of the officers they could leave, and took over the handling of the scene. After the recorder was set up in the bedroom, Sergeant Bowman asked defendant if he wanted to talk to her; what happened; and whether the other injured person was his wife or his girlfriend. Defendant responded that his "life ended today"; the other injured person was his wife; and his wife "lies and lies and lies and lies." When the paramedics arrived in the bedroom, Sergeant Bowman told them, "Can't get out of him, what happened."
Paramedic John Neilson then asked defendant whether he had medical problems and what medications he took. Defendant responded that he did not want any help and he was "leaving the planet . . . ." Neilson told defendant:
After making these inquiries, Neilson asked defendant why he stabbed his wife, and defendant responded because she was going to "throw" him out in the street with "lies" again.
As Neilson and the other paramedics continued treating defendant in preparation for placement in the ambulance, Sergeant Bowman and Neilson asked him questions about the incident. When Sergeant Bowman asked what happened, defendant stated that his wife had accused him of being in the house with his neighbor "pounding holes in the wall with a nail." Sergeant Bowman asked how did they both "end up with[] stab wounds" on them, and Neilson asked whether defendant Neilson also interjected,
Sergeant Bowman asked defendant if he wanted to "give [his] side of the story" that morning so they...
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