People v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 29 December 2022
• Docket Number: H048633,H048722
• Parties: THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CHRISTOPHER LYON JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ANTOINE WILLIAMS, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
CHRISTOPHER LYON JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
ANTOINE WILLIAMS, Defendant and Appellant.

H048633, H048722

California Court of Appeals, Sixth District

December 29, 2022

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. C1910682

Danner, J.

Appellants Christopher Johnson and Antoine Williams appeal from judgments entered after a jury found them guilty of aggravated sex trafficking of a minor and other related crimes. The trial court sentenced both defendants to 15 years to life in prison.

Between their two appeals, which we have considered together for oral argument and disposition, Johnson and Williams raise numerous claims of error. Stated broadly,

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Johnson and Williams, who are Black, challenge the trial court's admission of certain expert witness testimony as founded on stereotypical "profile evidence" infused with racial bias. They contend that reversal is required under the California Racial Justice Act of 2020 (Stats. 2020, ch. 317, § 1) (Racial Justice Act or Act), which the Legislature enacted to eliminate racial bias and discriminatory practices from California's criminal justice system. (Stats. 2020, ch. 317, § 2, subds. (i), (j).) We recognize the force of Johnson's and Williams's arguments on this point and agree that some of the language they identify raises concerns. However, on this record, we decide that the Racial Justice Act was not violated.

In addition, Williams and Johnson jointly or separately challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the special allegation finding of coercion as to the sex trafficking count, the trial court's jury instruction as to mistake of age, the admission of hearsay statements and statements made during a custodial interrogation, the cumulative prejudice of these alleged errors, and various aspects of their sentences.

We reject Johnson's and Williams's challenges to their convictions but vacate their sentences and remand with directions for resentencing.^[1]

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

In November 2019, the Santa Clara County District Attorney filed a second amended information (information) charging Johnson and Williams with the following counts^[2]: Human trafficking by causing a minor victim to engage in a commercial sex act

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(Pen. Code, § 236.1, subd. (c);^[3] count 1), with the allegation that the offense involves force, fear, coercion, duress or threat of unlawful injury (§ 236.1, subd. (c)(2)); pimping where the prostitute is a minor under the age of 16 (§ 266h, subd. (b)(2); count 2); procuring a minor under the age of 16 for prostitution (§ 266i, subd. (b)(2); count 3); pimping where the prostitute is an adult (§ 266h, subd. (a); count 5); and procuring an adult for prostitution (§ 266i, subd. (a)(1)); count 6). The information additionally charged Johnson with lewd or lascivious act on a child aged 14 or 15 (§ 288, subd. (c)(1); count 4).

The information named A. Doe (hereafter, A.),^[4] who is White, as the alleged minor victim in the first four counts and identified S. Doe (hereafter, S.), who is Black, as the alleged adult victim in counts 5 and 6.

The trial court empaneled a single jury to hear evidence regarding both defendants. On November 26, 2019, the jury found Johnson and Williams guilty of all counts and found true the coercion allegation attached to count 1.

As to Johnson, the trial court sentenced him to 15 years to life for his sex trafficking conviction on count 1 and imposed concurrent terms of four years on count 5 and two years on count 4. The court also imposed terms of six years on counts 2 and 3 and four years on count 6, all of which the court stayed pursuant to section 654. In addition, the court ordered Johnson to pay various fines and fees.

As to Williams, the trial court sentenced him to 15 years to life for his sex trafficking conviction on count 1 and imposed a concurrent term of four years on count 5. The court also imposed terms of six years on counts 2 and 3 and four years on count 6, all

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of which the court stayed pursuant to section 654. In addition, the court ordered Williams to pay various fines and fees.

B. Summary of Evidence Presented at Trial

A. was born in June 2004 and was 15 years old at the time of trial. When A. was nine, her mother died of a heroin overdose. At age 10, A. entered the child welfare system in Michigan. She lived in a series of group homes and ran away numerous times.

In September 2018, A. ran away from a group home because she was dealing with substance abuse and "wanted to use drugs." A. ended up in Chicago. There, she stayed with different men-each for a day or two at a time, though her last relationship with a man named Antonio lasted about five months. Sometimes men would give her money or food and sometimes she would have to "do stuff" for it. She prostituted while in Chicago and during the time she was with Antonio, but she denied that Antonio was her pimp. A. referred to Antonio as" 'daddy'" and he called her" 'bitch'" or sometimes" 'ho bitch.'" A. later kept in touch with Antonio throughout her time in California.

In March or the beginning of April 2019,^[5] around the time her relationship with Antonio ended, A. met a man on a Web site called "Plenty of Fish."^[6] Her profile claimed she was in her mid-20's or even 33 years old. The man drove her to a hotel in Gary, Indiana, where another man was waiting. She had sex with the man waiting in the hotel room. (A. testified the man waiting in the hotel was Johnson, though evidence obtained from Johnson's cell service provider later showed Johnson's cell phone had not left California during that time.)^[7]

A. left the hotel room after she and the man got into a fight, and she met Williams, who was outside. Williams went by the name of" 'Twan.'" Williams asked her what

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was going on and if she needed anything. She told Williams she had gotten into a fight and had nowhere to go. He invited her to his room, gave her ecstasy, and asked if she wanted to go to California to make money. She thought he meant to sell drugs, and she agreed.

Someone picked A. and Williams up the next day and took them to the train station. They traveled for about three days and arrived in Sacramento. Records from Williams's cell phone showed that Johnson texted Williams on April 22 with an intercity bus ticket and a train ticket, followed by a message from Williams stating" 'For me and her.'" On April 25, Williams texted Johnson an arrival time of 1:50, and Johnson responded" 'Okay.'" A. testified that she never told Williams her true age. Rather, she told him she was 33. In fact, she was 14 years old.

In Sacramento, Johnson, his fiancee (Megan M.), and his stepfather (Russell), picked A. and Williams up from the station and drove to Megan's house in Red Bluff. Johnson and Megan took A. to a store and bought her a few outfits. The group smoked drugs and drank alcohol. At one point Williams thought A. was talking about him and began shaking a liquor bottle in her face like he was going to hit her. Williams kept "antagonizing" her as he got more drunk. Johnson and Megan kicked him out.

Williams later came back and began hitting A., who fought back. Williams kicked and stomped on A.'s face, causing a broken blood vessel in her eye and leaving a shoeshaped mark. Johnson and Megan kicked Williams out of the house but let him return the next morning after he promised to" 'chill out and settle down.'" At that point, A. had no money and nowhere to go. Nevertheless, she had decided she "wasn't gonna go with" Williams. She asked Johnson if they could still try to make money together, and he said yes.

The next day, Johnson drove A. to a hotel. On the way, he picked up S. Doe (the adult victim named in counts 5 and 6). Johnson, A., and S. stayed at the hotel for a few

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days, drinking and using cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy, which Johnson supplied. Johnson, who was then 39 years old, had sex with A. during that time.

After a few days, Johnson drove the group (which included A., S., Russell, and Williams) in a circuit to Southern California and back, stopping at various locations along the way. They stayed in motels for a day or two at a time, or sometimes longer "if the money was good." Johnson would drop A. and S. in a room. At first, A. would go into the bathroom and listen when clients came to the room to have sex with S. A. believed that Johnson wanted her to see how he operated as a pimp.

After a short time, A. began prostituting for Johnson. S. would go into the bathroom when Johnson sent up a "date"^[8] for A. Johnson would text A. to say a date was coming to the room, for how long, and how much the man was to pay her. A. did not negotiate the amount of money or type of sex act but understood she had to do what the man said. If she failed to limit the sex to the amount of time dictated by Johnson, "he would continuously call the hotel [room] phone and it would be a problem." Johnson took all the money A. received, but sometimes he let her keep a dollar or two. A. was not able to leave the hotel whenever she wanted. If she missed the date, it was "the end of the world." Because A. was afraid Johnson would be violent with her like Williams had been, she "just obeyed [Johnson]."

Since A. had a cell phone and S. did not,^[9] Johnson would also text her to tell S. to get ready because a date was coming. S. was "always high," addicted to methamphetamine, and experienced mood swings when she did not get her drugs. A. testified, over the objections of defense counsel, that S. missed her kids and was prostituting because she had nowhere to go, could not see her kids, and was addicted to

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methamphetamine and had no one to supply her.^[10] Johnson supplied S. with methamphetamine.

At the beginning, A. "had no problem" with the situation, and...