People v. Maine
| Decision Date | 31 August 2020 |
| Docket Number | F077509 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. NATHANAEL MAINE, Defendant and Appellant. |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
OPINION*
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Gary T. Friedman, Judge.
Robert L.S. Angres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Michael A. Canzoneri and Angelo S. Edralin, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
-ooOoo-
Appellant/defendant Nathanael Maine was convicted of torture and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole plus a determinate sentence of 11 years. He filed an appeal but did not challenge his sentence, and this court affirmed the judgment.
After the judgment was final, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) advised the trial court that defendant's indeterminate sentence was unauthorized because he had one prior strike conviction and the trial court failed to clarify that the minimum eligible parole date (MEPD) of seven years had to be doubled to 14 years. CDCR requested the court to review the matter for resentencing.
At the resentencing hearing, the trial court again sentenced defendant to life with the possibility of parole and doubled the MEPD of seven years to 14 years based on his prior strike conviction, with the same determinate term of 11 years.
Defendant has filed an appeal from his resentencing hearing. He argues his attorney was prejudicially ineffective because he raised meritless arguments at the resentencing hearing, and instead should have requested the court dismiss his prior strike conviction pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1385 and People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497 (Romero), based on his record of good behavior while serving his prison term up to that time, in order to avoid having the MEPD doubled.
Defendant also argues the matter must be remanded for the court to decide whether to exercise its discretion to dismiss the five-year term imposed for the prior serious felony enhancement, based on Senate Bill No. 1363's amendments to section 667, subdivision (a); correct the calculation of his presentence credits; and determine his ability to pay the restitution fine and fees that were imposed. He also argues the one-year prior prison term enhancement must be stricken based Senate Bill No. 136's amendments to section 667.5, subdivision (b).
We remand the matter on sentencing issues and otherwise affirm.
At the time of trial, six months after the incident, Kayla M. was 19 years old with two children from defendant, both under two years old. Kayla testified she was in a romantic relationship with defendant for three years and still loved him.
On December 31, 2013, Kayla was drinking from a half gallon bottle of Captain Morgan rum at her kitchen table with defendant, her sister, and other friends.
Kayla stated she did not recall anything else from that evening except waking up the next day at 9:00 a.m. in her parents' house. When she awoke, Kayla had a black eye, which she could not open for about six hours, and her eye and head were in pain. Kayla's eye took days to heal, and her lip remained swollen for another day. Kayla testified she did not recall how she received her injuries. She said she remembered nothing from New Year's Eve and did not remember telling her mother what had happened. Kayla denied making statements to sheriff's deputies about the incident.
About a week after the incident, Kayla talked to a social worker from child protective services. The social worker was looking at the injury to Kayla's eye. Kayla told the social worker she did not know what had happened, though she admitted she and defendant were involved in domestic violence on New Year's Eve. The social worker told Kayla she knew what had happened and advised Kayla to get a restraining order ondefendant, or Kayla's children would be taken from her. Kayla denied making specific statements about the incident to the social worker.
Kayla told the social worker she had had a food fight with defendant at their home in March 2013. In retaliation, defendant threw a perfume bottle at her, hitting her in the left cheek. Kayla's mother came over and took Kayla to her home where she called the sheriff's office because Kayla had asked her to do so. Kayla talked to a deputy about the incident. She told the deputy that defendant had stomped on her pinky toe, and she showed the deputy the injury.
A few days after the New Year's Day incident, Kayla filled out an application for a protective order prepared by someone from Family Alliance who had read the deputy's report of the incident. Kayla obtained a protective order against defendant. Three recorded phone conversations Kayla had with defendant in January 2014 were played for the jury. Kayla admitted she visited defendant in January 2014 and several times since then. Defendant's parents visited Kayla. Kayla said she did not want defendant prosecuted for what happened on New Year's Eve 2013 and January 1, 2014, because she still loved defendant and wanted him to come home.
On New Year's Eve 2013 and New Year's Day 2014, Kimberly H. lived next door to Kayla and defendant. Kayla's bathroom window was five feet from Kimberly's front door. Kimberly was awakened by her daughter who heard a woman screaming for help from the residence next door. Kimberly recognized Kayla's voice because their children played together. She heard Kayla screaming, She also heard defendant yelling at Kayla and calling her "slut, bitch, whore." Kimberly heard defendant repeatedly hitting and slapping Kayla for 30 minutes.
Kimberly did not have a phone and could not immediately intervene, but she got to a phone 30 minutes later and called 911. The recording of Kimberly's 911 call was played to the jury. When deputies arrived and talked to Kimberly, she heard defendant slap Kayla again. Defendant was arrested. Kayla told Kimberly once that defendant wasvery physically and mentally abusive to her. Kayla thanked Kimberly for saving her life because defendant would have killed her. After Kimberly was subpoenaed to testify at trial, Kayla told her not to come to court. Kimberly was convicted twice for theft in 2014.
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Eric Hughes was dispatched together with Deputies John Puga and David Rutter to Kayla's home at 3:00 a.m. on January 1, 2014. Hughes announced his presence, knocked on the door, and saw defendant walking down the hallway. Hughes could see defendant peeking out of the blinds and run down the hallway before coming back a minute and a half later and opening the door eight or nine inches. Hughes explained he was investigating a domestic disturbance. Defendant told Hughes Kayla and their children were asleep. Hughes, however, saw blood on defendant's hand and realized he needed to make entry to check on the welfare of the other inhabitants. Hughes pushed the door open and ordered defendant to sit on a couch.
Kayla stepped out of the bathroom. Her face had blood running down it, her lip was busted, and her eye was swollen. Kayla was distraught and crying. Her pants were down around her ankles. Kayla told Deputy Hughes defendant had beaten her. She was transported to the hospital.
The jury was shown photographs taken by Deputy Puga on the evening of the incident depicting the extent of Kayla's injuries. Puga explained that when he went towards the bathroom to check on Kayla, she reached out to grab his hand. Kayla's lips were swollen and bleeding, her eyes were swollen shut, her face was bloody, and she was crying. Kayla told Puga she was afraid that if she did not get up from the floor, the deputies would leave, and defendant would come back and continue beating her. Kayla was afraid for her life. Puga did not believe Kayla was intoxicated and saw no symptoms of her being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage.
Deputy Puga followed Kayla to the hospital where she was able to answer his questions without hesitation. Kayla told Puga defendant had a prior domestic violenceincident in which she was the victim about a year earlier. Kayla explained defendant got together with friends at a New Year's Eve party, had several alcoholic beverages, accused her of cheating on him, and started hitting her. Kayla screamed and pled for defendant to stop. At one point during defendant's attack, Kayla lost consciousness when defendant kicked her in the face.
Kayla was treated at the hospital by a physician's assistant. She suffered from a contusion and abrasion along her face on the right superior orbit, resulting in a hematoma. Kayla complained of a head injury and loss of consciousness.
At defendant and Kayla's residence, Deputy Hughes noticed the bathroom and bedroom doors had large holes in them. The frame of the bathroom door was cracked. Both Hughes and Deputy Puga believed someone tried to kick the doors open.
Social Worker Debra Vallejo with the Kern County Department of Human Services was assigned to Kayla's case. Vallejo contacted Kayla on January 7, 2014, and observed an injury to Kayla's eye that included swelling and broken blood vessels in the eye itself. The skin underneath the eye was yellow. Kayla told Vallejo she and defendant had been partying on New Year's Eve and got into a physical altercation when they got home. Defendant broke down the bathroom door and hit Kayla several times. Defendant pulled...
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