People v. Mani
| Decision Date | 26 January 2022 |
| Docket Number | C088716 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ASHNEEL MANI, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Sacramento County No. 18FE006114 Kevin R. Culhane, Judge. Affirmed with directions.
Denise M. Rudasill, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell Assistant Attorney General, Darren K. Indermill, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Kari Ricci Mueller, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
On the night of March 29, 2018, defendant broke into the house where his mother and his brother lived. After hearing a loud noise, defendant's brother opened his bedroom door and saw defendant running up the stairs holding a kitchen knife. Scared, defendant's brother went back into his room and locked the door, and defendant's mother called 911. At the time, defendant's brother had a restraining order in place against defendant.
A jury found defendant guilty of first degree residential burglary and willfully disobeying a court order. The jury found true the allegation that a person, other than an accomplice, was present during the burglary. At a bifurcated proceeding, the jury found that defendant had a previous strike conviction. The trial court sentenced defendant to an aggregate term of 13 years.
On appeal, defendant asserted that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of prior acts of domestic violence under Evidence Code sections 1109 to prove propensity to commit residential burglary grounded on a theory of intent to steal, (2) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting prior acts evidence under Evidence Code sections 1101, subdivision (b), and 352, (3) the trial court committed instructional error in instructing the jury with a modified version of the Evidence Code section 1109 instruction, CALCRIM No. 852A, because burglary based on an intent to steal theory is assertedly not a crime involving domestic violence, and (4) he was prejudiced by the cumulative effect of these errors.[1]
We previously filed an opinion addressing and rejecting defendant's contentions. Additionally, in our original opinion, we addressed a sentencing error, not raised by the parties, as to the application of Penal Code section 654. The trial court had failed to impose a sentence on count two and then stay execution of that sentence, which, as this court and others have noted, is the proper way to pronounce sentence on counts to which Penal Code section 654 applies. (People v. Alford (2010) 180 Cal.App.4th 1463, 1469 (Alford)). We ordered the matter remanded for resentencing with directions that the trial court impose a term on count two and then stay execution thereof. We otherwise affirmed.
The California Supreme Court granted review and transferred the matter back to us with directions to vacate our decision and reconsider the cause in light of newly enacted Assembly Bill No. 518 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2021, ch. 441) (A.B. 518). (People v. Mani (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 799 , review granted December 15, 2021, S271688.) We vacated our decision and both parties filed supplemental briefs following the transfer. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.200(b).)
Regarding A.B. 518 and Penal Code section 654, previously that section required an act or omission punishable in different ways by different laws to be punished under the law that provided for the longest potential term of imprisonment. A.B. 518 amended Penal Code section 654 to afford sentencing courts the discretion to punish the act or omission under either provision. Upon reconsidering the cause in light of A.B. 518, we again remand the matter for resentencing. However, we now specifically direct that the trial court exercise its newly authorized discretion under A.B. 518 to determine whether to impose and execute sentence on either count one or count two and then, pursuant to Penal Code section 654, impose and stay execution of the sentence on the other count.
As for defendant's original contentions, we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the prior acts evidence and the modified CALCRIM No. 852A instruction was not erroneous. We reject defendant's contention that residential burglary based on an intent to steal theory was not an act of domestic violence for which the prior acts of domestic violence were admissible under section 1109. We also reject the related contention that the trial court erred in instructing that the prior acts in this case could be used as evidence of propensity to commit the residential burglary charge grounded on a theft theory. We conclude that breaking into the victims' home with the intent to steal was an act that surely disturbed the peace of the victims. Consequently, given the expanded definition of domestic violence in the Family Code applicable in section 1109, which includes disturbing the peace as a form of abuse, we hold that such a burglary is a crime of domestic violence for purposes of section 1109. Having rejected defendant's claims of error, we necessarily reject his cumulative error contention.
Defendant was charged with first degree residential burglary (Pen Code, § 459; count one), willfully disobeying a court order (Pen. Code, § 166, subd. (a)(4); count two), and drawing and exhibiting a deadly weapon in a rude, angry, or threatening manner (Pen. Code, § 417, subd. (a)(1); count three). In connection with count one, it was alleged that a person, other than an accomplice, was present during the burglary (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (c)(21)), and it was further alleged that, in the commission of the burglary, defendant personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, within the meaning of Penal Code section 12022, subdivision (b)(1). A prior serious felony and prior strike conviction were also alleged. (§§ 667, subd. (a); 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12).
Defendant's brother lived in a house with their mother. Defendant's brother had a restraining order in place against defendant. Both defendant's brother and mother had restraining orders against defendant in the past. Defendant's brother testified defendant "always violated the restraining orders" and their mother testified defendant violated restraining orders on a number of occasions.
On April 29, 2016, Officer Luis Canela was dispatched to defendant's mother's house for a family disturbance. Upon his arrival, Canela saw several people outside including defendant. Defendant told Canela he knew there was a restraining order in place against him. He told Canela he had been invited over to get his bed. Additionally, he said, "his family had software to control his mind."
On March 14, 2017, defendant's brother was at home when defendant came over. Defendant came in, yelling and screaming. Defendant's sister told defendant to leave, and then she called to defendant's brother. Defendant's brother came downstairs and saw defendant sitting in their mother's vehicle. He asked defendant to leave, but defendant just yelled, screamed, and cursed. Defendant's brother told defendant he was not allowed to be at the house and that there was a restraining order in place, and he warned defendant that they would call the authorities. Defendant backed up the vehicle and "came right towards" his brother. Defendant's brother was on the sidewalk, and defendant backed out, turned around, and "plow[ed] right towards" him, accelerating "[p]retty quickly," driving onto the sidewalk. Defendant's brother stepped away, and defendant missed hitting him by a matter of inches. Defendant yelled and screamed at his brother, telling him he did not belong there and accusing him of being the cause of their father's death. Defendant drove away in their mother's vehicle before the police arrived. The incident frightened the brother.
On July 11, 2017, defendant came to the house, knocked or banged on the door, and started yelling. Defendant's mother was home alone. She called 911. There was a restraining order in effect at the time.
Defendant's mother testified that, on January 10, 2018, defendant came to the house, banged on the door, yelled, and cursed. She told defendant she was going to call 911 and she did. Defendant left before the police arrived. Defendant's brother testified he came home and discovered a stereo receiver and speaker were missing from the garage. A pair of the brother's custom running shoes was also missing and a pair of shoes that belonged to defendant were left behind.[2] The door leading into the garage was damaged. It had been kicked open, the doorjambs were "ripped open," and the locking mechanisms "were off the door." As with the other incidents, there was a restraining order in place at the time.
On January 23, 2018, defendant again violated a restraining order. When his mother came home from work, she saw defendant sitting on the back of her landscaper's truck, which was parked on the street between her house and the neighbor's house. She went into the garage and noticed the door frame and lock were broken. When she asked defendant why he broke into the house, he left without saying anything. She testified she
On February 21, 2018, defendant's brother heard defendant banging and yelling at the door of the house at approximately 4:00 a.m. Defendant was there for approximately 10 or 15 minutes before he l...
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