People v. Mataele
| Decision Date | 21 July 2022 |
| Docket Number | S138052 |
| Citation | 13 Cal.5th 372,513 P.3d 190,296 Cal.Rptr.3d 30 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Tupoutoe MATAELE, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Supreme Court |
Stephen M. Lathrop, Rolling Hills Estates, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Gerald A. Engler and Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Julie L. Garland and James William Bilderback II, Assistant Attorney General, Holly D. Wilkens, Annie Featherman Fraser, Kristen Kinnaird Chenelia and Donald W. Ostertag, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
A jury convicted defendant Tupoutoe Mataele of the murder of Danell Johnson, the attempted murder of John Masubayashi, and conspiracy to commit the murders of Johnson and Masubayashi. ( Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 664, subd. (a), 182, subd. (a).)1 The jury found true a special circumstance allegation that defendant committed the murder while lying in wait. (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(15).) The jury also found true an allegation that defendant was armed with and personally used a firearm in the commission of each offense. (§§ 12022, subd. (a)(1), 12022.5, subd. (a).) Allegations that defendant suffered a prior strike conviction and a prior serious felony conviction were found true. (§§ 667, subd. (a), 1170.12, subds. (a)–(d).)
Following a penalty trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. The trial court denied defendant's motions to set aside the death verdict and for a new trial, and sentenced defendant to death. It also sentenced him to a life term plus nine years for the attempted murder count, the firearm enhancements, and the prior serious felony conviction. The court stayed the sentence on the conspiracy count pursuant to section 654. This appeal is automatic. ( § 1239, subd. (b).)
We affirm the judgment in its entirety. We also remand the matter for the limited purpose of allowing the trial court to consider whether to exercise its newly conferred discretion under Senate Bill No. 620 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) and Senate Bill No. 1393 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) to strike the firearm and prior serious felony enhancements, respectively.
Defendant participated in a criminal enterprise with numerous individuals. Although the initial enterprise was an ongoing identity theft and bank fraud scheme, later the venture included the purchase and sale of methamphetamine. Peter Song managed the group, which also included Johnson, Masubayashi, Minh Nghia Lee, James Chung, Ryan Carrillo, David Song, and Tweeney Mataele (defendant's brother, nicknamed "Baby"). At one point, nearly the entire group lived together in an apartment in Los Angeles referred to as the "Penthouse."
Several members of the group also belonged to criminal street gangs. Masubayashi and Johnson were members of the Tiny Rascals gang. Chung, Carrillo, and Baby were members of the Pinoy Real gang. Defendant was a member of the Sons of Samoa gang, but socialized mostly with Pinoy Real gang members. Lee was a member of the Asian Mob Assassins gang.
The shooting of Johnson and Masubayashi stemmed from various disputes within the group. Chung was angry with Johnson because Johnson had received a speeding ticket when he was driving Chung's Jeep Cherokee and had provided the police officer with false identification. The police went to Chung's house and questioned him. Chung worried that he would be in violation of his parole because of the car incident. Chung was also upset with Masubayashi after Chung was nearly caught committing bank fraud. Chung threatened Masubayashi with a butcher knife over the incident and told him to watch his back. Chung called Johnson and Masubayashi "snitches" based on the incidents. Chung also wanted to replace Masubayashi as Peter Song's second-in-command in the criminal enterprise. Masubayashi and Johnson eventually moved out of the Penthouse and lived in an apartment in Anaheim owned by Takahisa Suzuki.
On the evening of November 11, 1997, defendant, Chung, Carrillo, and Lee were at the Penthouse when Chung began complaining about Masubayashi and Johnson. Defendant volunteered to kill Masubayashi, stating, "We're going to handle them, take care of them" and "Let's go smoke those motherfuckers." Chung, Lee, and Carrillo responded, "Let's do it." Carrillo noticed that defendant possessed a .357 magnum handgun, which Carrillo had previously seen defendant carry on numerous occasions.
Lee drove defendant, Chung, and Carrillo in Chung's Jeep Cherokee to the home of Allan Quiambao, another Pinoy Real gang member. During the drive, defendant repeated that he would kill Johnson and Masubayashi. The group met Quiambao outside and told him that they were headed to Anaheim to "do" Johnson and Masubayashi. Quiambao understood this to mean the group would kill them.
The group returned to the Jeep and continued driving toward Anaheim. A police officer stopped the Jeep after Carrillo threw a cigarette butt out the window. Carrillo saw defendant hide his gun inside the crack of the seats prior to the stop and then tuck it in his waistband after the police officer left.
Lee parked the Jeep in a parking lot near Suzuki's apartment complex. The group agreed that only defendant and Carrillo would go to the apartment because there was no animosity between them and Masubayashi and Johnson. Lee and Chung would wait in the Jeep. As they were walking to the apartment, defendant told Carrillo that he was going to "do," meaning kill, everyone in the apartment. Defendant telephoned Johnson, who had been grocery shopping with his girlfriend, Sia Her. Johnson and Her met defendant and Carrillo outside the apartment complex. The four continued to Suzuki's apartment, where Masubayashi and his girlfriend, Alexis Huliganga, were asleep inside. Masubayashi awoke and the men decided to go out to a strip club or to shoot pool. Defendant, who weighed more than 300 pounds, was wearing dark jeans and a green-and-black plaid flannel; Carrillo, who had a thinner build, wore a white jersey with black letters and a beanie on his head.
As the group walked toward Masubayashi's car, they noticed a police patrol car driving by. Masubayashi and Carrillo saw defendant remove his gun from his waistband and hide it beneath the tire of a parked car. Defendant and Carrillo returned to Suzuki's apartment, where defendant explained to Her that they had come back because the police were outside and he was "strapped," meaning he had a gun. After the patrol car left, Johnson returned to the apartment to collect defendant and Carrillo, while Masubayashi continued walking to his vehicle. Defendant retrieved the gun once outside and Masubayashi picked the men up in his car, a two-door Nissan. Carrillo sat behind Masubayashi and defendant sat behind Johnson.
Defendant and Carrillo told Masubayashi that they also wanted to drive and directed him to Chung's Jeep. Unbeknownst to Masubayashi and Johnson, Lee and Chung were hiding inside the Jeep. Masubayashi parked his car next to the Jeep and Johnson got out of the front seat to let defendant and Carrillo exit the car. Masubayashi saw Carrillo walk toward the back of the Nissan while defendant stayed beside the passenger door. Masubayashi recalled that he had left compact discs in Chung's Jeep and opened his car door to retrieve them. Defendant suddenly drew his gun and shot Johnson in the head. Masubayashi turned and saw Johnson's head bobbing. Defendant next bent inside the Nissan and shot Masubayashi. Just before he was shot, Masubayashi remembered seeing defendant's dark forearm and his green-and-black flannel shirt inside the car and defendant's gun pointed at him.
Masubayashi dashed out of the car and ran through the parking lot toward a Jack in the Box restaurant. Defendant shot at Masubayashi several more times. Masubayashi ran across the street as defendant and Carrillo climbed into the backseat of the Jeep. Lee started the car and drove toward Masubayashi, saying, "I'm going to run his ass over." Masubayashi hid behind a telephone pole, and Lee stopped the Jeep just in front of it. Masubayashi ran away from the Jeep and collapsed in the middle of the street. Carrillo became aware of people watching in front of a nearby restaurant and saw a uniformed security guard nearby. Defendant told Lee to let him out of the Jeep so he could "finish John off." Defendant got out of the Jeep and walked toward Masubayashi. Lee, Chung, and Carrillo drove off.
A restaurant patron and private security guard noticed Masubayashi lying in the street and stopped to help him. Police officers arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and found Masubayashi lying on his back in the middle of the street with a gunshot wound to his chest. Masubayashi was taken to the hospital, where he told police officers that defendant had shot him and Johnson. A forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Johnson testified that Johnson died from a close range gunshot wound to his neck and brain. An analysis of bullets and fragments indicated the shots were fired from either a .38 special or .357 magnum handgun.
Two eyewitnesses — Jose Rodriguez and John Fowler — testified regarding their observations. In the early morning hours of November 12, 1997, Rodriguez, Fowler, and Matthew Towne2 were seated on a bench outside the Gateway Urgent Care Clinic in Anaheim when they heard what sounded like a car backfiring. Rodriguez took a few steps forward and peered around the side of a brick wall. He saw the profile of a man approximately 50 feet away in a dark parking lot firing a gun in the direction of the Jack in the Box. Rodriguez described the shooter as a Black male, approximately 25 years old, about six feet tall, heavyset, and wearing dark clothing. Fowler looked around the side of the brick wall and noticed a black car parked with the engine...
To continue reading
Request your trial