People v. Morganti

• Citation: 50 Cal.Rptr.2d 837,43 Cal.App.4th 643
• Decision Date: 13 March 1996
• Docket Number: No. A062623,A062623
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1766, 96 Daily Journal D.A.R. 2966 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Christopher MORGANTI, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 837

50 Cal.Rptr.2d 837

43 Cal.App.4th 643, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1766,

96 Daily Journal D.A.R. 2966

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Christopher MORGANTI, Defendant and Appellant.

No. A062623.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 2, California.

March 13, 1996.

Certified for Partial Publication ^*.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing March 27, 1996.

Review Denied May 22, 1996. ^**

Mark L. Christiansen, Granite Bay, for Appellant Christopher Morganti.

Daniel E. Lungren, California Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Ronald A. Bass, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Stan M. Helfman, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Violet M. Lee, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, San Francisco, for the People.

HAERLE, Associate Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant Christopher Morganti (Morganti) was convicted of second degree murder, personal use of a knife during commission of that crime, and arson of an inhabited structure. He was sentenced to 16 years to life for the murder, and five years for arson, and ordered to pay a restitution fine of $4200. Morganti's co-defendant George Paterson (Paterson), though charged with the same murder, was convicted as an accessory after the fact. On appeal, Morganti alleges multiple instances of reversible error and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions. We affirm.

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the evening of Saturday, November 16, 1991, Ronald Turner (Turner) was found dead in the manager's unit at the La Grande Motel in Cloverdale. Turner had been stabbed 26 times and his skull was fractured. The building where Turner was found was locked and on fire. Investigators determined the fire was caused by arson. Evidence collected at the scene included a leather glove with a small piece of hair inside, a section of linoleum imprinted with a bloody shoe print, and a bloodstained door chain from the manager's unit.

A. The La Grande Motel

Prior to his death, Turner lived at and helped run the La Grande. Morganti was a frequent guest at the motel. There was evidence that both Turner and Morganti abused drugs, that they used drugs together, and that Morganti supplied Turner with drugs.

Debra Ebert was an occasional resident at the La Grande. Ebert testified about a scheme Turner used to pay Morganti for drugs. When the owner was present, Morganti would give Turner his credit card to charge his rent. Turner would prepare a charge slip but then destroy it once the owner left. Thus, Morganti would receive free rent in exchange for the drugs he supplied Turner. Turner admitted to Ebert that he failed to destroy some of the charge slips. Morganti's wife Cheryl also told Ebert that Turner failed to "pull" the charges, and showed Ebert a credit card statement containing room charges.

Diane Baker, a resident and maid at the La Grande, testified that, on the day before Turner's death, she saw Morganti and Turner together in the manager's unit talking about money. Morganti asked Turner if Baker knew where to deliver "the money" and Turner responded that "it" was taken care of and that Morganti should call him at 5:00. At 4:00 that afternoon, Turner answered the telephone, became visibly angry and stated "Chris, I told you to call at 5 o'clock." At 4:15, Turner answered the phone, again telling the caller, "Chris, I told you to call at 5 o'clock." Turner slammed down the phone, disconnected the receiver and told Baker "Chris was getting very pushy."

On the morning of the murder, Baker again saw Morganti and Turner together in the manager's unit. That evening, between 10 and 11 p.m., she noticed a silver-blue car in the parking lot of the motel. Baker did not recognize the dark-haired man sitting in the car. After returning to her room, which was located next to the manager's unit, Baker heard loud noises and Turner's voice.

Richard Cox was a guest at the La Grande on the night of the murder. He testified that, around 10:45 p.m., he saw a man in the motel complex standing next to a car with a dented tail light. The man approached Turner, who said "Oh, it's you." Cox later identified Paterson as the man who approached Turner that night.

James Marshall checked into the La Grande on the night of the murder. Marshall testified that the man standing behind the counter gave him the wrong key, and that Turner later gave him the correct room key. Prior to trial, Marshall identified Morganti in both a photographic line up and a live lineup as resembling the man who gave him the wrong key. But, at trial, Marshall testified Morganti was not the man he saw on the night of the murder and that he felt the prosecution pressured him to identify Morganti.

B. Bonnie Martin

Morganti owned a house at 538 Reed Court in Healdsburg. At the time of the murder, Morganti was living in the garage with his wife, Cheryl, and renting the house to Bonnie Martin.

Shortly after the murder, Martin was interviewed by the police. Martin told police that, on the night of the murder, Morganti and Paterson left the house in separate cars between 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. Morganti drove a tan pickup and Paterson left in a silver sedan. Morganti was carrying his knife in a sheath on his belt. Morganti returned home alone at around midnight, went straight to the washing machine, and started a load of laundry. The next morning, Martin found Morganti's knife inside the washer.

At trial, Martin testified differently. She said that Morganti spent all of the weekend during which the murder occurred cleaning out the garage which had been flooded by rain. She stated that Paterson had left the house on the night of the murder to buy groceries between 9:00 and 10:30 p.m. and then left the house again by foot about an hour later. Martin was unsure if Morganti left the house that evening but also testified he was in and out all evening. Martin told the jury she found Morganti's knife in the washer on the morning after the murder but thought she might have knocked it off the shelf into the washer on the previous evening and claimed she also found a screwdriver in the washer.

Martin testified that Morganti told her Turner owed him money. She claimed that Morganti had asked her to collect the debt from Turner because he did not want to deal with it. After the murder, Martin told Morganti the police had been asking questions about him and Morganti responded that the police could have been asking about him because he had gone to Cloverdale to collect $50 from Turner.

C. Mario Morganti

Morganti's thirteen year old son, Mario, testified he spent the night of the murder at Reed Court. That evening, Mario saw Morganti in the garage sharpening an ax and asked what he was doing. According to Mario, his father sarcastically and jokingly replied: "I'm going to go cut down a tree," and added, "Don't worry about me you better get in the house, it's getting cold out here."

Mario testified that he went in the house, went to bed, and woke up at around 11 p.m. to find his father in the hallway. Morganti was wearing either socks or old white shoes without laces. Mario admitted at trial that he previously told investigators his father was wearing Nike tennis shoes, but explained that he always refers to tennis shoes as Nikes. Mario conceded he was unsure, but thought Morganti was only wearing socks.

Mario claimed he did not see his father leave home on the night of the murder. He also denied seeing Morganti with a knife that night. Later, Mario admitted that his father had a habit of carrying a little buck knife on his side, but then stated he saw the knife sometimes, but hardly ever. Later still, Mario admitted seeing Morganti with a Kalinga knife on the night of the murder.

Mario testified that he saw the sheath for his father's knife in the washer on the morning after the murder. Later, he changed that testimony by claiming that the sheath was in his dad's hat, not in the washer. Mario repeatedly denied seeing Morganti's knife in the washing machine.

Mario testified that his father rode a motorcycle but that Mario never saw him wear motorcycle gloves. He claimed not to know what "welder's" gloves looked like and said he did not recognize a glove found at the crime scene as similar to the type of gloves his father wore. According to Mario, Morganti wore short gloves with the finger coverings cut off.

The trial judge admitted into evidence a tape-recorded interview of Mario which had been conducted shortly after the murder, on November 21, 1991. During that interview, Mario stated that he saw Morganti leave home at approximately 11 p.m. on the night of the murder. Morganti was carrying a "hatchet" and told Mario he was going to cut down a tree. When Mario asked why, Morganti responded "Don't worry about me. You don't need to know." Morganti was wearing a Kalinga knife when he left his house. He got into a yellow station wagon with three men. Later that evening, Mario saw Morganti return home. Morganti was wearing white Nike shoes without laces. The next morning, Mario saw Morganti's knife when Bonnie Martin took it out of the washing machine. Mario also told investigators that Morganti wore thick brown gloves when he rode his motorcycle. He described the gloves as "welder gloves" and said they had a picture of a steer on them.

D. The Mercury Monarch

A Mercury Monarch with a broken and patched tail light was towed to the Cloverdale Police Department on November 19, 1991. The Monarch had been found near the Healdsburg Hospital. On the night of the murder, at around midnight, Paterson had gone to the parking lot of the Healdsburg Hospital to purchase cocaine.

The Monarch was owned by Albert Carusillo. Carusillo testified that, on the morning of the murder, he lent the Mercury to Paterson for three hours so Paterson could visit his father. Paterson did not return the car and later told Carusillo it was impounded when Paterson was pulled over for drunk...