People v. Reeves
| Decision Date | 28 March 2018 |
| Docket Number | D071577 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. DONALD LEE REEVES III, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Joan P. Weber, Judge. Affirmed.
Nancy E. Olsen, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton and Adrianne S. Denault, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
After a court trial, the court found Donald Lee Reeves III guilty of murdering two homeless men, Bobby Johnson and David Hamilton (counts 1 & 3); robbing Johnson, Hamilton, and Roberic Brooks (counts 2, 4, & 5); assaulting Brooks and Hamilton by means likely to produce great bodily injury (counts 6 & 7); and possession of methamphetamine (count 9). As to each murder, the trial court found true special circumstance allegations of multiple murder and robbery-murder. The court also found true special circumstance allegations that during the commission of counts 2, 5, 6, and 7, Reeves personally inflicted great bodily injury on his victims. The trial court sentenced Reeves to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) on counts 1 and 3, plus a concurrent six-year term on count 5 and 180 days on count 9. The trial court stayed the remaining prison terms and enhancements under Penal Code section 654.
On appeal, Reeves challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions for robbing Hamilton, the felony murders of Johnson and Hamilton, and both robbery-murder special circumstance findings. Reeves contends the evidence failed to establish he intended to steal before or during his assaults on Johnson and Hamilton and intended to commit the robberies independent of the murders. Reeves also argues his two LWOP sentences constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the California and United States Constitutions. We reject Reeves's arguments and affirm.
On a night in October 2014, Reeves met Brooks at a bar. Brooks sold Reeves $20 worth of methamphetamine. Later that night, Reeves said he had lost the drugs and requested his money back from Brooks. The men left the bar together to look for the lost drugs or find more drugs. When they reached a stop light, Reeves hit Brooks in the face, knocking him unconscious.
After Brooks regained consciousness, he noticed everything was out of his pocket and wallet and the items were scattered in nearby plants. Brooks's EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cash and food stamp cards and the $20 Reeves had given him in exchange for the methamphetamine were missing from his wallet.
Brooks looked toward a church across the street and saw Reeves hitting a man in the head. Brooks lost consciousness again. When he awoke, he flagged down a fire truck and an ambulance took him to the hospital. Brooks later told a detective he had seen several individuals by the church battering an unknown person.
The man Reeves battered near the church was Hamilton. Hamilton had been sleeping on a bench outside the church and awoke to being punched in the face repeatedly. He lost consciousness during the assault and, when he became alert again, his cart was gone. Hamilton approached an officer who had been speaking to Brooks, asked to be taken to the hospital, and stated he had been robbed by a tall, slender, Black male in his thirties.
Officers interviewed Hamilton in the hospital. Hamilton told officers he was assaulted by a tall, dark-skinned Black male with curly hair in his 20's or 30's. Hamilton did not recall seeing any facial hair on the man who attacked him. Hamilton also said the assailant had a Hispanic male companion, but only the Black man assaulted and stole from him.
When an officer showed Hamilton a picture of Brooks, Hamilton said he was not 100 percent sure if Brooks was his assailant, but the picture was close. Brooks was bald and had a mustache. A few days later, Hamilton added details that the man who assaulted him had a beard and a mustache. Reeves is a White male.
While in the hospital, Hamilton reported the assailant stated, "Give me all your money or I'll kill you" as he punched Hamilton in the face. In response, Hamilton removed his wallet from his pocket and said he did not have any money. The assailant checked the wallet for money, saw there was none, threw the wallet in Hamilton's face, and then continued to punch him.
Hamilton had a small black cart with his clothing in it. According to Hamilton, his assailant took the cart along with some clothing, including lavender pants and a light purple shirt with dark stripes.
As a result of the attack, Hamilton suffered multiple facial fractures and a brain bleed. He died approximately three months after the assault.
Shortly after the assault on Hamilton, Reeves walked a few blocks with Hamilton's cart to an area near a senior center. Johnson and Gregory Rivers were sleeping outsidethe senior center. Reeves approached Johnson, stopped to hike up his pants, and then started kicking Johnson in the head and upper torso. After kicking Johnson multiple times, Reeves went through Johnson's belongings, selected certain items, and put them in Hamilton's cart. Reeves then kicked Johnson again and spit on him twice. Reeves turned to Rivers and said something to the effect of "you lucky it wasn't you because I don't play." Reeves walked away wheeling Hamilton's cart. The incident was recorded on video by the senior center.
Rivers called 911 and reported the assault. Johnson suffered fractures to the bones around his eye and ribs, facial swelling, and a brain injury. He underwent brain surgery, but never regained consciousness after the assault. Johnson remained in the hospital until his death approximately two weeks later.
Approximately 15 minutes after the assault on Johnson, an officer responding to the incident saw Reeves, who matched the description of the assailant. The officer saw blood spatter on Reeves's shoes and detained him.
Reeves had a black cart with him. The cart contained a jacket that had Johnson's Bible in the pocket and Hamilton's lavender pants and striped shirt. Reeves also had Brooks's EBT cards.
DNA from blood stains on Reeves's pants and shoes matched Hamilton's DNA. Hamilton's DNA also matched DNA found on Reeves's fists. Brooks's DNA matched DNA recovered from Reeves's shoes.
Reeves testified he was 22 years old at the time of the assaults on Brooks, Hamilton, and Johnson. On that night, he was upset because his girlfriend had just ended their relationship. He consumed several beers, snorted methamphetamine, and smoked marijuana. Reeves had been taking methamphetamine daily for the month before the assaults and, as a result, had not been sleeping well.
Reeves testified he started seeing "demons, demonic figures" as he was walking home after leaving the bar where he met Brooks. Reeves was scared because he thought the demons wanted to kill him. He responded by throwing punches and kicks to try to get the demons away from him. Reeves did not remember assaulting anyone or taking their property. Reeves testified he had no reason to take the victims' property because he had a job, a place to live, and a closet full of clothing.
Reeves stated he did not have anything against homeless people and did not have a plan to hurt anybody. Additionally, three character witnesses testified Reeves was a good, honest person, was not violent, and never said negative things about homeless people.
A clinical and forensic psychologist testified Reeves's lack of memory of the assaults was consistent with a blackout where a person is conscious but cannot form long term memories. According to the psychologist, Reeves likely experienced delusions as a result of his chronic methamphetamine use and lack of sleep. In the psychologist's opinion, Reeves acted irrationally and did not intend to steal from the victims.
Concerning the crimes against Hamilton, the trial court found Reeves guilty of assault, robbery, and first degree felony murder. The trial court found true the special circumstances of robbery-murder and multiple murder. It also concluded the murder was not premeditated.
In support of those verdicts, the trial court found Brooks's testimony that he saw Reeves assault Hamilton compelling. The court acknowledged Hamilton identified his assailant as a Black male, but discredited Hamilton's statements because they "were all over the map." The court attributed the variances in Hamilton's descriptions of the assailant to Hamilton being asleep and awoken to being pummeled.
As to the crimes against Johnson, the trial court found Reeves guilty of robbery and felony murder. Similar to Hamilton's murder, the court found the murder was not premeditated because Reeves was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. However, the trial court concluded Reeves "clearly robbed . . . Johnson" and the murder occurred in the course of the robbery. The court noted video evidence showed Reeves intentionally went through Johnson's belongings, selected certain items, and placed them in the cart he had stolen from Hamilton.
The court concluded there was a pattern to Reeves's crimes. Reeves used force and violence against homeless men and then methodically went through the victims' belongings, selecting the items he wanted. The only difference in the crimes against the three...
To continue reading
Request your trial