People v. Rogers
Decision Date | 28 August 2013 |
Docket Number | No. S080840.,S080840. |
Citation | 159 Cal.Rptr.3d 626,304 P.3d 124,57 Cal.4th 296 |
Court | California Supreme Court |
Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Glen ROGERS, Defendant and Appellant. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
William Hassler, McKinleyville, under appointment by the Supreme Court; and Michael J. Hersek, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and Kamala D. Harris, Attorneys General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, John R. Gorey, G. Tracey Letteau and Keith H. Borjon, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
A jury convicted defendant Glen Rogers of the first degree murder of Sandra Gallagher (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a)),1 and arson of property (§ 451, subd. (d)). One special circumstance was found true; that defendant was previously convicted of first degree murder. ( § 190.2, subd. (a)(2) [prior-murder-conviction special circumstance].) Following a penalty trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. The trial court denied the automatic motion to modify the penalty verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)) and imposed the death sentence for the murder and a determinate term of two years for the arson conviction. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm the judgment in its entirety.
A. Introduction
On September 29, 1995, defendant Glen Rogers, a drifter from Ohio who had frequented McRed's bar in Van Nuys for several weeks, picked up Sandra Gallagher at the bar and strangled her to death several hours later, burning her body in the passenger compartment of her pickup truck. Defendant fled from California to Mississippi,2 then to Bossier City, Louisiana, where, on November 2, 1995, he picked up Andy Lou Sutton at the It'll Do Lounge. Defendant spent the night with Sutton in her apartment and left the following day, telling her he had to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to retrieve a truck, but would return. Instead, defendant traveled to Tampa, Florida, where, on November 5, he picked up Tina Cribbs at the Showtown bar in Gibsonton, on the outskirts of Tampa. Defendant took Cribbs to his Tampa motel room where he stabbed her to death that same day. The following day defendant, driving Cribbs's car, returned to Sutton's apartment in Bossier City, Louisiana. The next night, on or about November 7, defendant stabbed Sutton to death in the bedroom of her apartment.
Defendant fled in Cribbs's car from Louisiana through Tennessee to Kentucky, where he was ultimately apprehended by Kentucky state police after a high-speed pursuit through several towns.
B. Prosecution Evidence.1. Defendant murders Sandra Gallagher in Van Nuys.
On September 28, 1995, Sandra Gallagher, age 33, had lunch with her husband Stephen at a restaurant in West Los Angeles. Gallagher was happy, as she had won approximately $1,200 in the state lottery. She showed her husband the lottery ticket claim form, indicating she was going to the lottery office to submit the form. Gallagher was driving a black and silver Ford F–150 pickup truck with Colorado license plates she had obtained from her recently deceased father, who lived in Colorado. Her husband testified she was wearing a pair of distinctive earrings she had purchased from a Ross department store. An employee at the California State Lottery office in Van Nuys testified Gallagher came into the office that afternoon to claim her $1,279 in prize winnings.
In September 1995, Mamdouh Saliman owned McRed's bar on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys. McRed's was a full service bar that served all varieties of drinks. Saliman also owned CJ's, another bar on Victory Boulevard, one block west of McRed's, that only served beer and wine. Saliman went to McRed's on the afternoon of September 28. When he parked his car, he noticed a truck with Colorado license plates in the parking lot. Around 3:00 or 4:00 p.m., Gallagher walked into McRed's and said hello to Saliman, asking, “Don't you remember me?” Saliman, who remembered Gallagher because she had previously been a host at one of his other bars, replied, “I remember your face, but I don't recall your name.” Gallagher told Saliman her nickname, “Sam,” and he gave her a hug. Gallagher told Saliman she had won a lottery prize. When he asked where she had been, she replied that she had moved to Colorado after she left her employment with him.
Rein Keener worked as a bartender at McRed's in September 1995. Keener arrived at work at between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on September 28 and noticed a truck with Colorado license plates parked in the lot. Upon entering the bar, Keener saw Gallagher standing with Saliman, who called her over and introduced her to Gallagher. Saliman told Keener that Gallagher used to live in the neighborhood and that she was a “really nice gal.” He asked Keener to look after Gallagher and “steer [her] away from the loser leeches” at the bar. After Saliman left the bar, Keener ate dinner and Gallagher played pool. At one point the two began conversing and Gallagher told Keener her father had passed away and that she had just gotten back from Colorado. Gallagher also told Keener she had just won the lottery and was planning to go to Sacramento the following day to see her three sons.
At approximately 7:00 p.m. that evening, defendant arrived at McRed's. He had recently become a frequent customer of the bar, showing up two or three times a week during the latter part of September 1995. The first time defendant patronized McRed's, he approached Keener and asked for her phone number. Keener told defendant she did not go out with men she did not know. Defendant showed up at McRed's during each of Keener's shifts for the next three weeks, repeatedly asking for her phone number. During one conversation with defendant, Keener told him she was in law school and wanted to be a prosecutor. Defendant responded that he thought women made “lousy prosecutors.” He produced a laminatedbadge and claimed he worked for the government and traveled from state to state “looking for people.” Keener did not believe defendant and felt he was just trying to impress her. Defendant began buying roses for Keener from a flower lady who frequented the bar. He also tried to impress her by pulling out what appeared to be “wads of hundred dollar bills” and buying drinks for everyone in the bar.
When defendant entered McRed's on the evening in question he was wearing cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a brown leather belt with “a fancy cowboy-style buckle.” His bleached-blond hair was long and feathered, and he had a neatly trimmed beard and moustache. He approached Gallagher, who “brushed him off” and continued to play pool. Defendant then left the bar. Gallagher's husband testified she called him at around 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. to tell him she was at McRed's and was thinking of staying and singing with the band.
On September 28, 1995, Cristina Walker and her boyfriend, Michael Flynn, were staying at defendant's apartment at 6645 Woodman Avenue. Walker and Flynn had moved into defendant's apartment a few days earlier after he had offered to rent them his spare bedroom. September 28 was Flynn's birthday, and he, Walker and defendant had made plans to meet that evening to celebrate. Walker and Flynn drove to CJ's bar and subsequently met defendant in front of the bar. Walker was driving her car and had her two dogs with her. Defendant, Walker and Flynn stayed at CJ's for approximately one and one-half to two hours. While there, Walker had two beers and defendant and Flynn each had approximately four beers. When Walker indicated she liked “mixed drinks,” defendant told her he knew a bar up the street that served cocktails. Walker told defendant she was not yet 21 years of age. Defendant told her not to worry, stating he would tell the bartender (Keener), whom he knew “real well,” that she was his sister. Defendant told Walker he had spent prior weekends with Keener and was planning on spending the upcoming weekend with her. Walker drove the short distance to McRed's, where the three arrived at approximately 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. When they arrived the bar was crowded. When Keener saw defendant arrive she gave him an “irritated look.” Defendant told Keener that Walker was his sister and the three ordered drinks.
At some point in the evening defendant asked Keener for a ride home, stating that because he worked for the government he “couldn't get caught with a DUI.” Keener declined. Shortly afterwards, defendant approached her again, “pinned” her up against the door to the storage room, and put his arm around her back, “trying to be kissy and huggy.” Defendant told Keener, “I always get what I want.” Keener ducked out of defendant's reach and went back to work.
Later in the evening defendant pointed to Gallagher, commenting to Walker and Flynn that he thought she was “cool” and “pretty.” Defendant announced that he was going to buy Gallagher a drink and approached her table. Walker saw Gallagher look up at defendant with a “big smile” on her face. Gallagher then turned toward Walker and Flynn and invited them to join her and defendant at her table in front of the band. Gallagher introduced herself and defendant began ordering drinks for everyone at the table. Thereafter, Gallagher joined the group “off and on,” playing pool and then returning to the table whenever defendant ordered more drinks.
Sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m., Gallagher sat down with defendant, Walker, and Flynn, and remained with the group for the rest of the evening. Defendant had had approximately six to eight beers; Flynn approximately three to four beers. Walker was served approximately three to four mixed drinks, and Gallagher was drinking vodka and grapefruit juice. Keener testified that after three rounds, she began diluting Gallagher's drinks because she was watching out for her. Between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m., Keener “c...
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