People v. Sandoval

• Court: California Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: George
• Citation: People v. Sandoval, 161 P.3d 1146, 62 Cal.Rptr.3d 588, 41 Cal. 4th 825 (Cal. 2007)
• Decision Date: 19 July 2007
• Docket Number: No. S148917.,S148917.
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Aida SANDOVAL, Defendant and Appellant.

62 Cal.Rptr.3d 588

41 Cal.4th 825

161 P.3d 1146

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Aida SANDOVAL, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S148917.

Supreme Court of California.

July 19, 2007.

Donna L. Harris, under appointment by the Supreme Court, San Diego, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson and Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Kyle S. Brodie, Kristofer Jorstad, Steven D. Matthews, Lance E. Winters, Lawrence M. Daniels, David E. Madeo and Chung L. Mar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Albert C. Locher, Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney (Sacramento) for California District Attorneys Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

GEORGE, C.J.

We granted review to determine whether defendant's Sixth Amendment rights as defined in Cunningham v. California (2007) ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 856, 166 L.Ed.2d 856 (Cunningham) were violated by the imposition of an upper term sentence and, if so, the remedy to which she is entitled. In Cunningham, the United States Supreme Court disagreed with this court's decision in People v. Black (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1238, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 740, 113 P.3d 534 (Black I) and held that California's determinate sentencing law (DSL) violates a defendant's federal constitutional right to a jury trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by assigning to the trial judge, rather than to the jury, the authority to find the facts that render a defendant eligible for an upper term sentence. We conclude that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial was violated and, although harmless error analysis applies to such violations, the error in the present case was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and the case must be remanded for resentencing. For the reasons explained below, we also conclude that upon remand, the trial court may exercise its discretion to impose any of the three terms available for defendant's offense.

I.

Defendant was charged with the premeditated murders of Belen Dircio and Rolando Rojas (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a))¹ and with the attempted premeditated murder of Salvador Ramirez (§§ 664 and 187, subd. (a)). The information alleged that the murders were committed by lying in wait, a special circumstance. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15).) The information also alleged that a principal was armed with a firearm in the commission of all three offenses. A jury convicted defendant of the lesser included offenses of two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter. It returned "not true" findings on the allegations that a principal was armed with a firearm in the commission of each offense. The trial court sentenced defendant to the upper term of 11 years on count one (involving the victim Dircio), a consecutive term of two years on count two (involving the victim Rojas), and a consecutive term of 18 months on count three (involving the victim Ramirez), for a total sentence of 14 years six months.

On appeal defendant argued, among other points, that the trial court's imposition of the upper term sentence on count one violated her federal constitutional right to a jury trial. The Court of Appeal rejected that claim in an unpublished decision, relying upon this court's decision in Black I, supra, 35 Cal.4th 1238, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 740, 113 P.3d 534. Concluding that the trial court incorrectly calculated the term on count three, the appellate court modified the judgment to reflect a sentence of one year on that count, in other respects affirming the judgment. While defendant's petition for review was pending in this court, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in Cunningham, supra, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 856.

II.

Early in the morning of Tuesday, February 4, 2003, defendant Aida Sandoval and codefendant Yessenia Romero (who is not a party to this appeal) were employed at the El Dorado bar in Los Angeles and became involved in an altercation with two other women. Witness Ericka Arellano, who resided nearby, heard screaming and proceeded to the parking lot adjoining the El Dorado, where a crowd had formed. There she observed her uncle, Rolando Rojas, attempt to stop defendant and Romero from fighting with the other women. Defendant was injured in the fight, suffering bruises and cuts to her face. According to Arellano, after the altercation ended defendant blamed Rojas and declared she would summon a gang to kill him.

The next evening, on Wednesday, February 5, 2003, defendant and Romero drove to the El Dorado bar in a van accompanied by several individuals, including Juan Negrete, Miguel Del Rio, and Romero's friend, Mary Gonzales.

That same evening, the victims Rolando Rojas, Salvador Ramirez, and Belen Dircio also were at the bar. All three were wearing hats. From the window of her apartment, Arellano observed defendant and Romero, together with a man, standing near a pay phone outside the front of the El Dorado. About the same time, Los Angeles Police Officer Cesar Guitron was on motorcycle patrol near the El Dorado. Driving past the bar, he noticed defendant and Romero near the front door with some men, including Rojas. While defendant was speaking with Rojas, Negrete approached the group, raised a gun, and fired several shots at Rojas, killing him. Defendant, Romero, and Negrete fled toward the van, which was parked down the street.

When Ramirez and Dircio heard the gunshots outside the bar, they left through the back door. As the two walked through an alley behind the bar, Del Rio shot Dircio and then Ramirez with a rifle. Arellano, who had gone to a pay phone near the El Dorado to call 911, observed this shooting. Dircio died of two gunshot wounds to the head, and Ramirez was hospitalized and treated for his injuries. Investigating officers later found a .22-caliber handgun placed atop the tire of a car parked near the van, and a rifle inside the van.

Defendant and Romero were arrested near the scene of the crime while attempting to enter a taxi. They were interviewed by investigating officers, and the ensuing recorded conversations were played to the jury. In their statements both defendant and Romero admitted that they wanted to have Rojas beaten up. On Wednesday, they had discussed with a gang member their intention to return to the bar. That individual and several of his associates volunteered to join them. Romero told the police that defendant had asked one young man, who was a relative of defendant's, to obtain a gun from defendant's house. Both defendant and Romero stated they did not intend that firearms be used unless necessary for defensive purposes; both believed that at least one of the regular patrons of the bar was armed with a gun. The men initially stayed in the van while defendant, Romero, and Mary entered the bar. Romero admitted in the interview that after observing Rojas in the bar, she sent Mary outside to inform the others that Rojas was the individual who was wearing a hat. Both defendant and Romero told the police that defendant confronted Rojas concerning his role in the altercation that had occurred the previous night. As defendant and Romero were speaking to Rojas in the doorway of the bar, Negrete suddenly appeared with a gun. Defendant shouted "no" just before Negrete shot Rojas, and the two women ran off. As they were running, they heard additional gunshots.

At the trial, it was stipulated that Negrete and Del Rio had been convicted of the murders of Rojas and Dircio and the attempted murder of Ramirez. Defendant did not testify, but Romero testified on her own behalf, providing the following account of the events. She and defendant were employed at the El Dorado, where they were paid to speak to customers, dance with them, and encourage them to buy drinks. According to Romero, the initial altercation on Tuesday began when a woman pulled defendant out of the bar by her hair. While that woman was fighting with defendant on the ground, Romero observed Rojas standing over defendant. Based on his movements and on a wound she subsequently observed on defendant's face, Romero believed that Rojas had struck defendant with a screwdriver. Romero helped defendant to stand up, and Arellano then joined the fight. When they left, defendant's face was swollen and blood was dripping from her neck. The following morning, defendant and Romero decided to return to the El Dorado to recover money that the owner owed Romero and—in the event they encountered the women involved in the altercation with defendant—to fight with them.

Romero testified that as she was attempting to locate the father of her son to accompany her and defendant, she encountered an individual she knew. When he was told about the earlier fight and defendant's and Romero's plan to return to the bar, he and several of his associates volunteered to accompany the two women. Romero did not know all of these individuals, and although she was aware there were guns in the vehicle, she and defendant made it clear that no one was to use a gun. According to Romero, she hoped she could recover the money owed to her and leave the El Dorado without any trouble, but if she and defendant encountered the women involved in the previous altercation the two of them were prepared to fight the others. Romero also denied that defendant ever had mentioned anything about "jumping" Rojas.

Romero further testified that when she and defendant arrived at the El Dorado, the owner declined to pay them the money owed to her and defendant, and attempted to persuade them to remain at the bar and work. She denied telling Mary to inform the others that Rojas was the man wearing a hat; instead she simply identified Rojas to Mary. Subsequently, defendant and Rojas spoke outside the front door of the El Dorado while Romero stood nearby. Negrete then...