People v. Schuller
| Citation | 286 Cal.Rptr.3d 309,72 Cal.App.5th 221 |
| Decision Date | 10 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | C087191 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jason Carl SCHULLER, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals |
David L. Polsky, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris and Xavier Becerra, Attorneys General, Michael P. Farrell, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Daniel B. Bernstein, Supervising Deputy Attorney General and Peter H. Smith, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendant, Jason Carl Schuller, shot his long-time friend, W.T., nine times in the head and set the body on fire. Defendant testified, claiming self-defense, but his trial testimony about what happened leading up to and during the shooting suggested he was delusional and hallucinating. Following a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder in the guilt phase. He was ultimately found legally sane and sentenced to an aggregate term of 50 years to life.
On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter based on imperfect self-defense. He maintains substantial evidence demonstrates he had an actual, albeit unreasonable, belief in the need for self-defense that was not entirely delusional. We agree but find the error harmless.
We affirm.
The night of the murder, W.T.’s daughter, who lived in a separate upstairs unit with her kids, heard banging sounds like metal hitting metal coming from W.T.’s residence. She tried calling W.T. and then heard a very loud noise that shook the house.1 She then saw defendant's car speed off. Her father did not answer her phone calls.
A neighbor testified he heard gunshots coming from W.T.’s residence — a first set of multiple gunshots, "six, ten" and a couple minutes later, a second set of three. He then heard and saw defendant's car speeding off. Seeing smoke coming from the house, the neighbor went inside and found W.T.’s body. After extinguishing the fire, he called 911.
Police dispatched to a report of a drunk driver, ultimately saw and pursued defendant's car for an hour, over a span of 38 miles, running red lights and reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour. After strip spikes were deployed to puncture the car's tires, defendant kept driving for a mile, but he eventually stopped. After an approximately one- hour-long standoff, defendant surrendered after a SWAT team and an armored vehicle were deployed. He was arrested. The semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting was found in the car.
W.T. sustained nine gunshot wounds to the left side of his face and head and post-mortem burns.2 Some of the nine head wounds were "quite closely grouped." Thirteen shell casings were found on the floor in the vicinity of the body.3 A gun case, empty magazine, gas can, and large kitchen knife were found on the kitchen table. There was blood spatter on the walls and floor, but not on the knife. A cell phone belonging to W.T. was found under the table. There was a bullet hole in the phone. The neighbor testified that when he went inside, he could smell gas, the oven door was open, and "the gas was on full," and the burners were on as well.
The neighbor also testified that around January or February, W.T. said he did not want defendant to come around, but did not say why. At some point after that, defendant told the neighbor he was gay and coming out of the closet and he thought his father would be mad at him.4 The neighbor did not believe W.T. was gay.
The defense introduced evidence through defendant's own testimony, the testimony of his sister and two police officers who briefly detained him that he was experiencing delusions and hallucinations while in Nebraska and travelling back to California in the weeks before the murder.
These included that he was being shot at and attacked with Ninja stars, but was protected by "the light." During his testimony, defendant explained that "the light" was a gift from God that protected him from harm and, when shared with others, would make them better. He also testified that demons were trying to steal the light and misuse it.
Defendant testified that when he returned to California, he went straight to W.T.’s house. Defendant testified that after arriving there, they each drank two or three beers5 and a couple of shots and took a couple of hits of concentrated THC, while defendant told W.T. about his trip. At one point, defendant shared the light with him. Defendant testified that W.T. looked surprised and said to people outside the window, "Yes, it is him."
Defendant testified that he then took a shower and, while showering, heard five "subtle" gunshots and saw a misty figure. He subsequently asked W.T. if he had shot at him, but W.T. seemed confused and ignored the question.
Later, W.T. brought out a gun and put it in a case by the kitchen table. It was defendant's gun that he had been storing at W.T.’s house. W.T. asked defendant to take it with him when he left, and defendant planned to do so.
W.T. then asked defendant to share the light again. Defendant testified that W.T. expressed a fondness for children and defendant thought the light would "cleanse" that evil out. Normally when defendant would share the light it would return to him. On this occasion, however, W.T. then looked outside, and smiling, said, " ‘See, I told you I could take it from him.’ "
Defendant testified W.T. then got a knife from a kitchen drawer. Defendant tried to leave through some French doors, but they wouldn't open. He then ran to the kitchen table to put something between him and W.T. Defendant testified that W.T. then approached and "went to stab at me," but "when he was in the air he couldn't get any closer" apparently because there was a large white angel there protecting defendant. Defendant grabbed the gun from the table, pointed it at W.T., and said, " " W.T. nodded yes. Defendant said he put the gun down and said sarcastically something like, " ‘Yeah, right dude... ha, ha, You're not Lucifer.’ "
Defendant testified, "[a]s soon as I set the gun down he went for the gun and raised the knife and tried like that6 and I remember just picking it back up and taking a step or two back and pulled the trigger." Defendant testified he fired just one shot, striking W.T. in the head. W.T. fell to the floor and the knife fell out of his hand. Defendant testified he was in fear for his life when W.T. came at him with the knife.
Defendant testified, "I remembered walking, saw him at the side of the table." He asked W.T. why he did that. W.T. pushed himself up and said something to defendant like "You f'd up" or "You f'er." Describing W.T.’s movement defendant said, "It was all like one motion like push yourself up, getting to your knees, grabbing something at the same time." (RT 1141) Defendant testified, "I don't remember if he grabbed the knife and somehow it got back on the table but he was like pushing himself up." At that point, defendant jumped back and shot W.T. five more times in the head.
Defendant testified he sat on a chair, confused about what had just happened. He then tried to use W.T.’s house phone to call 911, but it was not working. Next, he tried to use W.T.’s cell phone, but was having trouble unlocking it. At the same time, the cell phone was ringing, "It just didn't stop."
Defendant testified he heard a gasp and W.T.’s dentures then flew out of his mouth. That scared defendant and he "jumped back in the chair and pulled the trigger three more times," but he did not see the bullets hit W.T.’s head. Defendant noticed the slide on the gun was back. He testified, "I remember dropping the magazine out, putting another one in and letting the slide slide forward one more in the chamber."
Defendant testified he continued to try to use W.T.’s cell phone, but it would not stop ringing, so he shot it. He recalled shooting at it three times and hitting it on the third shot.
As he was about to leave, defendant testified he saw W.T.’s body convulsing with demons swirling around it. He started to run out the door and noticed a gas can by a weedeater. He decided to "kill the demon or Lucifer [and] send it to hell" by setting the body on fire. He doused the body with gasoline, lit a cigarette, took a few "drags" from the cigarette and then set the body on fire.7
Defendant then drove away, planning to go Monterey, which is where he had planned to go after leaving W.T.’s house. He eventually noticed a helicopter and police cars chasing him. He testified that when he was surrounded by police, he shared "the light" with himself, and voluntarily surrendered since he believed the police could not get any closer.
On cross-examination, defendant testified that when he first pointed the gun at W.T. and asked if he was Lucifer, W.T. was holding the knife to his side. Defendant testified that he put the gun on the table and he began to walk toward the front door in the living room. He said he "just wanted to leave." Defendant testified that it was at that point that W.T. raised the knife again and then reached for the gun on the table. Although he was leaving, defendant testified, he "kind of came back at the same time like I knew I couldn't get out of there without getting stabbed." He said he was able to get the gun because he was closer. At that moment, W.T. lunged toward defendant with the knife and defendant shot him.
Also on cross, when the prosecutor asked if the killing had something "to do with some type of gay issue," defendant responded, "Absolutely not." He denied it had anything to do with W.T. rebuffing his advances. He also denied being gay, and having told a neighbor he was gay. When asked if he had initially told police he shot W.T....
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