People v. Shiga
| Decision Date | 29 November 2016 |
| Docket Number | B256009 |
| Citation | 210 Cal.Rptr.3d 611,6 Cal.App.5th 22 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gregory Yusuke SHIGA, Defendant and Appellant. |
Stephen M. Hinkle, Oceanside, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Russell A. Lehman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendant Gregory Yusuke Shiga appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after a jury trial. The case arose out of a single incident on April 15, 2011, in which defendant set fire to St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights (St. John Vianney), and the fire spread to the rectory where priests were sleeping.
Defendant was subsequently charged with aggravated arson (Pen. Code, § 451.5, subd. (a) ), arson of a structure (id ., § 451, subd. (c)), possession of flammable material (id ., § 453, subd. (a)), second degree burglary (id ., § 459), and arson of an inhabited structure (id ., § 451, subd. (b)). The information further alleged various conduct and status enhancements.
On appeal, defendant challenges the trial court's findings that he was competent to represent himself and competent to stand trial. He also challenges his convictions for arson of a structure and arson of an inhabited structure on the ground they are lesser included offenses to aggravated arson. Finally, he raises sentencing issues. We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
On April 15, 2011, defendant set fire to St. John Vianney. The fire quickly spread to the roof of a two-story rectory, which was adjacent to the church separated by a 20-foot breezeway. The rectory served as the living quarters for several priests. Two of the priests were sleeping in the rectory when the fire started. One was awakened by the sound of glass shattering. He looked out his window, saw that the church was engulfed in flames, and saw the flames had traveled to the rectory and were within five feet from his bedroom window. He woke another priest in the rectory, made sure everyone got out of the building safely, and called 911. Once outside, the priest saw the roof above his bedroom, as well as above another priest's bedroom, was on fire.
When members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department initially arrived, the entire main building of the church, which was approximately 80 feet wide, 200 feet long, and 60 feet tall, was completely engulfed in flames. The flames rose 50 to 60 feet above the church roof line, and the roof and eaves of the rectory were on fire. Firefighters could not save any portion of the church.1 By morning the fire had been mostly extinguished, although firefighters were still extinguishing spot fires.
Investigators determined that an accelerant had been used, helping to ignite the fire and causing the fire to spread and burn quickly. The debris from the area around the altar contained rolls of toilet paper, which had been saturated with a medium petroleum distillate. On one side of the church, every other window had been opened, which provided more oxygen for the fire and allowed it to grow at a faster rate.
After the fire, several individuals informed law enforcement of encounters they had with defendant in the days and weeks before the fire. Defendant's former grade school teacher told authorities that defendant had visited her at her school approximately two weeks before the fire. Defendant asked the former teacher why a statue at St. John Vianney, which depicted Christ on the cross, seemed to be suffering so much, but the rest of the church was so beautiful. He talked about the Catholic church having a lot of money and having done a lot of bad things.
A member of St. John Vianney stated that on the afternoon of April 6, 2011, an Asian male came into a bible study team meeting at the church and questioned her and other women present at the meeting for approximately 15 minutes, asking questions such as where in the Bible does it talk about the Pope and where does it authorize the building of a Catholic church. When the church member suggested the man go talk to the pastor, the man declined and told her she needed to repent for her sins.
One of the priests also observed an Asian male walking down a hallway inside the priests' private residence. The man walked past the priest then disappeared from view. Later, the priest saw the same man standing outside looking at the roof of the church.
About mid-day on the day of the fire, a church member saw an Asian male walk up a side aisle and stop to look at the floor area behind a statue in the church and various other areas inside the sanctuary before eventually leaving.
At about 11:00 p.m. the same day, three youths were riding their skateboards around the church parking lot. An Asian male was sitting in his car, which was parked in the lot. The man got out of the car, walked over to the boys, told them to leave the property, and walked back to his car. The boys initially ignored the man and continued riding their skateboards, but left when the man came back over to them about 10 minutes later and told them to leave a second time.
Defendant's former school teacher, some of the women who attended the April Bible study team meeting at St. John Vianney, and two of the youths who were skateboarding in the church parking lot on the night of the fire were shown a photographic lineup containing defendant's picture. Several of these witnesses identified defendant from the photographic line-up.
Video footage from a surveillance camera inside the sanctuary area of the church also recorded a man, later identified as defendant, lighting a fire at the left side of the altar at approximately 11:54 p.m. on April 15, 2011.
On May 14, 2012, defendant was arrested. He was taken to the Norwalk sheriff's station, where an undercover detective, posing as an inmate, went into defendant's cell wearing an audio recording device to see if defendant would make any statements about the fire.
Defendant told the undercover detective, "I burned a church." Defendant stated that the fire "wasn't an accident," but he "didn't think people could get hurt." He said he had been to the church before and was pretty sure the priests were doing bad things to children. He "thought if I did that it would stop and the word would get around and they'll stop."
Defendant explained that he obtained the items used to start the fire by stealing a weed sprayer with a backpack attachment, Pine-Sol, toilet paper and a tiki torch from a Home Depot. He went to the church the day before to scope it out, and left a couple of windows open so that he could get back into the church. The night of the fire, defendant parked in the church parking lot, saw some people in the parking lot, and told them to leave. He entered the church through a window. Once inside the church, he opened "a couple windows" because "a fire needs air." Defendant put on the backpack weed sprayer and put toilet paper by the cross and the drapes. He "sprayed them all," "sprayed the ceiling and [he] thought [he] sprayed everything." Defendant lit the tiki torch and used it to light the toilet paper rolls and the drapes. After the fire started, he went back to his car and left.
Defendant said he was not scared because he had visited Catholic churches and every time he went he "saw statues and [he] could get a lot of information out of them." He said that he saw Defendant also realized that
Defendant also stated, "I did it because I was there and then I saw a girl go inside the ... concession stand and then I was like ‘whoa that can't happen’ and then I kinda got mad and then—you know people just become protective." Defendant stated, "I wasn't trying to do anything to the priests I just thought if I do this it won't happen again and then the word will also spread and if the word spreads and its knowledge then it won't happen."
Defendant was subsequently interviewed by two investigating officers. After waiving his Miranda2 rights, defendant told the officers he did not try to kill the priests. Defendant stated he entered the rectory because he wanted to find out where the molestation occurred. He thought that "if this happened, the news will spread and that it would stop." He burned the church at night so that no one would be there and no one would get hurt.
Later, defendant asked the officers if he could One of the officers explained the trial procedure. Defendant asked how long a trial takes and "if I want a speedy trial, I ask for it at preliminary?" The officer told defendant,
After defendant was returned to his cell, he told the undercover detective, "I'm going to try to do a speedy trial but I doubt ... the district attorney will allow me to do a speedy trial." This was because "[t]hey have DNA evidence on the toilet paper and stuff."
Defendant and the undercover detective also talked about a priest who almost did not get out of the rectory during the fire. Defendant said, ...
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