People v. Stutelberg
| Decision Date | 21 November 2018 |
| Docket Number | D073266 |
| Citation | 240 Cal.Rptr.3d 156,29 Cal.App.5th 314 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Nathaniel Shane STUTELBERG, Defendant and Appellant. |
Ava R. Stralla, 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, Michael Pulos and Michael D. Butera, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
After a heated exchange outside a bar, defendant Nathaniel Stutelberg jabbed a box cutter at Michelle S. and Chris L., lacerating Michelle's head but not injuring Chris. Among other things, the jury convicted Stutelberg of mayhem with a deadly weapon enhancement as to Michelle ( Pen. Code, §§ 203, 12022, subd. (b)(1) )1 and assault with a deadly weapon as to Chris (§ 245, subd. (a)(1) ). The sole issue on appeal is whether erroneous jury instructions defining a "deadly weapon" require reversal of either of Stutelberg's convictions.
As to the offense against Michelle, we conclude the instructional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We have no difficulty deciding from the record that the jury would have reached the same verdict but for the error. We reach a different result as to the crime involving Chris. Stutelberg's use of the box cutter in that encounter is more nebulous, and on the record before us we cannot conclude that the instructional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we reverse his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in count 3 but otherwise affirm the judgment.
Stutelberg arrived at a bar one evening, intoxicated and wearing no shirt. He was yelling and arguing with the bouncer and assistant manager, who were denying him entry into the bar. A few minutes later, Stutelberg retreated from the bar but continued to yell at the bouncer and assistant manager while standing next to his friend's car. Michelle, a bar patron, approached the female passenger sitting in the parked car. She urged the woman to take Stutelberg home to prevent police from being called. In response, the woman left the car and ran towards Michelle, who held out her right hand and told the woman to "back up."
Michelle's friend Chris and Missael O., a bar employee, walked toward Michelle. Stutelberg started "flicking" a box cutter toward their faces. Chris yelled that he saw a knife. Stutelberg swung a fist at Chris but missed. Michelle grabbed Stutelberg and pushed him into a light pole. Stutelberg punched Michelle and cut the back of her head with the box cutter.
The San Diego County District Attorney charged Stutelberg by amended information with aggravated mayhem against Michelle (§ 205, count 1), attempted aggravated mayhem against Chris (§§ 205, 664, count 2), assault with a deadly weapon against Chris (§ 245, subd. (a)(1), count 3), attempted aggravated mayhem against Missael (§§ 205, 664, count 4), and assault with a deadly weapon against Missael (§ 245, subd. (a)(1), count 5). Counts 1, 2, and 4 carried an enhancement for personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon ( § 12022, subd. (b)(1) ). All five counts were classified as "serious" felonies under section 1192.7, subdivision (c)(23) based on Stutelberg's alleged personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon. Count 1 was additionally classified as a serious felony based on the allegation Stutelberg personally inflicted great bodily injury on Michelle (§ 1192.7, subd. (c)(8) ).
The jury convicted Stutelberg of mayhem ( § 203 ), a lesser included offense of count 1 against Michelle and found true the deadly weapon enhancement and great bodily injury and deadly weapon allegations attached to that count. It also convicted him of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)(1) ) on count 3 against Chris, finding the deadly weapon allegation true. It acquitted on counts 2, 4, and 5.
The court sentenced Stutelberg to a three-year prison term on count 1, consisting of the two-year low term plus a year for the deadly weapon enhancement. It imposed a concurrent two-year low term sentence on count 3.
To consider the assault with a deadly weapon charge in count 3 and the deadly weapon enhancement in count 1, the jury had to determine whether the box cutter Stutelberg used was a deadly weapon. The court instructed jurors under CALCRIM No. 875, the assault instruction, in part that:
"A deadly weapon other than a firearm is any object, instrument, or weapon that is inherently deadly or one that is used in such a way that it is capable of causing and likely to cause death or great bodily injury."
It also provided the jury with CALCRIM No. 3145 as to the enhancement, which contained similar language:
These instructions are flawed because they suggest the jury might properly conclude that a box cutter is inherently dangerous. A box cutter, however, is not an inherently deadly weapon as a matter of law. ( People v. McCoy (1944) 25 Cal.2d 177, 188, 153 P.2d 315.) For the jury to properly find that Stutelberg used a deadly weapon under the facts of this case, it would have needed to rely on the second theory—that he used the box cutter in a way capable of causing and likely to cause death or great bodily injury.
The parties do not dispute that the inclusion of language regarding an "inherently deadly weapon" in CALCRIM No. 3145 was instructional error.
Instead, they disagree on whether the error was prejudicial. That narrow question turns on a two-step inquiry: (1) whether the error was factual error or legal error; and (2) what prejudice standard applies.
As we explain, the instructional error in this case is legal in nature, and we therefore employ the traditional Chapman standard to evaluate prejudice. ( Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 ( Chapman ).) Applying that standard to Stutelberg's convictions, we conclude the error was harmless as to his conviction in count 1 involving Michelle but prejudicial as to his conviction in count 3 involving Chris. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of conviction as to count 3 and remand for further proceedings.
As noted, the jury in this case should not have been instructed on an "inherently dangerous" weapon. The only weapon involved in the case was a box cutter, and it is not inherently dangerous as a matter of law. The threshold question is whether this error was factual or legal. Stutelberg contends the error was legal, whereas the People claim the error was factual. We conclude Stutelberg is correct.
A legal error is an incorrect statement of law, whereas a factual error is an otherwise valid legal theory that is not supported by the facts or evidence in a case. ( People v. Guiton (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1116, 1125, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 365, 847 P.2d 45 ( Guiton ).) Between the two, legal error requires a more stringent standard for prejudice, for jurors are presumed to be less able to identify and ignore an incorrect statement of law due to their lack of formal legal training. ( Id. at p. 1125, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 365, 847 P.2d 45, quoting Griffin v. United States (1991) 502 U.S. 46, 59, 112 S.Ct. 466, 116 L.Ed.2d 371.) Factual errors, on the other hand, are less likely to be prejudicial because jurors are generally able to evaluate the facts of a case and ignore factually inapplicable theories. ( Guiton , at p. 1125, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 365, 847 P.2d 45, quoting Griffin , at p. 59, 112 S.Ct. 466.)
The People argue the error was factual because the jury was simply given otherwise correct instructions about a legal theory that was inapplicable to the facts of the case. In other words, because a box cutter is not inherently dangerous, the jury was presented with a factually inapplicable theory even though the instruction may have been a correct statement of law in the abstract.
We disagree. An "inherently deadly or dangerous" weapon is a term of art describing objects that are deadly or dangerous in "the ordinary use for which they are designed," that is, weapons that have no practical nondeadly purpose. ( People v. Perez (2018) 4 Cal.5th 1055, 1065, 232 Cal.Rptr.3d 51, 416 P.3d 42.) But the jurors were never provided with this definition, and they could reasonably classify a box cutter, which is sharp and used for cutting, as inherently dangerous based on the common understanding of the term. This amounts to legal, rather than factual, error.
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