People v. Tanks
| Decision Date | 24 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | B304432 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RONALD OTIS TANKS, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No. PA091031, David W. Stuart, Judge.
Sally Patrone Brajevich, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for the Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Analee J. Brodie, Deputy Attorney General for Plaintiff and Respondent.
The jury found defendant and appellant Ronald O. Tanks guilty of attempted premeditated and deliberate murder. (Pen. Code §§ 187, subd. (a)/664 [count 1].)[1] It found true the allegations that in the commission of the crime, Tanks personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim (§ 12022.7, subd. (a)), and personally and intentionally discharged a firearm proximately causing great bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)).
The trial court sentenced Tanks to life with the possibility of parole in count 1, plus 25 years to life for the section 12022.53, subdivision (d) enhancement, plus 3 years for the great bodily injury enhancement.
Tanks contends that (1) his attorney's actual conflict of interest requires reversal of his convictions; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to relieve counsel; (3) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence; (4) the trial court erred by admitting his prior conviction while excluding the prior convictions of the victim and his former co-defendant; (5) the trial court erred by admitting evidence of the victim's mental state; (6) the prosecutor delayed in providing exculpatory evidence; (7) the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury; (8) these errors were cumulative; and (9) there are errors in the court's minute order with respect to fines and fees.
We agree with the parties that the minute order dated January 15, 2020, does not properly reflect the trial court's oral pronouncement at sentencing. We order the notations that the trial court imposed a $300 restitution fine (§ 1202.4, subd. (b)), a $300 suspended parole revocation fine (§ 12022.45), a $40 court operations assessment (§ 1465.8, subd. (a)(1)), and a $30 criminal conviction assessment (Gov. Code, § 70737) be stricken from the minute order. In all other respects, we affirm the trial court's judgment.
Prosecution Case at Trial
The victim, Juan Barajas, [2] lived in an apartment with several other people. Barajas knew Tanks because he lived in the same apartment complex. Tanks lived with his girlfriend, Deborah Griffin.
On May 20, 2018, Barajas was in his apartment when Tanks arrived looking for Graciella Salas, who also lived there. Tanks was angry. He yelled at Salas and “tried to hit” her. Barajas told Tanks to leave. Barajas grabbed a baseball bat because he was afraid of Tanks, but he did not hit him or even threaten him with it, “because perhaps he will hit me.” Barajas did not pull a gun on Tanks. Tanks insulted Barajas and left. Barajas believed Tanks disliked him because he thought Barajas was dating Salas.[3]
Later that afternoon, Barajas went to a liquor store and bought alcohol.[4] He drove home quickly, worried that Tanks would return and threaten Salas or another roommate.[5]
Barajas parked his car in the garage. He did not notice that Tanks had followed him inside. When Barajas got out of his car, Tanks approached and pointed a gun at his face. Tanks said he was going to kill Barajas. He pulled the trigger but the gun did not fire.
Barajas threw a can of alcohol at Tanks, but missed. Tanks shot him in the leg and Barajas collapsed. Tanks fired again, hitting Barajas in the shoulder. Tanks fired another bullet into Barajas's car.
Tanks told Barajas, “Open your mouth because I am going to kill you.” He put the gun in Barajas's mouth and pulled the trigger, but the gun was out of bullets. Tanks stood up and got a baseball bat.[6] He beat Barajas with the bat. Barajas raised his arm to shield his head, and Tanks broke Barajas's arm with the bat.
Barajas was hospitalized for four days. His left shoulder was dislocated by the gunshot. Screws were required to repair the bones in his hip.
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Jose Moya arrived at the scene at 5:23 p.m. He observed Dedrick Cook, who looked “scared, ” riding away on a bicycle. Another officer stopped Cook, and Cook admitted he had a gun in his backpack. The gun, a revolver, contained four spent bullet casings. Cook told officers that Tanks had called him and said he was “having some trouble” with someone, and told him to bring a gun. Cook denied having shot anyone, and said he did not know if anyone had been shot. Cook said Tanks and the victim had “got into it about some woman.” Cook offered to show the officers the text messages from Tanks on his phone.
After Cook was arrested, he was placed in a patrol car and interviewed there by Officer Moya. The video of Cook's interview was played at trial. Cook told the officer, “I'm not Tank, ” and “I didn't shoot the dude.” He did not know the victim; he only knew that the victim had arrived in a white car. During the interview, calls and messages from “Tank” came in to Cook's cell phone.
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Erik Peña interviewed Barajas, who identified Tanks as the shooter in a photographic lineup. Barajas testified consistently with the statement of facts above. Officer Peña asked Barajas if he had a gun. Barajas said he did not.
Later that evening, Officer Peña went to Tanks's apartment. Tanks was not there, but his girlfriend, Deborah Griffin, let officers into the apartment to look for him. Officers seized a small black baseball bat leaning against a dresser near the bed, which Griffin stated Tanks brought with him to the apartment that afternoon.
Tanks was arrested four days after the incident, waived his right to remain silent, and was interviewed by Detective Donald Goossens. The video of the interview was played for the jury.
Tanks denied knowing Cook, and denied that Cook gave him a gun to use. Tanks said he went to Barajas's apartment on the morning of the shooting, looking for Salas, who was his girlfriend. “Well, ” he clarified, “another girlfriend I have... in [Barajas's] house.” He went to see Salas and confronted her because she had been “gone all night” and did not answer his calls. As Tanks was “gettin' on her, ” Barajas left the room and returned with a baseball bat. Tanks left the apartment, and Barajas followed him, speaking angrily in Spanish. Barajas told Tanks not to bother his girl, and said that if he saw Tanks again he would kill him. Barajas told Tanks not to talk to Salas or come to the apartment again. Tanks responded, “That's my bitch, ” and, “I talk to my bitch any time I want.”
Approximately 30 minutes later, Tanks was outside the apartment building, talking to Larry Woods and others, when Barajas came out and ran toward him, his hand reaching behind his back. Barajas and Tanks argued. Tanks told Barajas, Barajas pulled out a gun and threatened to kill Tanks. Barajas walked away. Woods and Griffin witnessed the threats. As Barajas passed Griffin on the steps going into the building, he displayed the gun and said, “I'll kill Tank, I'll kill Tank.” Tanks went back to his apartment because he did not want Barajas to shoot him.
When asked about the baseball bat police recovered from Tanks's apartment, Tanks claimed he found the bat on the street. Tanks maintained he did not shoot Barajas, although he heard four shots while he was upstairs in his apartment.
Tanks admitted he texted and called Cook, asking him to come over. Tanks said Barajas “pulled the gun up on [him]” and said, “I'll kill you dead.” According to Tanks, Barajas said this “in front of everybody up there on the street.”
Detective Goossens pressed Tanks for the truth, pointing out the inconsistencies between his story and Cook's. Tanks maintained, “I never shot him.” Tanks said he never had a gun. Tanks said, “I'm telling you the truth.”
While in jail awaiting trial, Tanks made recorded telephone calls to Deborah Griffin. The jail calls were played for the jury.
In one call, Griffin asked Tanks what he wanted her to ask his attorney, who was coming to talk to her. Tanks told Griffin to tell the attorney she had seen Barajas pull a gun on Tanks. When Griffin said, “I wasn't there, ” Tanks replied, “Yeah, well... you are now.” He wanted Griffin to say that “Miss Gloven” had seen Barajas display a gun, and that Barajas was “telling everybody he's gonna kill me.” Tanks also told Griffin to say that Barajas was “going around paying people in the building to intimidate [her] to - to make [her] back up -whatever.”
In another call, Tanks and Griffin discussed a Blythe Street gang member, and whether that person would tell Barajas that “what he's doing is wrong.” Griffin was reluctant to do what Tanks asked her to do.
Tanks repeatedly urged Griffin to give a police report to a gang member called “YT.” He said, Griffin repeatedly cautioned Tanks,
Cook testified at trial, after negotiating a plea and accepting a reduced sentence of nine years for the attempted murder of Barajas and two drug trafficking charges. Cook sold drugs to make...
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