People v. Taylor
| Decision Date | 19 March 2012 |
| Docket Number | C064852 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CURTIS WAYNE TAYLOR et al., Defendants and Appellants. |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
Defendants Curtis Wayne Taylor and Beau Houston Gray assaulted Travis Smith, causing Smith to suffer a traumatic brain injury. Smith was hospitalized for eight days and died less than 48 hours after being discharged. Between the time he left the hospital and his death, Smith consumed alcohol and medication that had not been prescribed for him despite being told not to do so by his physician.
Following a joint trial, a jury found defendants not guilty of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a))1 or torture (§ 206) but guilty of second degree murder and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)). The jury also found true an allegation defendants inflicted great bodily injury during the commission of the assault. (§ 1192.7, subd. (c)(8).)2 In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found true allegations Taylor had a prior strike conviction (§ 1170.12), served two prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)), and was released on bail when he committed the assault (§ 12022.1).
The trial court sentenced Gray to an aggregate term of 19 years to life in state prison, consisting of 15 years to life for murder, plus a consecutive 4 years (the upper term) for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The court sentenced Taylor to an aggregate term of 42 years and 8 months to life in prison, consisting of 30 years to life (15 years to life doubled for the prior strike) for murder, a consecutive 8 years (the upper term doubled for the prior strike) for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, plus a consecutive 2 years for the bail enhancement, a consecutive 2 years for the 2 prior prison terms, and aconsecutive 8 months (one-third the middle term) on an unrelated matter.
Defendants appeal, contending the trial court prejudicially erred in failing to sua sponte instruct the jury on independent intervening causation, sua sponte instruct the jury on unanimity as to the assault charge, or stay their sentences for assault under section 654.3 They also assert that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing argument, and that they received ineffective assistance of counsel. In addition, Taylor claims the admission of Gray's redacted confession violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him, and there was insufficient evidence to support the court's finding that he had a prior strike conviction.
We shall conclude that the trial court erred in refusing to stay defendants' sentences for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, modify the judgments to stay defendants' sentences for that offense, and affirm the judgments as modified.
On June 8, 2008, defendants spent the day drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at the Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park with 14-year old T.D., 18-year old Tabitha Bigger, Shane Venzke, and others.
At some point T.D. left with the victim Smith, who was "extremely drunk," and two others to get more alcohol. According to T.D., Smith touched her "butt" as she was getting into the car and, once inside, touched her hand and told her she was pretty. Word of Smith's alleged touching quickly spread throughout the trailer park.
After returning from the store, Smith went to the home of Jimmy Jones, who also lived in the trailer park, and told Jones that "[t]hose people down at the trailer park think I touched that little girl." Jones asked Smith whether he had touched her, and Smith said, "No." Smith purchased some methamphetamine from a woman at Jones' home and snorted a line or so that night.
Later that evening, Jones and Smith were approached by defendants as they walked along a canal near the trailer park. T.D., Venzke, and Bigger were also present. Taylor punched Smith in the face, and Smith fell to the ground, striking his head. While Smith was on the ground, Gray stomped on his head. Jones asked Taylor why he attacked Smith, and Taylor said it was because Smith was a child molester. Defendants left Smith unconscious and bleeding, returned to the trailer park, and continued partying.
Less than an hour later, defendants returned to Smith, who remained on the ground where he had been beaten. Taylor asked Smith whether he was going to touch little girls again, and Smith said, "Yeah." Taylor then slapped him. Taylor again asked Smith whether he was going to touch little girls, and Smith said, "Fuck yeah." Taylor then punched or kicked Smith,while Gray stomped on his head "really hard" with the entire weight of his body. Defendants emptied Smith's pockets, taking his wallet, marijuana, methamphetamine, and possibly a ring. Defendants left Smith unconscious and went to Jones' home. They had methamphetamine when they arrived. Jones tasted the methamphetamine and identified it as the same methamphetamine his friend sold to Smith earlier that evening.
Approximately 20 minutes later, defendants again returned to Smith. As Smith attempted to move, Taylor began punching him in the face, while Gray stomped on his head and chest. Smith pleaded with defendants to stop. When defendants were finished, Smith was barely able to speak. Taylor urinated on his head.
Defendants told T.D. and Bigger not to call an ambulance or 911 and not to tell the police anything about defendants' involvement if questioned. If they did, Taylor said "he would know who did it and something would be done." Taylor asked Gray to take Smith home so he did not die where he lay, and Gray told Taylor that Smith "could lay there and die for all he cared."
Early the next morning, T.D. walked by the scene of the beatings, and Smith remained there unconscious. Defendants also were there. Taylor was cleaning off the fence near where the beatings took place, while Gray stood around. At approximately 6:30 a.m., a mountain biker saw Smith and asked a resident of the trailer park to call for help.
Ten to fifteen minutes later, a Redding police officer arrived and found Smith unconscious next to the fence. Smith's eye was swollen and discolored, and he had blood running fromhis nose. Smith told the officer he had fallen during the night and injured himself. Smith smelled like alcohol and had trouble standing. The officer called an ambulance, and Smith was taken to the hospital.
Smith was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit. He had multiple intracerebral contusions and an "altered level of consciousness." He also appeared to be suffering from acute alcohol withdrawal. He remained in the hospital for eight days. When he was released on June 16, 2008, his discharge papers did not say that he should refrain from consuming alcohol; however, Dr. Ashok Jain, the consulting neurosurgeon on Smith's case, told Smith and Smith's sister that Smith should not consume alcohol or take any medication without Dr. Jain's knowledge.
After being released, Smith stayed with his sister. He was unusually quiet, complained that his head hurt, and said he wanted to lie down. His wife visited him at his sister's home on June 17, 2008, the day after he was released from the hospital. Smith told her that he "wanted to go into a rehab because he was going to die if he continued to drink . . . ." He also complained of pain in his head. Smith was unusually quiet during her visit.
Later that evening, Smith drank beer with a friend, who observed that Smith "wasn't himself." Smith "collapsed, fell down" on his way to the restroom. He was not finishing his sentences and was jumping from topic to topic. He also appeared pale. His friend left around 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. Smith'ssister's boyfriend last saw Smith at 11:30 p.m.; he was the last person to see Smith alive. Smith's sister discovered Smith's body the following morning, June 18, 2008, at approximately 7:00 a.m. There were several empty 12-ounce beer cars and three empty 32-ounce beer cans near Smith's body.
Later that day Gray was interviewed by Officer Todd Cogle of the Redding Police Department. When asked what he was doing on June 8, 2008, before Smith was assaulted, Gray said he was drinking in the trailer park with a couple of "chicks" when Smith walked through, and one of the "chicks" started "freaking out," saying that Smith had molested her. Gray asked Smith if he was going to stop touching little girls. Gray initially said that Smith pulled out a knife and attempted to cut him, and that he kicked Smith in the head. Later, Gray acknowledged Smith did not pull a knife on him and confirmed that when Smith attempted to get up, Gray kicked him back down. Gray said that Smith was "hurting" but still talking when Gray left. Gray returned to Smith two or three times during the course of the night, and Smith was beaten each time. After Gray returned the second time, Smith was badly beaten; he had blood coming out of his nose and mouth, and his eyes were so swollen he could not see out of them. Gray said Smith received 100 blows over the course of the evening but later gave different estimates.
Dr. Susan Comfort, a forensic pathologist with the Shasta County Sheriff's Coroner System, performed a postmortem examination of Smith's body hours after it was discovered. She found several skull fractures. ...
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