People v. Thomas

• Decision Date: 26 January 2023
• Docket Number: S161781
• Citation: 523 P.3d 323,304 Cal.Rptr.3d 1,14 Cal. 5th 327
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Justin Heath THOMAS, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

14 Cal.5th 327

523 P.3d 323

304 Cal.Rptr.3d 1

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.Justin Heath THOMAS, Defendant and Appellant.

S161781

Supreme Court of California.

January 26, 2023

John L. Staley, San Diego, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Holly D. Wilkens, Robin Urbanski, Ronald A. Jakob and Michael D. Butera, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Opinion of the Court by Cantil-Sakauye, J.^*

DefendantJustin Heath Thomas shot and killed Rafael Noriega in Riverside County in September 1992.Defendant was not immediately apprehended.He moved to Texas in 1994 and, less than one year later, stabbed and killed Regina Hartwell.He was convicted in a Texas court of Hartwell's murder and sentenced to life in prison.California law enforcement officials later identified defendant as a suspect in Noriega's death.In 2001, the Riverside County District Attorney filed an information charging defendant with Noriega's murder.

A Riverside County jury subsequently convicted defendant of the first degree murder of Noriega ( Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) ),¹ and found true the special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed while defendant was engaged in the commission of a robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A)).In a bifurcated proceeding, the jury also found true the special circumstance allegation that defendant was previously convicted of Hartwell's murder.(§ 190.2, subd. (a)(2).)The jury returned a verdict of death.Defendant moved for modification of his sentence to life without the possibility of parole.(§ 190.4, subd. (e).)The trial court denied the motion and sentenced him to death.Defendant's appeal is automatic.(§ 1239, subd. (b).)We affirm the judgment in its entirety.

I.FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A.Guilt Phase Evidence

1.Prosecution evidence

a. The killing of Rafael Noriega

In 1992, defendant was involved in distributing crystal methamphetamine in Moreno Valley, California.He obtained the narcotics from Rafael Noriega and supplied them to Dorothy Lee Brown, who in turn sold the drugs.²Defendant's uncle, Andy Anchondo, managed a ranch outside Moreno Valley.Defendant kept his methamphetamine supply at the ranch and stayed there on occasion.

On September 14, 1992, Noriega received a call on his pager when he was at home.After Noriega responded to the page, he had a discussion with his roommates Robert Manzano and Michelle Barajas.Both warned Noriega not to deal with the person who paged him; Manzano suggested that Noriega bring a revolver for protection.Barajas tried to stop defendant from leaving.Noriega said he would return, and left.

Defendant planned to meet Noriega in the foothills of Moreno Valley early the following morning.Defendant drove in a truck with Kelly Smith to the foothills around 3:00 a.m.³ Brown, driving her own car, met defendant there.Defendant told Brown they were going to meet Noriega.He asked Brown to follow defendant in her car to make sure defendant was not ambushed.On a trail near Anchondo's ranch, defendant told Brown to park and wait; defendant drove further into the foothills.As Brown was waiting, an older couple approached her and told her it was dangerous for her to be there alone.Brown informed the couple she was waiting for her boyfriend and that she would be leaving soon.

After the couple left, Brown exited her car and ran to where defendant had stopped his truck.Brown saw defendant's truck parked behind Noriega's car, with the truck's headlights illuminating the rear of Noriega's car.Brown watched as defendant got out of his truck and yelled something in Spanish.Noriega walked to the back of his car, opened his trunk, and removed a green duffel bag.Defendant picked up a handgun from the seat of his truck and shot at Noriega several times in rapid succession.Brown saw that Noriega had been shot and had fallen to the ground, but she could not tell how many times he had been shot.Brown ran back to her car.

Defendant approached Brown and asked if she heard the gunshots.Brown said she had.Defendant instructed Brown to get out of her car and to follow him back to Noriega's car.Brown saw Noriega lying on the ground and saw Smith drive Noriega's car away.Defendant told Brown to get into his truck, and he threw Noriega's body into the back of the truck.Brown also saw the green duffel bag in the back of the truck.Defendant ordered Brown to drive.To Brown, it seemed that he was directing her to drive in a large circle.When she stopped, defendant told her she was close to her car.Brown got out of defendant's truck, ran to her own car, and drove home.

About two hours later, defendant arrived at Brown's home, showered and clean-shaven.He returned a broken shovel that he had taken from Brown without her knowledge.He also gave Brown a large amount of methamphetamine and told her that he was going to leave town.

Later that day, three individuals driving in the foothills discovered Noriega's car near Anchondo's ranch.There was a pile of burned debris on the driver's side floorboard and a loaded .22-caliber handgun under the driver's seat.⁴

In mid-October 1992, a group of individuals horseback riding in the foothills discovered Noriega's body near where Noriega's car had been found.The body was positioned facedown in the dirt under a wooden pallet and was in a state of decomposition.Law enforcement officials who responded to the scene believed the pallet had been moved onto the body from a pile of dirt nearby.⁵

Officials at the coroner's office searched Noriega's body and found jewelry, a watch, and a jacket containing four small baggies of methamphetamine.Dr. Robert Ditraglia, the forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Noriega's body, described the body as "[s]everely decomposed" and "partially skeletonized."The autopsy revealed a hole in the center of Noriega's sternum, multiple holes in his chest, two fractured ribs, and fractures to his sacrum and coccyx.Ditraglia opined these injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds.Bullet fragments collected from Noriega's body were consistent with medium caliber ammunition such as a nine-millimeter, .32-caliber, or .38-caliber bullets.Although the trajectory of the bullets could not be determined, the injuries were consistent with Noriega being shot from the front.The wound to Noriega's sternum would have been potentially fatal on its own.

Defendant left town within weeks of Noriega's killing.In January 1993, law enforcement suspended the investigation into Noriega's death because they had no leads.Defendant enlisted in the Army in February 1993.He was discharged in September 1994 and returned to California.He then moved to Austin, Texas, in late 1994, where he started dating Kimberley Reeder.In May or June 1995, defendant told Reeder he had killed a man in California named "Rafa" because Rafa was a "narc."Defendant told Reeder that he put the body in the back of his truck and then hid it in or near some caves.⁶He told Reeder that when coworkers asked him about blood in the back of his truck, he told them it came from deer hunting.Defendant never told Reeder that he killed Rafa in self-defense.

John Sams, an acquaintance of Reeder's, testified that he overheard defendant stating that he shot someone in California for drugs and took a bag of speed from the person.Sams heard defendant say he was from California, where "we kill people for things like""[g]etting out of line, money, drugs, things of that nature."Sams believed defendant was bragging or trying to impress people.Sams did not hear defendant assert he shot anyone in self-defense.⁷

Investigator Martin Silva interviewed defendant in Texas in January 2000.⁸Silva told defendant that he believed defendant killed Noriega.Silva confronted defendant with statements from Brown and Reeder implicating defendant.He said (apparently as a ruse) that Smith and defendant's ex-wife had implicated him as well.Silva suggested that defendant may have shot Noriega in self-defense, and that the shooting occurred after a drug transaction went poorly.Defendant admitted to engaging in methamphetamine and firearm transactions with Noriega but denied killing him.He also claimed that he was not living in Moreno Valley when the killing took place.Defendant referred to Noriega as "Rafa" and said they spoke Spanish to each other.

As the interview progressed, defendant told Silva that he was getting nervous.He stated, "[W]hen I had left I thought that shit was dead," and he asked "how involved" Silva believed that defendant was.Defendant claimed he was in Texas when Noriega was killed, and that his family and former boss could verify his alibi.Silva told defendant the District Attorney's Office was seeking to extradite defendant to California.Defendant said, "See and in order for that, that means ... you guys pretty much know that I did this."Defendant also asked whether the others involved would be charged and whether Smith "ever sa[id]he got something out of it."

Silva again suggested that defendant killed Noriega in self-defense or because defendant was high.Defendant maintained that he knew nothing about Noriega's killing, and he claimed that Brown and Smith were lying about his involvement.

b. Evidence of other acts

i. Threat to kill Mike Aguon and "Christine"

In 1991, defendant was living in California with Maximillian Garcia, Mike Aguon, and a woman named Christine.One day, defendant became paranoid that Aguon and Christine were going to turn him in to the police.Defendant placed a shotgun behind the front door and told Garcia he was going to shoot Aguon and Christine when they returned.Garcia warned Aguon and Christine to stay away from the residence until defendant calmed down.Defendant eventually did calm down, and no violence...