People v. Waldron
| Decision Date | 28 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | A161210 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. NEIL BRUCE WALDRON, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
(Mendocino County Super. Ct. No. SCUK-CRCR-20-34917-001)
In September 2020, appellant Neil Bruce Waldron was convicted by a jury of two felony counts of burglary, along with attendant enhancements for looting. He was placed on three years' probation and ordered to pay victim restitution and various fees. In Waldron's wide-ranging appeal, he raises challenges to numerous events that occurred throughout his jury trial: denying him a public trial due to COVID-19 courtroom protocols, contending his looting convictions are unsupported by the evidence (some of which he maintains was erroneously admitted), arguing the prosecutor committed misconduct, and claiming the trial court erred in instructing the jury. He also argues that recent legislation entitles him to a reduction in his probation term and elimination of certain fees. We conclude that his probation term must be reduced from three to two years. We also conclude that the judgment must be modified to strike the balance of unpaid administrative fees that are no longer authorized under recent legislation. We otherwise affirm.
On June 3, 2020, the district attorney filed an information charging Waldron with two counts of second-degree burglary (Pen. Code §§ 459, 460, subd. (b); counts one &two);[1] and further alleging that these two offenses constituted looting because they were committed during a state of emergency (Pen. Code, § 463, subd. (a)).
On September 14, 2020, Waldron's jury trial began.
On April 17, 2020, at around 3:00 a.m., Mendocino County Deputy Sheriff Trent James was dispatched to the town of Covelo[2] on a report of a potential burglary in progress at a cafe called the Village Hearth. At the time, the ambient conditions were dark and very foggy. When Deputy James was about 50 feet from the Village Hearth, he saw Waldron walking north on the sidewalk. He did not see anyone else within 200 feet of Waldron. He spoke to Waldron briefly and then detained him while he went to the Village Hearth to investigate.
Deputy James observed the open front door of the Village Hearth, as well as the completely shattered glass from the door. There was glass on the ground directly outside the front door, as well as inside the business. Inside the cafe, he saw "stuff thrown all over the place" with everything in disarray. A black pellet rifle was lying on the ground inside the front door. Deputy James then proceeded across the street to talk to the witness who had reported the incident, after which the deputy returned to speak with Waldron.
Waldron told Deputy James that while he was seated on a bench outside of the local grocery store called Keith's Market, which is about 50 yards north of the Village Hearth, he had "heard a loud banging coming from the front of Keith's Market." He saw a White male with long blond hair wearing a red baseball cap "ramming a shopping cart into the breezeway glass doors" of the store. He also told Deputy James that he had seen that same person pushing the shopping cart across the market parking lot to the back side of the Village Hearth. Deputy James testified that from where Waldron said he had been seated on the bench he would not have had a clear view of Keith's Market because there was "absolutely zero direct line of sight from any of the benches on the side of the store to the breezeway" or to the area that Waldron had described.
Deputy James released Waldron and went to Keith's Market. He saw that the glass from one of the entrance doors to the market was shattered with glass inside the breezeway of the store and outside on the ground. Cartons of cigarettes appeared to have been dropped in the breezeway. When the deputy put his hand through the broken door to unlock and open it, an extremely loud alarm sounded. Inside the market, he saw broken alcohol bottles.
Shortly after contacting the market's manager, Deputy James was able to obtain and view surveillance footage which showed that the person who had broken the door was "holding a rifle of sort." After viewing the video, Deputy James determined that the perpetrator was Waldron, arriving at that conclusion based on his familiarity with Waldron's stature, his build, how he moves, and the clothing the perpetrator was wearing, which was similar to what Waldron was wearing when the deputy encountered him. Also, he noticed Waldron's unique beard, which was white and very bushy. According to Deputy James, there was nobody else in Covelo who looked like Waldron, "especially with that beard."
Waldron was subsequently located about half a mile away from Keith's Market and was arrested. At the time, he was "wearing a black baseball hat, black or dark gray Raider's hoodie [with] a red T-shirt underneath, [and] blue jeans." When Deputy James arrested Waldron, he asked the deputy how he could have broken into Keith's Market since "the alarm didn't even go off."
The manager of Keith's Market testified that the stolen items included "some bottles of liquor and some cartons of cigarettes." He also explained that while the market had an alarm system, it was set with certain contact points so that it would only go off if someone opened the door. Breaking the door's glass would not have triggered the alarm. The owner of the Village Hearth testified that the glass window on the front door of her business had been smashed, and she found broken glass and some electronics strewn about inside.
To support the looting allegations, the prosecution entered two exhibits as evidence: (1) a certified copy of Executive Order N-05-19, issued by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 8, 2019, which addressed California wildfires, and (2) a certified copy of Proclamation 20-004, dated March 4, 2020, in which the governor declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filmmaker John Slattery testified that he reviewed the surveillance video from Keith's Market and the photographs of Waldron that were admitted into evidence. Slattery edited the low-quality surveillance video to obtain a clearer image of the detail in the video. In the edited video, Slattery could see that the perpetrator was wearing a hat and a sweater, neither of which showed any insignias or logos. Given the detail seen in other objects in the video, Slattery opined that an insignia on the sweater should have been visible. He conceded, however, that the insignia would not have been visible if the perpetrator was wearing an outer jacket over the sweater.
On September 17, 2020, the jury found Waldron guilty of both burglary counts and found true the two related allegations of looting. On October 16, 2020, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Waldron on probation for three years. Various fines and fees were also imposed.
Waldron argues that his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated because the courtroom in which his trial took place had limited public access due to the implementation of COVID-19 social distancing protocols. We are not persuaded.
Prior to trial, Waldron's trial counsel filed a motion in limine "To Conduct Fully Public Trial." Counsel observed that Counsel further reported that Waldron requested "that the Court make all aspects of the trial public-that is, that the public either be admitted to the courtroom in sufficient numbers to make the trial truly public, or that the Court televise camera shots of the jury, court staff, counsel, the defendant, and exhibits in order that members of the public can see the full trial's conduct."
In denying Waldron's motion in limine, the trial court stated: ...
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