People v. Washington
| Decision Date | 25 October 2019 |
| Docket Number | C086157 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. GUYLAND DESHEAY WASHINGTON, Defendant and Appellant. |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
When Alyssa H. went to work on July 11, 2014, she left her one-year-old daughter, Leila, in the sole care and custody of her boyfriend, defendant Guyland Desheay Washington. Several hours later, Leila was dead. Due to the significant amount of bruising on Leila's body, the attending physician at the hospital suspected child abuse. Defendant was arrested and charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count one)1 and assault resulting in the death of a child under eight years of age, also known as "child homicide" (§ 273ab; count two). After trial, a jury found defendant guilty of both counts. The court sentenced defendant to 25 years to life for the child homicide and stayed the sentence for the murder conviction under section 654.
On appeal, defendant argues (1) defendant's counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to testimonial hearsay evidence; (2) the trial court violated his right to a jury trial by improperly dismissing a juror midtrial; (3) the trial court violated due process by failing to give a balanced jury instruction on defendant's out-of-court statements; and (4) the child homicide statute (§ 273ab) is facially unconstitutional.
Although we find no reversible error, we have discovered discrepancies between the trial court's oral pronouncement of judgment and the sentencing minute order with respect to the second degree murder conviction (count one) that require correction. We will modify the judgment to clearly describe the sentence imposed for count one, and direct the trial court to correct its minute order and amend the abstract of judgment. We affirm the judgment as modified.
Alyssa began dating defendant in or about December 2013. Although the relationship started off well, they soon began having arguments, some of which turned physical. Defendant usually was the aggressor when their arguments became physical.
Alyssa's infant daughter, Leila,2 was a source of tension between defendant and Alyssa. According to Alyssa, defendant was jealous of Leila. In text messages before Leila's death, defendant told Alyssa that she was "overprotective" of Leila and that she did not acknowledge or appreciate him or treat him like family.
When Alyssa went to work, she usually asked relatives to watch Leila. However, on a few occasions, when her relatives were unavailable, Alyssa asked defendant to watch Leila. One time, in late June 2014, after defendant watched Leila, Alyssa and her grandmother noticed bruising on Leila. Alyssa's grandmother said it looked as if someone had picked Leila up and held her very tightly, leaving fingerprints. When Alyssa asked defendant about the bruising, defendant denied causing the bruises, and saidthat Leila had fallen while playing under the dinner table. Alyssa was skeptical of defendant's explanation, but she continued to see defendant and let him watch Leila.
On July 10, 2014, the day before Leila's death, Alyssa's relatives watched Leila while Alyssa was at work. None of Alyssa's relatives reported seeing any bruising or visible injuries on Leila, although they did notice that Leila was "fussy" and appeared to be teething.
Later that evening, Alyssa took Leila to defendant's house, where they stayed the night. Alyssa did not notice any bruising or injuries when she changed Leila's diaper just before putting Leila down for the night.
On July 11, the following morning, Alyssa left Leila in defendant's care and went to work. Around 3:00 in the afternoon, defendant texted Alyssa to tell her that Leila had fallen off the couch. When Alyssa called, defendant told her that he had given Leila some medicine and that she was a little red, but otherwise okay.
Alyssa arrived to pick up Leila shortly before 4:30 p.m. Defendant first brought out Leila's diaper bag and belongings and put them in Alyssa's vehicle. He did not say anything about Leila's well-being. Defendant then carried Leila out to the car, holding her against his chest as though she was asleep. As defendant started to put Leila into her car seat, Alyssa noticed that Leila was unresponsive and appeared not to be breathing. Alyssa began "freaking out" and demanded to know what had happened. Defendant replied that he did not know.
Over defendant's protest, Alyssa called 911 while she drove Leila to a nearby fire station, where Leila was loaded into an ambulance and transported to the UC Davis Medical Center. Emergency personnel described Alyssa's demeanor as distraught and very concerned. Defendant, in contrast, showed very little emotion.
Leila arrived at the hospital under active CPR but without a pulse or respirations. Additional resuscitation attempts proved unsuccessful. At 5:14 p.m. Leila was pronounced dead.
Dr. Cheryl Vance, the chief of pediatric emergency medicine, was Leila's attending physician at the hospital. Dr. Vance reported that Leila's physical exam was"remarkable" for the significant amount of bruising on her body, including a linear bruise, consistent with a handprint, on the right thigh; bruises on the right hip, right buttock, and right lateral neck; bruises consistent with fingerprints along the jawline; a contusion over the left clavicle and left shoulder; and a contusion on the left lateral thigh. Dr. Vance also observed injuries to Leila's rectal area, including an erythematous contusion (a red bruise on the buttock and perianal skin), possible tears at 9:00 and 12:00, and anal laxity. Dr. Vance noted blood in Leila's diaper. Suspecting possible child abuse, Dr. Vance reported her observations to the hospital's "crisis team," which contacted law enforcement.
Law enforcement placed defendant in the back of a patrol car for transport to police headquarters. Without defendant's knowledge, an in-car camera recorded him talking to himself while he waited in the back of the car. The camera recorded defendant asking God for forgiveness: The camera also recorded defendant saying, "I hurt that little girl, man."
At the police station, after waiving his Miranda rights,3 defendant was interrogated by the police. The interrogation lasted approximately 12 hours.4 Throughout the interrogation, defendant insisted that Leila's death was an accident caused by her falling off the couch. Defendant told the detectives that Leila was bowlegged and frequently fell and injured herself.
However, several hours into the interview, when confronted with the in-car recording, defendant admitted that, in addition to Leila falling off the couch, he "accidentally" hit Leila in the head with a cabinet door. Later still, he admitted that healso "accidentally" kneed Leila in the back causing her head to hit the wall. Defendant admitted he was "very rough" with Leila, but insisted he did not intentionally hurt her.
Dr. Jason Tovar, the chief forensic pathologist at the coroner's office, performed Leila's autopsy on July 12, 2014. Dr. Tovar observed numerous bruises on Leila's body, including multiple places on her head, face, neck, jaw, chest, extremities, back, buttocks, perianal, and vulvar regions. Specifically, he observed: petechiae hemorrhaging in the right eye; bruises on the right and left side of the neck; a bruise on the forehead and right side of the head; bleeding in the soft tissues on the backside of the head extending from the lower portion of the back of the head and onto the neck; a fracture of the right outer surface of the skull; subdermal bleeding in the back of the head near the floor of the skull and a fracture extending into that location; bleeding in the soft tissue near the right eye; bruises on the right and left cheeks; bruising on the chest, upper chest, sternum, upper back, left forearm, and left shoulder; and numerous abrasions and contusions of varying shapes and sizes on the lower back, buttocks, and the side of both thighs.
Dr. Tovar identified three rib fractures. According to Dr. Tovar, the rib fractures occurred on top of older rib fractures, which were days to weeks old and in the process of healing. Dr. Tovar also noted a repetitive injury to the area under Leila's jawline.
Dr. Tovar observed stretch-type abrasions on the right and left labia, as well as tears in the mucosa, with bleeding in the soft tissue in the perianal area. With respect to the injuries to Leila's anus, Dr. Tovar could not determine whether there had been any penetration prior to her death. He explained that the injuries could have been caused by a forceful impact (e.g., a punch or fist) in the buttock region.
While there was a "strong possibility" that asphyxia played a part in Leila's death, Dr. Tovar stated that Leila's cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head and brain associated with the fracture on the back of the head. The broad distribution of injuries suggested that they were caused by multiple acts of intentionally inflicted trauma, rather than a single impact or fall. As he succinctly explained to the jury, "[A] simple fall wouldn't account for all those findings."
Leila's autopsy included an evaluation by a consulting neuropathologist. Dr. Claudia Grecco conducted the initial neuropathology review. Dr. Grecco reported bleeding in various locations on the brain, some mild edema,...
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