People v. Wilson, F048828 (Cal. App. 12/14/2006)
| Decision Date | 14 December 2006 |
| Docket Number | F048828 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JIMMY EARL WILSON, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County, No. 04CM3789, Lynn C. Atkinson, Judge.
Cara DeVito, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Assistant Attorney General, Louis M. Vasquez and Leslie W. Westmoreland, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
On December 27, 2004, an information was filed in the Superior Court of Kings County charging appellant Jimmy Earl Wilson with count I, murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)); and counts II and III, assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)). As to all counts, it was alleged appellant suffered one prior strike conviction (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)). Appellant pleaded not guilty and denied the special allegation.
On July 25, 2005, the court bifurcated the special allegation; thereafter, appellant's jury trial began. On August 3, 2005, appellant was found not guilty of count I, first degree murder, and counts II and III, assault with a deadly weapon. Instead, he was found guilty of the lesser offenses of second degree murder and one count of misdemeanor assault (Pen. Code, § 240).
On August 22, 2005, appellant filed a motion for new trial. On August 31, 2005, appellant filed a supplemental new trial motion.
On September 2, 2005, the court heard and denied appellant's new trial motion. The court denied appellant's motion to dismiss the special allegation, and imposed the term of 15 years to life for second degree murder, doubled to 30 years to life as the appropriate second strike term. The court imposed a concurrent term for the misdemeanor conviction.
On September 2, 2005, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.1
On Sunday, October 3, 2004, around 4:30 p.m., Gene Torres found the body of his stepson, Jason Garcia (Garcia), lying on the floor of his living room. Garcia had suffered multiple stab wounds in his chest and bled to death. Garcia's three-year-old son, J., was also in the house but was unharmed.
Appellant was charged with first degree murder of Garcia, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on his two cousins: David Hernandez and David's three-year-old daughter. The assaults occurred the night before Garcia's body was found. Appellant was convicted of second degree murder of Garcia and misdemeanor assault on David; he was found not guilty of assault on David's daughter.
On appeal, he contends the court should have granted his pretrial motion to sever the murder charge from the two assault charges because the offenses were unrelated. He also contends the court improperly permitted the prosecution to introduce the hearsay statements of Garcia's three-year-old son as spontaneous declarations, and asserts the child's statement was not made under the stress or excitement of an event and the admission of that statement was prejudicial.
The factual statement is dependent upon a timeline of events which occurred over a period of three days and nights: Friday, October 1; Saturday, October 2; and Sunday, October 3, 2004. The witnesses were not sure of the exact time when certain events occurred, and gave an approximation of time based on whether it was daylight or night. We will attempt to reconstruct that timeline.
Jason Garcia lived on Kaweah Street in Hanford. Garcia and Brea Hayes had a son, J. Garcia and Ms. Hayes did not live together, but Garcia had weekend supervised visitations with J., and Ms. Hayes described Garcia as a great father.
Appellant lived with his grandmother, Ruth Maciel, in her apartment on Galeta Way in Hanford. Appellant briefly went to a trade school in Sacramento, and occasionally worked as a roofer. Appellant owned a four-door white Hyundai.
Appellant had been in a relationship with Edina Solorio-Wilson (Edina) for about two years. Edina lived on Ivy Street in Hanford. Edina drove a green Ford Sable sedan, and both Edina and appellant used the car.
Edina testified appellant was a jealous person and regularly accused her of cheating on him. On one occasion, they were watching pornographic movies and he asked if she was "one of these girls on the internet." On another occasion, appellant printed photographs from the Internet and accused her of being in the pictures.
Tony Hernandez was appellant's uncle and Ruth Maciel's son. Tony and his adult son, David Hernandez (David), lived in a mobile home in a rural area, about eight miles outside of Hanford.
David and appellant, who were cousins, frequently saw each other at the house of their grandmother, Ruth Maciel. David testified appellant always had knives with him. "All kinds of knives, like little knives, big knives." "I mean, not something too outrageous," and "[i]t was probably legal to have." Edina testified about an incident when appellant was sleeping in bed with a knife next to him. Appellant told Edina there were people in Sacramento who were trying to get him.
A few evenings before Garcia's body was found, a group of people gathered at Garcia's house to have an "all-nighter" and watch "stripper" movies, drink, and use drugs. Johnny Balderas, Jr., testified the group included Garcia, David, appellant, another person, and himself. Balderas testified that people frequently gathered at Garcia's house to party. At one point in the evening, Balderas and appellant left Garcia's house to pick up more beer. Appellant was driving his white Hyundai, and asked Balderas to put something in the glove box. Balderas testified appellant had a "weapon" in his hand, opened the glove box, and three or four knives fell out. Appellant said "that he was gonna have to protect himself basically and might have to take somebody out." Balderas put the knives in the glove box and told appellant not to "trip out, I was there, these people were not a threat." Balderas testified they stopped at a convenience store and then returned to Garcia's house. Balderas told David about the knives and appellant's statements. Balderas testified there were no fights or arguments among the group, and they spent the rest of the night at Garcia's house without incident.
Around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 30, 2004, Gene Torres arrived at Garcia's house to pick him up for dinner. Torres was Garcia's stepfather. Torres testified that Garcia and appellant walked out of Garcia's house together. Torres did not notice anything unusual about appellant.
On either Friday, October 1 or Saturday, October 2, 2004, appellant was involved in an incident at Tony Hernandez's house. Tony subsequently told a police officer that appellant trashed his house, knocked down shelves, and there were bent steak knives around. Tony was very upset about the incident. At trial, however, Tony testified that appellant accidentally knocked over the entertainment center and it was not a big deal.
Louis Freitas worked for Gene Torres, Garcia's stepfather. Freitas lived by Garcia's house and often passed by it. Around 9:00 p.m. on Friday, October 1, 2004, Freitas rode his bicycle to Garcia's house. Appellant arrived about an hour later. Two other guys also showed up. The group drank beer and played ping-pong in the backyard. Freitas stayed for a few hours and then left. Appellant was still there when he left.
Freitas testified he spent the rest of Friday night going to different bars, until the establishments closed at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday. At about 2:30 a.m., Frietas returned to Garcia's house. Garcia was the only person there, and he was "messed up a little bit on drugs." Freitas and Garcia used drugs.
At about 3:00 a.m., appellant arrived in his white car, and parked at the curb. Appellant emerged from his car, approached Freitas, and asked if Freitas had something to tell him. Freitas said no, and asked appellant if he was "trippin." Appellant said no, and walked back and forth on the lawn "like a lion." Appellant said, "`I'm gonna get those mother fuckers.'" Freitas asked who he was talking about. Appellant replied, "`The monkeys in the tree,' and he threw something up in the tree ...." Freitas was standing close to Garcia's door and appellant wanted to go inside. Appellant said he was feeling a little edgy and asked Freitas to give him some space. Freitas backed away and appellant went into Garcia's house. Freitas and appellant were using speed, and Garcia was using cocaine or speed. Freitas testified they each had their own supply of drugs. Freitas testified appellant was usually a nice, polite guy, but he "wasn't himself" and his demeanor was "[n]ot too good" that night. Appellant was angry and on edge, and needed to sleep.
Around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, Freitas, Garcia, and appellant went to the convenience store in appellant's car. They returned to Garcia's house, and appellant parked in Garcia's driveway. Freitas testified they just hung around Garcia's house for several hours.
Freitas testified that he left Garcia's house around 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. Shortly before he left, an incident occurred between appellant and Garcia. Garcia and Freitas were in the backyard. Appellant's white car was parked in the driveway, near the backyard. Appellant was sitting in the passenger seat of his car. Freitas heard "something hit the ground and there was knives laying by [Garcia's] feet." Freitas described the items as "long, long knives." The knives were on the ground, within two feet of Garcia. Garcia froze and looked at Freitas. Appellant told Garcia "something along the lines of whatever the problem was or pick one and handle it right now." Freitas decided it was time to leave. As Freitas left Garcia's house, appellant's mood had already changed and...
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