San Diego Police Dep't v. Geoffrey S.

• Decision Date: 16 December 2022
• Docket Number: D077999
• Citation: 86 Cal.App.5th 550,302 Cal.Rptr.3d 545
• Parties: SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. GEOFFREY S., Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

86 Cal.App.5th 550
302 Cal.Rptr.3d 545

SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
GEOFFREY S., Defendant and Appellant.

D077999

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

Filed December 16, 2022

Geoffrey S., in pro. per., for Defendant and Appellant.

Mara W. Elliott, City Attorney, John C. Hemmerling, Assistant City Attorney, and Nicole R. Crosby, Deputy City Attorney for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BUCHANAN, J.

86 Cal.App.5th 557

In Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v. Wilson (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 550, 133 Cal.Rptr.3d 830 ( Kaiser ), we held that hearsay evidence is admissible at a hearing on a workplace violence restraining order (WVRO). ( Code Civ. Proc., § 527.8.) Other courts have reached the same conclusion for a hearing on a civil harassment restraining order (CHRO). ( Code Civ. Proc., § 527.6 ; see Duronslet v. Kamps (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 717, 728–729, 137 Cal.Rptr.3d 756 ( Duronslet ); Yost v. Forestiere (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 509, 521, 265 Cal.Rptr.3d 175 ( Yost ).)

We must now decide the same question for a hearing on a gun violence restraining order (GVRO) under Penal Code section 18175.¹ We hold that hearsay evidence is likewise admissible at a GVRO hearing. We further conclude that the evidence submitted to the trial court was sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that appellant Geoffrey S. posed a

86 Cal.App.5th 558

significant danger of causing personal injury by gun violence.² ( § 18175, subd. (b)(1).) Because we reject Geoffrey's other claims, we affirm the one-year GVRO issued against him.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. GVRO Petition and Attachments

On April 22, 2020, the San Diego Police Department (Department) filed a GVRO petition against Geoffrey with an attached declaration and four redacted police reports. The attached declaration of Detective Justin Garlow stated: "Based on the content of the attached reports, I hold the opinion that a GVRO is necessary to protect the public and prevent harm to the respondent or others. There are no less restrictive means to ensure public safety."

The redacted police reports described several police contacts with Geoffrey between April 13 and 17 of 2020. On April 13, an "anonymous clinical psychologist" requested a welfare check on Geoffrey "due to him having ‘been posting angrily on

302 Cal.Rptr.3d 550

Facebook about buying ammo and to "protect" himself.’ " The police contacted Geoffrey and "determined he did not meet criteria at the time, but notated [sic ] he ‘has very eccentric beliefs about the government and was dillusional [sic ] and very paranoid.’ "

Just before midnight on April 14 or 15, police responded to a disturbance call at Geoffrey's residence. They heard people arguing inside the house. When they knocked on the door, someone inside said, " ‘Go away!’ " The argument continued, then Geoffrey ran out the back door and reported to the police that someone inside had just threatened to kill him.

Geoffrey explained to the police that for several weeks, he had been posting on social media about his belief that philanthropist Bill Gates had murdered millions of people. In response, a stranger called him to express his agreement. When Geoffrey asked the person how he got his phone number, the person said it was given to him by God. As a religious person, Geoffrey then invited the person over to his house to talk about their beliefs. The person came over and spent the night. The next day, they talked all day and read Bible verses. The man eventually proclaimed that he was God, got a kitchen knife, and demanded that Geoffrey " ‘kneel before him.’ " After Geoffrey complied, the man said, " ‘I am going to kill you motherfucker.’ " The man also told Geoffrey he was a " ‘west coast gangster’ " and had "been shot and stabbed before."

86 Cal.App.5th 559

Geoffrey told the police he had " ‘hunting shotguns’ " inside his house, but no ammunition. He began talking about his "conspiracy theories" and "distrust of the government." He explained "his eccentric beliefs about how he didn't believe the Corona virus was real, how Bill Gates is a murderer and he is trying to vaccinate everyone with ‘nanotechnology’ so they can be tracked by 5G towers" and "claimed he even called the FBI San Diego field office to report what he knew about Bill Gates ...."

The police confirmed that the other man was still inside Geoffrey's house and his car was parked in the driveway. The man refused to come out of the house. The police decided to leave without entering or trying to take the man into custody. Geoffrey became "upset and unreasonable" and called them " ‘cowards.’ "

On the afternoon of April 17, four officers and a clinician with the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) were dispatched to Geoffrey's house in response to more calls about him "posting bizarre threatening statements on social media and attempting to purchase firearm ammunition." Before arriving at Geoffrey's house, the police tried to contact the reporting parties and also reviewed his Facebook posts. The names of the reporting parties were redacted from the police reports attached to the GVRO petition.

The first reporting party was anonymous and did not answer his phone. This anonymous person had reported that Geoffrey said, " ‘I guess I'm just going to have to take things into my own hands.’ "

The police were able to contact the second reporting party. This person "expressed a strong concern for Geoffrey's mental health" and said, "Geoffrey has reported signs of anxiety and paranoia for some time but has refused to seek treatment." According to this person, "Geoffrey's anxiety, delusional thoughts and paranoia ha[ve] rapidly escalated, putting him in a panic state." Geoffrey had expressed to this person "a strong need to defend himself with his firearms against a government takeover." Earlier that morning, Geoffrey had called "in rage, ranting about Walmart refusing to sell him firearm

302 Cal.Rptr.3d 551

ammunition due to him coming up in their system as ‘denied.’ " Geoffrey stated it was part of the " ‘government[']s plan.’ " He told this person, " ‘People are going to try and get me and I need to defend myself.’ " Geoffrey said he had asked his father to fly to California from Ohio to purchase ammunition for him, but his father declined.

The police discovered that Geoffrey had posted on Facebook multiple times per day over the previous month. None of these Facebooks posts were attached to the GVRO petition or submitted to the court. One of the police reports described them as follows: "The post[s] were essentially attempts to

86 Cal.App.5th 560

gather followers into defending themselves against a government takeover. Geoffrey believed that new 5G cell towers and vaccines were being implemented to control Americans. Geoffrey was outlining his attempts to stock up on ammunition and encouraging others to do the same."

When the police contacted Geoffrey, he refused to allow them to enter his home, but agreed to talk to them outside. He sat on a retaining wall next to his driveway. The police informed him that "his friends and family asked the police to check on him due to comments he had posted on social media regarding the purchase of ammunition."

According to the police reports, "Geoffrey was very animated, agitated and was rambling about a government takeover." He "believed Bill Gates and the government were using the COVID-19 to scare Americans into receiving a vaccine to infuse trackers" and that "5G cell towers being installed would be used to track everyone with the vaccine." "Geoffrey would not answer specific questions but would instead go into lengthy rants about various unrelated topics." He "was exhibiting psychotic and delusional behavior." "When asked specifically about his quest for ammunitions and his intentions, Geoffrey replied that it was none of our business and quoted his 1st and 2nd amendment rights. Geoffrey became paranoid about where we had received our information and accused us of working with FBI to tap his phone lines. Geoffrey did confirm that he owns several shotguns." "Geoffrey was aggressive in nature and very confrontational, answering most of our questions with questions and stating we were all stupid. At one point, Geoffrey stood up and began screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘I'm buying ammo and you should too!’ "

The police and PERT clinician believed that "Geoffrey was a potential danger to others" and decided to place him on a 72-hour psychiatric hold under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150. Geoffrey resisted being taken into custody and began yelling for neighbors to help him. He continuously yelled obscenities at the police while being transported to the hospital.

B. GVRO Hearing and Defense Evidence

The trial court issued a temporary GVRO on April 22, 2020.³ The court held a GVRO hearing on July 21, 2020. Both sides were represented by counsel, but the hearing was unreported.⁴ Geoffrey and his

302 Cal.Rptr.3d 552

counsel appeared

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remotely by video. No witnesses testified at the hearing, and the Department submitted no additional evidence beyond the previously submitted declaration of Detective Garlow and police reports attached to the GVRO petition. However, Geoffrey submitted six defense exhibits (Exhibits A-F). At Geoffrey's request, the court also reviewed police body-camera footage of the April 17 encounter outside his house. Geoffrey made hearsay objections to the witness statements and Facebook posts summarized in the police reports.

The defense exhibits included a psychiatric admission evaluation of Geoffrey and medication noncompliance summary, both prepared by Dr. Samuel Etchie at Alvarado Parkway Institute (Alvarado). The psychiatric admission evaluation (signed April 22, 2020) described Geoffrey's "delusional beliefs" and his admission to the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit after Geoffrey's pastor and a friend had called 911 to express their concerns about his mental state and social...