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 They Lied. There ALL LIES Poster Rank:302 <--We Did It. So Can You Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,210
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Re: Richard Ramirez Crime Scene Photos
This is the DOCUMENTED REALITY of the US LEAGAL SYSTEM why this worthless human did not get the prick of the poison drip. Here is his very long APPEAL People v. Ramirez, 139 P. 3d 64 - Cal: Supreme Court 2006 ReadHow cited People v. Ramirez, 139 P. 3d 64 - Cal: Supreme Court 2006 46 Cal.Rptr.3d 677 (2006)39 Cal.4th 398139 P.3d 64 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Richard RAMIREZ, Defendant and Appellant. No. S012944. Supreme Court of California. August 7, 2006. *686*Geraldine S. Russell, La Mesa, and Nicholas C. Arguimbau, San Rafael, under appointments by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant. Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, John R. Gorey, Jeffrey B. Kahan and Margaret E. Maxwell, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. MORENO, J. On November 7, 1989, defendant Richard Ramirez was sentenced to death for the so-called Night Stalker murders following his convictions of 12 counts of first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a)),[1]*one count of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)), five counts of attempted murder (§§ 187/664), four counts of rape (§ 261, former subd. (2)), three counts of forcible oral copulation (§ 288a, former subd. (c)), four counts of forcible sodomy (§ 286, former subd. (c)), and 14 counts of first degree burglary (§ 459). The jury found true allegations of multiple-murder, burglary, rape, forcible sodomy, and, forcible-oral-copulation special circumstances. (§ 190.2.) The court imposed a sentence of death. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) For the reasons that follow, the judgment is affirmed. *687*FACTS Prosecution's Case On the afternoon of June 28, 1984, Jack Vincow arrived at his elderly mother's apartment in Los Angeles and was surprised to find the screen missing from her open living room window and the front door unlocked. The missing window screen was on the floor of the living room, and the contents of the living room were in disarray. He found his mother, Jennie Vincow, dead in her bedroom. Her body was on the bed with her feet at the head of the bed. Her throat had been slashed and her body was partially covered by a blanket. He ran out of the apartment and called the police. The victim had been stabbed multiple times in her upper chest, neck, arm, and leg and had some wounds on her hands. Her throat had been slashed "almost from ear to ear." It appeared she may have been sexually assaulted. Her dress was partially lifted and her girdle had been pulled down and torn. The temperature of the deceased's liver was measured and the degree of rigor mortis noted, but the coroner had difficulty estimating the time of death. The temperature of the victim's liver indicated she had been dead only a couple of hours, but that estimate may have been inaccurate, because the body had been covered and the room may have been warm. Other factors, particularly the degree of rigor mortis, indicated the victim had been dead for "anywhere from six to eight hours, up to as long as 72 hours." Jack Vincow had seen his mother alive approximately 24 hours earlier, however, when he had visited her the previous afternoon. Police recovered fingerprints from the screen found on the living room floor that later were identified as defendant's fingerprints. Nine months later, on March 17, 1985, shortly before 11:00 p.m., Maria Hernandez entered the garage of the condominium she shared with her roommate, Dale Okazaki, in Rosemead. As the garage door was closing, she unlocked the door to her condominium and heard a noise behind her. She turned to see defendant holding a gun pointed at her face. She raised her hand to shield her face and said something like "don't" or "stop." Defendant approached within a few feet and fired the gun. The bullet hit Hernandez in her hand and apparently was deflected by the keys she was holding. She fell to the floor. She did not lose consciousness, but lay still. Defendant shoved her aside and entered the condominium. The door closed behind him and Hernandez opened the garage door and ran outside. She stumbled and fell. As she got up, she heard a "muffled loud sound." She ran around to the front of the condominium complex and saw defendant leaving the complex. She ducked behind a car as he pointed the gun at her. She said, "please don't shoot me again" and he lowered the gun and ran away. Hernandez approached the front door of her condominium and found it ajar. Inside, she found her roommate, Okazaki, lying dead on the kitchen floor. She had been shot in the forehead from no more than 18 inches away. Her blouse had been pulled up. Hernandez summoned the police. At a subsequent autopsy, a .22-caliber bullet was retrieved from Okazaki's skull. Police found on the ground outside the garage a blue baseball-type cap bearing the name of the rock group AC/DC. An associate of defendant's later testified that the cap looked like one defendant wore. Hernandez later identified defendant as her assailant at a police lineup and identified defendant at trial. *688*About an hour after Dale Okazaki was murdered and Maria Hernandez was shot, shortly before midnight on March 17, 1985, Jorge Gallegos was sitting in his parked car with his girlfriend in front of her residence in Monterey Park when his attention was drawn by the sound of two cars applying their brakes. A car driven by defendant apparently had forced a car driven by Tsai-Lian Yu to the side of the road, where it was forced to stop with its bumper against the bumper of a parked car. Defendant got out of his car and pulled Yu out of her car as she fought. Joseph Duenas was in his second-floor apartment when he heard a woman scream "help me." He went onto his balcony and saw Yu struggling with a man near the curb. Duenas grabbed a telephone to call the police and returned to the balcony. He saw the man push Yu away, enter his car, and drive away. As defendant drove past Gallegos, Gallegos could see his profile and noted the license number of defendant's vehicle. Gallegos identified defendant at trial. After defendant left, Yu crawled a short distance and then lay still. A police officer soon arrived and found Yu breathing but unconscious. She stopped breathing and the officers administered "CPR" until an ambulance arrived. She had been shot twice in the chest at close range and was pronounced dead at the hospital. It later was determined that a .22-caliber bullet recovered from Yu's body had been fired from the same gun as the bullet that killed Dale Okazaki. One of the victim's shoes was found on the ground and the other was in her car. A torn portion of a $20 bill was on the ground. The car was running with the transmission in reverse. Its headlights were on and the driver's side door was open. Bruno Polo managed two pizzerias owned by Vincent Zazzara. On March 28, 1985, about 8:30 p.m., Polo went to the home that Vincent Zazzara shared with his wife Maxine to deliver the day's receipts from the restaurant and found the screen door unlocked and the front door ajar. Polo rang the doorbell and called out Vincent's name, but received no response. He placed the receipts in the mail slot, as was his usual practice, and left. When Polo had not heard from Vincent Zazzara by the following morning, he and a fellow employee went back to the Zazzaras' house and found the door in the same position as the night before. They entered and found Vincent Zazzara lying dead on the couch in the den. He had been shot in the head from close range. Maxine Zazzara's body was found in the bedroom lying on her bed, partially covered by a sheet. Her pajama top had been pulled up, exposing her breasts, and her pajama bottoms had been pulled down around her ankles. She had been shot in the head and neck at close range, stabbed in her neck, cheek, chest, abdomen, and pubic area, and her eyes had been cut out. Her eyes were never found. Drawers had been pulled out in the bedroom and bathroom, and clothing was strewn around the room. It later was determined that two .22-caliber bullets removed from Maxine Zazzara's head and neck had been fired from the same gun later used to kill Chainarong K. Police discovered that the screen had been removed from a patio window at the Zazzara residence, which had been pried open. A bucket had been placed underneath the window. Footprints on the bucket and in the flower bed were made by an Avia athletic shoe. On May 9, 1985, an intruder entered a house in Monrovia by removing louvers from a kitchen window and climbing onto a patio chair that had been placed against the wall beneath the window. A shoe**689*print recovered from the kitchen sink near the window was made by an Avia athletic shoe. Defendant's palm print was found on the sink. On May 14, 1985, about 5:00 a.m., a police dispatcher received a 911 call from a residence in Monterey Park. A man repeated, "Help me, help me." The dispatcher sent an ambulance, which arrived within five minutes. The firefighter who responded found the iron security gate and the front door open. He entered and encountered Yuriko Lillie Doi in a nightgown who motioned toward her husband, William Doi, who was sitting in a chair in the den by a telephone; he was unconscious and breathing with difficulty. Books and papers were strewn around the room. After taking a few labored breaths, Mr. Doi stopped breathing and the firefighters tried to resuscitate him. An ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Mr. Doi, who was 65 years old, had been shot in the head with a .22-caliber bullet fired from a Jennings semiautomatic pistol that later was recovered from Jose Perez, a convicted felon who had obtained the gun from defendant. Mrs. Doi was dressed in a nightgown. She had a thumb cuff[2]*on her left thumb and her other thumb had blood on it. Her face was swollen and bruised. The den and bedroom had been ransacked. Dresser drawers were open and clothes had been thrown around the room. Mrs. Doi, who had suffered a stroke prior to this incident, was unable to testify at trial. A screen had been removed from an open bathroom window and was lying on the ground. Outside the window, the police found footprints from an Avia athletic shoe. Linda Doi-Fick, the daughter of William and Yuriko Doi, later identified several items of property that had been taken from her parents' home, including her mother's wallet and pieces of jewelry, which had been recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased the items from defendant. Launie Dempster, who delivers newspapers, testified that she had seen defendant in a car parked near the Dois' home an hour and a half before the attack. On May 31, 1985, Carlos Valenzuela noticed that newspapers had been left in the driveway of the house shared by 83-year-old Mabel Bell and her 79-year-old sister, Florence L. He knocked on their door, but received no reply. The next day, he returned and knocked on the door again. When there was no reply, he entered the house through the unlocked door and found Bell and Florence L. Florence L. was lying on her bed in one bedroom. Bell was lying on the floor next to the bed in another bedroom with a table on her chest. Valenzuela removed the table and left to call the police. Paramedics arrived and found Bell still breathing and took her to a hospital. She was comatose. Her skull had been fractured; the injury could have been caused by a hammer. She had a black eye. A red circle with a star in it (a pentagram)[3]*had been drawn on her thigh, perhaps using lipstick. She had injuries on her body caused by burns. Bell died from her injuries about a month later in July, 1985. In the other bedroom, Florence L.'s wrists had been bound using an electric cord and**690*her ankles were taped together. Above the bed, a pentagram had been drawn on the wall. A tube of lipstick was found on the floor. A hammer lying on a table next to the bed had blood and hair on it. Florence L. was taken to a hospital, where an examination revealed evidence that she had been sexually assaulted. She had a puncture wound in her head, two black eyes, and her face was bruised. Florence L. later regained consciousness, but police were unable to communicate with her. The house had been ransacked. A partial shoe print found on an unplugged clock was consistent with an Avia athletic shoe. Several items taken from the residence later were recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased the items from defendant. Before dawn on May 30, 1985, Carol K. was awakened in her Burbank home by defendant. He may have entered through an unlocked "doggie door" in the back door. He was standing over her bed, holding a gun, and shining a flashlight in her eyes. Defendant ordered her to "get up and don't make any noise." He took her into the bedroom of her 12-year-old son, woke him up, and handcuffed her to her son. He called her names and repeatedly asked where was her money, jewelry, and other property. Defendant ran from room to room, ransacking the house. He found her wallet and removed her money. Defendant made Carol K. and her son lie on the floor and covered them with a sheet. He then removed the handcuffs from Carol K., handcuffed her son behind his back, and put him in a closet. Defendant took Carol K. to her bedroom, put the gun to her head and threatened to kill her, then tied her hands behind her with a pair of pantyhose. He forced her to kneel with her head on the bed and covered her head with a pillow. Periodically, he punched her in the back. He ordered her to lie on the bed and raped her and sodomized her. He brought her son from the closet and handcuffed them together to the bed. Defendant said, "I don't know why I'm letting you live.... I've killed people before." He threatened to have a friend come back and kill her if she went to the police. Defendant left and they called the police. The victim later identified defendant in a lineup and at trial and identified several pieces of jewelry that police had recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased the items from defendant. Mary Cannon was a widow in her eighties who lived alone in Arcadia. On the morning of July 2, 1985, a neighbor, Frank Starich, noticed that a window screen was lying on the front porch and her newspaper was in the driveway. He knocked on the door, but received no response, so he retrieved an extra key Cannon had given him and Starich and his wife entered the house but soon left to call the police when they saw that things in the house had been thrown on the floor. The police arrived and found Cannon lying dead on the bed. She had been strangled and beaten and stabbed in the neck. Her nose was broken and both eyes blackened. She had a large, "extremely lethal," wound in her neck. A window in the bedroom was open and the bedroom had been ransacked. On the carpet and on a tissue, police found shoe prints from an Avia athletic shoe. Several days after Cannon was murdered, shortly after midnight on July 5, 1985, 16-year-old Whitney B. dressed for bed and sat down on her bed with the light on. Several hours later, she awoke lying facedown on her bed covered with blood. She had multiple skull fractures, which could have been caused by a tire iron that had been left by her bed. A physician later testified, "This was the most massive head injury I've ever seen. She had greater than forty inches of linear lacerations**691*criss-crossing every direction on her head." She had been strangled, which resulted in a fractured larynx, and had black eyes. She summoned her father, who called the police. The screen had been removed from her bedroom window. A shoe print from an Avia athletic shoe was found in the bedroom. Two days after the attempted murder of Whitney B., on July 7, 1985, a neighbor of Joyce Nelson noticed that a screen had been removed from Nelson's bedroom window. Finding the front door ajar and seeing that Nelson's home had been ransacked, he called the police, who found Nelson lying dead on her bedroom floor. She had died from blunt force head injuries and had been strangled. She had multiple bruises, lacerations and contusions on her face. Between 3:00 and 4:30 a.m. that morning, Launie Dempster, the newspaper deliverer, had seen defendant walking to his car, which was parked next door to Nelson's house in Monterey Park. Dempster returned about 15 minutes later and noticed the car remained but defendant was gone. In the flower bed beneath Nelson's open bedroom window, police found a shoe print from an Avia athletic shoe. About 3:30 a.m. that same morning, July 7, 1985, Sophie D. awoke in her home in Monterey Park before dawn when the bedroom light went on. Defendant put a gun to her head, covered her mouth with a gloved hand, and threatened to kill her if she made a sound. Defendant handcuffed her, took several items of jewelry and some money, and then raped and sodomized her. Defendant handcuffed the victim to the bed and fled. The victim yelled for help from a neighbor who was a deputy sheriff. He responded and called the police, who found that defendant had entered the house through a "cat door," which had been bent out of shape. The victim later identified defendant at a lineup and identified several pieces of jewelry that police had recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased the items from defendant. The victim repeated her identification of defendant at trial. On the morning of July 19, 1985, the bodies of Maxon and Lela Kneiding were discovered in their bed by their daughter, who had come looking for them after they failed to meet her at a restaurant for breakfast as planned. Their throats had been slashed and they had been shot in the neck and head. The bedroom had been ransacked. A .22-caliber bullet recovered from Ms. Kneiding's brain had been fired from the same gun that fired the bullets that killed Dale Okazaki and Tsai-Lian Yu. The victims' daughter later identified several pieces of her parents' jewelry that police had recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased them from defendant. The next day, shortly after midnight on July 20, 1985, Somkid K. was sleeping on her living room couch when she was awakened by the sound of the sliding screen door opening. Defendant entered holding a gun and ordered her to be quiet. He went into the bedroom and shot her husband, Chainarong, in the head, killing him. Defendant returned to the living room and brought Somkid K. into the bedroom, threatening to kill her children if she resisted. He raped her, sodomized her, beat her, and forced her to orally copulate him. Defendant tied up her eight-year-old son and hit him. He took jewelry, money, and a videocassette recorder and left. Police found shoe prints from an Avia athletic shoe on the front porch, the rear porch, and inside the house. The victim later identified defendant in a lineup and identified several pieces of jewelry and a**692*suitcase that police had recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased them from defendant. A .22-caliber bullet recovered from Chainarong K.'s head had been fired from the same gun that fired the bullets that killed Vincent and Maxine Zazzara. Early in the morning on August 5, 1985, Virginia Petersen woke up to find defendant walking into her bedroom pointing a gun at her. She asked who he was and demanded that he leave. He told her to be quiet, asked, "Where is it?" and then shot her in the face. Her husband, Christopher Petersen awoke and sat up and defendant shot him in the head, but he did not lose consciousness. He jumped from the bed and chased defendant, who fired at least two more shots and then fled through a sliding glass door that had been left unlocked. Christopher Petersen drove his wife to the hospital. Virginia Petersen later identified defendant at a lineup and at trial. Before dawn on the morning of August 8, 1985, Sakina A. was awakened by the sound of defendant shooting her husband, Elyas, in the head as he lay next to her, asleep. Defendant struck Sakina A. in the head and handcuffed her hands behind her back. He continued to beat her, forcing her to "swear upon Satan" that she would not scream. Defendant blindfolded and gagged the victim before ransacking the bedroom, demanding money and jewelry. Defendant removed the victim's blindfold and gag and she directed him to a briefcase that contained jewelry and to her purse, which contained money. Defendant took a ring and necklace she was wearing. Defendant forced the victim to orally copulate him, then raped and sodomized her. The victim's three-year-old son awoke, and defendant bound his hands and feet and covered his head with pillows. He handcuffed Sakina A. to a doorknob, threatening to return and kill her, her three-year-old son, and her infant child if she called the police. Defendant then fled. Sakina A. untied her son, called in vain for her husband, and screamed for help. Receiving no reply, she sent her son to a neighbor's house by promising the child that the neighbor would give him popsicles and candy bars. The neighbor returned the child to his home, found Sakina A., and summoned the police. Police found a sliding glass door had been pried open. Elyas A. had been killed by a single bullet to the head. Subsequent analysis revealed that a .25-caliber bullet recovered from the victim's head had been fired from the same gun that fired bullets recovered from the home of Virginia and Christopher Petersen. Sakina A. later identified defendant at a lineup and identified a television, a videocassette recorder, and several pieces of jewelry that police had recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased them from defendant. The victim repeated her identification of defendant at trial. On August 30, 1985, law enforcement officers had focused their suspicion upon defendant and obtained a photograph of him, which they distributed to law enforcement agencies throughout Southern California and released to the news media. Defendant's photograph appeared in the newspaper the next morning. On the morning of August 31, 1985, Manuela Villanueva was sitting in her parked car when defendant ran up and demanded her car keys. She ran out of the car and called for help. Frank Moreno and Carmelo Robles responded and chased defendant down an alley. Defendant climbed over a fence and encountered Fastino Pinon, who was working on his car, which was running. Defendant entered the vehicle, saying he had a gun, but Pinon attempted to pull defendant from the vehicle. They struggled as the car moved and**693*struck a chimney. Defendant left and ran toward the street. Angelena Delatorre was sitting in her parked car across the street from Pinon's house when defendant demanded her car keys. She refused and he pulled her out and entered her car. She screamed and her neighbor, Jose Burjoin, responded and ordered defendant to leave. Delatorre's husband, Manuel, arrived and struck defendant on the head with a steel bar. Defendant left the car and ran down the street. Manuel Delatorre pursued and struck defendant on the head a second time, causing defendant to fall. He stayed with defendant until the police arrived, as a crowd formed. Some people in the crowd were holding the newspaper with defendant's photograph on the front page. On the ride to the police station, defendant asked the officer to "just shoot me," saying he wanted to die. He said, "all the killings are going to be blamed on me." At the police station, defendant spontaneously confessed: "I want the electric chair. They should have shot me on the street. I did it, you know. You guys got me, the Stalker. Hey, I want a gun to play Russian Roulette. I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life in prison. Can you imagine the people caught me, not the police." Defendant laughed and then added: "You think I'm crazy, but you don't know Satan." He hummed the song "Night Prowler" by the rock group AC/ DC. Defendant continued: "Of course I did it, you know that I'm a killer. Give me your gun, I'll take care of myself. You know I'm a killer, so shoot me, I deserve to die. You can see Satan on my arm." Defendant moved his shirt sleeve to reveal a pentagram drawn on his left shoulder. On September 2, 1985, a guard saw defendant in his jail cell bleeding from his right palm. Defendant used his blood to draw a pentagram on the floor and write the number 666. On October 24, 1985, during defendant's arraignment in municipal court, defendant turned to the audience, raised his hand, and said, "Hail Satan." A pentagram and the number 666 appeared on defendant's palm. On October 30, 1986, defendant called a guard over to his jail cell, displayed photographs of two of the murder victims, and said: "People come up here and call me a punk and I show them the photographs and tell them there's blood behind the Night Stalker and then they go away all pale." Defense Case The defense focused on the lack of physical evidence tying defendant to the charged crimes, attacked the reliability of the identifications of defendant, and offered the alibi that defendant was in Texas when the crimes against Mabel Bell, Florence L., and Carol K. were committed. The manager of Jennie Vincow's apartment building testified that the windows in the victim's apartment were in working order following the murder. Forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz testified, based upon the temperature of Vincow's apartment, her body temperature when found, and the circumstance that her body had been covered, that Vincow had been dead four to five hours when her body was discovered. The police officer who discovered the AC/DC cap at the scene of Dale Okazaki's murder testified the cap was just inside the threshold of the garage. Okazaki's roommate, Maria Hernandez, was shown a photographic lineup that did not include defendant's photograph, and she said one of the photographs resembled her attacker. That person was apprehended and questioned, but then released. A police officer who responded to the scene where Tsai-Lian Yu was murdered testified that witness Jorge Gallegos told**694*him that he never saw the assailant fight with the victim, did not hear gunshots, and would not be able to identify the assailant. Photographs later taken of the crime scene showed poor lighting conditions that would make an identification of the assailant difficult. A defense pathologist testified that Yu's injuries were consistent with her having been shot while seated in her car. Photographs were taken of the location near the Doi residence where Launie Dempster, the newspaper deliverer, had seen defendant in a parked car shortly before the murder. The photographer testified that shadows cast by the car's roof would have obscured the face of the driver in a parked car. Defendant's father, Julian Tapia, testified that defendant was with him in El Paso, Texas, from May 22 or 23, 1985, until May 31, 1985, which included the period during which Mabel Bell was attacked, her sister, Florence L., was murdered and Carol K. was attacked. Hairs recovered in Mabel Bell's house were dissimilar to defendant's hair. A blood sample recovered from the house in which Mary Cannon was murdered differed from defendant's blood type. Defendant introduced photographs of the residences of Joyce Nelson and Christopher and Virginia Petersen. Police showed Sophie D. the same photographic lineup not including defendant's photograph that had been shown to Maria Hernandez, and Sophie D. picked out the same person who, as noted above, was apprehended, questioned and released. A criminalist examined hairs recovered from the home of Maxon and Lela Kneiding and testified that they were dissimilar to defendant's hair. A criminalist testified that it was uncertain whether semen collected from Sakina A. could be matched to defendant. Deputy Public Defender Allen Adashek, who was appointed to represent defendant soon after his arrest, testified regarding the circumstances of the lineup in which defendant was identified by several of the victims. Deputy Public Defender Judith Crawford was present at the lineup as an observer for defendant. Just prior to the lineup, Crawford saw a police officer who was conversing with some children raise his index and middle fingers. When the lineup formed, defendant was the second person in line. Crawford later saw another officer make a similar gesture, raising two fingers. A still photograph taken from a videotape of the lineup showed a police officer raising two fingers. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, an expert in eyewitness identifications, testified that memory degrades over time, that witnesses who are assaulted with weapons focus upon the weapon rather than the features of the assailant, and that members of one race have difficulty identifying members of other races. Sandra Hotchkiss testified for the defense and acknowledged that she was incarcerated at the California Institution for Women serving a term for burglary. She had committed numerous burglaries with defendant and had seen him sell jewelry to Felipe Solano. Defendant was an amateur burglar. She never saw defendant with a gun and never saw him act violently, even when provoked. Penalty Phase On September 20, 1989, after the court accepted the jury's guilty verdicts, the prosecution indicated that it did not intend to present any further evidence at the penalty phase, but reserved the right to call rebuttal witnesses. The court granted defendant a one-week continuance to present his case. *695*On September 27, 1989, defense counsel announced that the defense had made a "tactical decision" not to present any evidence at the penalty phase. Defense counsel then questioned defendant as follows: "[Defense counsel]: Mr. Ramirez, is it true that do you [sic] not wish to take the stand in your behalf during this phase of the trial? "The Defendant: Yes. "[Defense Counsel]: And you know that you have a right to take the stand? "The Defendant: Yes. "[Defense Counsel]: You know you have a right not to take the stand? "The Defendant: Yes. "[Defense Counsel]: You know that Mr. Hernandez [codefense counsel] has been in El Paso talking to friends and relatives about testifying on your behalf? "The Defendant: Yes. "[Defense Counsel]: And you agree with the tactical decision that we made not to put on any evidence at this stage of the proceeding? "The Defendant: Yes." In response to the court's question, Daniel Hernandez confirmed that he had "done extensive work" interviewing potential witnesses in El Paso, and had located "witnesses who are willing to come forth," but explained that the defense had decided not to present these witnesses. The court stated: "The court finds that the defendant's waiver of his right to testify and his waiver of the right to put on evidence during the penalty phase, these waivers have been freely, voluntarily and intelligently made and joined in by his counsel." DISCUSSION A. Pretrial Issues 1. Retention of Counsel Citing the decisions in*Wheat v. United States*(1988) 486 U.S. 153, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 100 L.Ed.2d 140*and*People v. Ortiz*(1990) 51 Cal.3d 975, 275 Cal.Rptr. 191, 800 P.2d 547,*defendant argues that the trial court violated its "positive, sua sponte duty" under the Sixth Amendment of the federal Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution "to ensure that appellant would be represented by qualified, effective counsel" by granting defendant's request for substitution of counsel. We disagree. As noted above, defendant was arrested on August 31, 1985. On September 3, 1985, a felony complaint was filed against defendant and the public defender was appointed as counsel. Defendant appeared in court represented by the public defender on September 9, 17, and 27, 1985. On October 9, 1985, Municipal Court Judge Elva Soper removed the public defender as counsel subject to defendant providing a written agreement retaining attorney Joseph Gallegos. On October 22, 1985, Judge Soper noted that defendant had failed to provide a written agreement retaining attorney Gallegos. Defendant indicated he no longer intended to retain Gallegos and instead asked to retain attorneys Arturo Hernandez and Daniel Hernandez (who are unrelated). The court stated that it had "conducted an extensive examination of the attorneys which the defendant desires to have substituted in as the retained counsel." Noting that defendant had the "right to retain counsel of his choice," the court stated that "it is important the defendant be fully informed regarding his choice of counsel at this point rather than to have serious questions arise later which could result in even greater**696*delay. This court cannot guarantee that such result will not happen anyway; it can only attempt to safeguard against it." The court stated that it had "informed Mr. Ramirez that neither Daniel Hernandez nor Arturo Hernandez have the legal experience which would qualify them to be appointed by this court to represent him in this case, nor do either attorney meet the qualifications set forth by the Los Angeles County Bar for the indigent criminal defense appointment panel." The court was interrupted by an objection from Arturo Hernandez, stating that he and Daniel Hernandez were not seeking appointment by the court but had been retained by defendant's family and terming the court's remarks "out of order." The court continued, stating: "Court is aware of that. Under the bar plan, an attorney would have to be a member of the California bar for a minimum of ten years, be an attorney of record in at least fifty trials, forty of which must have been submitted to a jury for decision, and thirty of the fifty must have been felonies. The attorneys must have been attorneys of record in at least three cases where the initial charge was a violation for Penal Code section 187 and at least one of those cases must have been submitted to a jury for decision. "Both attorneys fall short of these qualifications. In addition, it has been brought before the court's attention that both Arturo Hernandez and Daniel Hernandez have been held in contempt by the courts in Santa Clara County on at least two occasions; that on a third occasion a contempt citation was not sustained against Daniel Hernandez —." Daniel Hernandez interrupted the court to object on the ground that this material had been discussed during an in camera hearing, noting that he and Arturo Hernandez had been "assured that any information given to the court would be kept closed." The court continued, stating: "They are a matter of public record, sir.... And that there is presently pending in that court another contempt hearing for Daniel Hernandez' failure to appear at a preliminary hearing where the defendant is charged with a violation of section 187 of the Penal Code. [¶] . . . [¶] "It also has been brought to the court's attention that there is presently pending in Superior Court of Santa Clara County a hearing set for November 12 in the case of People versus Pinon where the district attorney's office has asked the court for — has asked for monetary sanctions against Mr. Daniel Hernandez for his failure to appear at the hearing in the Pinon case. "In view of the above facts, the court is ordering that both attorneys make full disclosure to Mr. Ramirez of any facts which might bear on their ability to effectively represent him in this case.... After this disclosure, if there are any made, the court will, if Mr. Ramirez desires, offer him independent assistance to check any information disclosed to him. "This court fully recognizes that the defendant has the right to retained counsel of his choice at all stages of the proceedings against him. However, it is also the view of the court that the defendant should be fully informed regarding his choice of counsel, so that he may make his decision knowingly and intelligently. It is a decision which must be made by the defendant.... In addition, the court has requested that the agreement retaining Mr. Arturo Hernandez and Mr. Daniel Hernandez be reduced to writing and that Mr. Ramirez be given the opportunity to discuss that contract with an independent attorney appointed by this court. [¶] ... [¶] "For these reasons, the court is going to take the matter of the substitution of attorneys under submission until October 24, 1985, to allow the defendant to investigate**697*the attorneys he now wishes to hire, if he so desires, and for him to have the contractual agreement looked at by an independent attorney. For that purpose the court has appointed attorney Victor E. Chavez of Los Angeles County." On October 24, 1985, the prosecutor, defendant, Gallegos, Arturo Hernandez, and Daniel Hernandez appeared in camera before the municipal court. Arturo Hernandez represented that defendant had entered into a written contract retaining him and Daniel Hernandez as his attorneys. The court had the following exchange with defendant: "The Court: Since you are bilingual, I want to inquire: the contract was written in English? "The Defendant: Yes. And I did read it. "The Court: Did you read the entire contract? "The Defendant: Entirety. "The Court: Did you have any questions regarding any of the conditions in that contract? "The Defendant: No questions. "The Court: Did you understand each item in that contract? "The Defendant: Completely. "The Court: You are aware that the court did provide an independent attorney for you to discuss any questions you might have with him? "The Defendant: Yes. He was provided and he did visit me yesterday, but I refused to see him." The court further questioned defendant regarding the possibility of a conflict between him and his counsel, and defendant stated he understood but felt there would be no conflict. Defendant declined the court's offer to permit defendant to speak to an independent attorney. The court invited defendant to request to speak to an independent attorney "if at any time in the future you change your mind." The in camera hearing concluded and, in open court, defendant acknowledged that he wished to substitute Arturo Hernandez and Daniel Hernandez as his counsel. The court relieved Gallegos as counsel and permitted the substitution. More than three years later, on March 6, 1989, during the presentation of the prosecution's case-in-chief, the trial court appointed Attorney Roy Clark as an additional cocounsel for defendant. As noted above, defendant argues that the trial court erred in granting his request for substitution of counsel, but the cases he cites do not support his assertion that the trial court had a sua sponte duty to ensure that he would be represented by qualified, effective counsel. To the contrary, the United States Supreme Court has just reiterated that an element of a defendant's right to counsel "is the right of a defendant who does not require appointed counsel to choose who will represent him. [Citations.]" (United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez*(2006) ___ U.S. ___, ___, 126 S.Ct. 2557, ___ L.Ed.2d ___.) A criminal defendant has a qualified right to retain counsel of his choice, and the trial court can deny a defendant's timely request to substitute counsel only if it "`will result in significant prejudice to the defendant.'" (People v. Gzikowski*(1982) 32 Cal.3d 580, 587, 186 Cal.Rptr. 339, 651 P.2d 1145.) "The right to effective assistance of counsel [citations] encompasses the right to retain counsel of one's choice. [Citation.] Though entitlement to representation by a particular attorney is not absolute [citation], `the state should keep to a necessary minimum its interference with the individual's desire to defend himself in whatever manner he deems best, using any legitimate means within his resources — and ... that desire can constitutionally**698*be forced to yield only when it will result in significant prejudice to the defendant himself or in a disruption of the orderly pr...... There's hundreds of more pages |
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02-22-2024, 04:07 AM
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| They Lied. There ALL LIES Poster Rank:302 <--We Did It. So Can You Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,210
Contributions: 48
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Re: Richard Ramirez Crime Scene Photos
I want to put the rest of the APPEAL on here if you guys will let me
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