People v. Aldana

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JESUS ANTONIO ALDANA, Defendant and Appellant.

Case No. B258749

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE

January 22, 2016

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

(Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. PA072310)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Dalila C. Lyons, Judge. Affirmed.

California Appellate Project, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Paul M. Roadarmel, Jr., and Nima Razfar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

____________________ Defendant and appellant Jesus Antonio Aldana was convicted of attempted willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder (two counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), burglary, and corporal injury to a cohabitant. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction of one count of attempted premeditated murder. There was ample evidence of Aldana's planning, motive, and manner of attempted killing to prove premeditation and deliberation, and thus we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Viewed in accordance with the usual rule of appellate review (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), we find the evidence established the following:

1. Trial Evidence.

Defendant Aldana and Ana D. were in a relationship that lasted for three and a half years before it ended abruptly in August of 2011 when Aldana attacked Ana. At that time, Ana and Aldana shared a two-bedroom apartment with Christian A., his girlfriend Cynthia S., and their one-year-old son Gabriel.

When Ana came home to the apartment on August 18, 2011, Aldana grabbed her arm and pushed her into their bedroom, where he began to punch her in the head. Christian heard the commotion and started knocking on their bedroom door while Cynthia called the police. When Aldana opened the door, Christian told him he was no longer welcome in the apartment. Aldana realized that the police were on their way and he fled. Aldana did not return or contact anyone in the apartment until the night of the incident at issue.

On December 28, 2011, at about 11:00 p.m., Ana was sitting on the couch alone in the living room watching television when Aldana walked in through the unlocked front door. Christian, Cynthia, and Gabriel had already retired to their room for the night. Ana testified that when Aldana saw her, he said "[h]ere you are, you damn woman," held her down, and began stabbing her with a knife taped to his right hand. Aldana told her, "No one is going to help. You're going to die here." At that point Ana started to scream for Christian. Hearing his name, Christian came out of his bedroom and walked into the living room where he saw Aldana stabbing Ana. Christian grabbed Aldana by the waist,picked him up, and pushed him to the side. Ana hit Aldana on the head with a small fan and then ran to her bedroom. Aldana then grabbed Christian and threw him onto the couch, yelling at Ana that she was going to die and telling Christian, "This happens to the dogs who fail me." Aldana stabbed Christian repeatedly.

Cynthia entered the living room in time to see Christian pull Aldana off Ana and then attack Christian. Aldana held Christian down with his left hand while he stabbed him repeatedly with his right hand. Cynthia testified that Aldana told Christian in Spanish: "I'm going to kill you, dog." Ana hit Aldana over the head with a fan, but it did not stop the attack. Cynthia then grabbed a stereo speaker and smashed it on top of Aldana's head. After he was hit, Aldana "kind of stopped." Aldana stood up and told Christian, "I'm going to take what you love," and turned to Gabriel, who had walked out of his parents' bedroom. When Aldana took a few steps toward Gabriel, Christian grabbed Aldana by his sweater and tried to pull Aldana back towards him. As Aldana removed the sweater, Christian saw that Aldana had a knife taped to his right hand. Christian unsuccessfully attempted to grab the knife from Aldana as they continued to fight. Christian eventually succeeded in pushing Aldana out of the apartment.

Ana was hospitalized from December 28th until January 5th. She had been stabbed four times in the back, puncturing her lungs, and had a seven to eight inch long cut on her arm. She required surgery on her lungs, hand, and arm, and was out of work for three months. Christian had been stabbed more than ten times. He suffered stab wounds to his head, face, chest, and arms which required multiple staples and stitches, with about twenty stitches and staples in his arm alone.

2. Verdict and Judgment.

Aldana was tried and convicted of charges stemming from the incidents in both August and December 2011.¹ With respect to Ana, the jury found Aldana guilty of attempted premeditated murder, corporal injury to a cohabitant, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. (Pen. Code, §§ 664, 187, subd. (a), 273.5, subd. (a), 459, 245,subd. (a)(1)).² With respect to Christian, the jury found Aldana guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted premeditated murder. (§§ 245, subd. (a)(1), 664, 187 subd. (a).) Aldana was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon against Gabriel. (§ 245, subd. (a)(1).)

The jury also found to be true the alleged special enhancements for personal infliction of great bodily injury and personal use of a deadly weapon. (§§ 12022.7, subds. (a), (e), 12022, subd. (b)(1).) Aldana was sentenced to a total term of life imprisonment plus fifteen years in state prison.

CONTENTION

Aldana contends there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for the attempted premeditated murder of Christian.

DISCUSSION

Aldana does not dispute that there was sufficient evidence to support his conviction of having attempted to murder Christian. However, he contends there was insufficient evidence that this attempted murder was deliberate and premeditated. There is no merit to this claim.

1. Applicable law.

"Review on appeal of the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the finding of premeditated and deliberate murder involves consideration of the evidence presented and all logical inferences from that evidence in light of the legal definition of premeditation and deliberation . . . . Settled principles of appellate review require [the court] to review the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment below to determine whether it discloses substantial evidence—that is, evidence which is reasonable, credible, and of solid value—from which a reasonable trier of fact could find that the defendant premeditated and deliberated beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations.] The standard of review is the same in cases such as this where the People rely primarily on circumstantial evidence. [Citation.] 'Although it is the duty of the jury to acquit a defendant if it findsthat circumstantial evidence is susceptible of two interpretations, one of which suggests guilt and the other innocence, it is the jury, not the appellate court which must be convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If the circumstances reasonably justify the trier of fact's findings, the opinion of the reviewing court that the circumstances might also be reasonably reconciled with a contrary finding does not warrant a reversal of the judgment.' [Citation.]" (People v. Perez (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1117, 1124 (Perez).)

In People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal.2d 15 (Anderson), the California Supreme Court discussed the three categories of evidence that are sufficient to sustain a finding of premeditated and deliberate murder³: "(1) facts about how and what the defendant did prior to the actual killing which show that the defendant was engaged in activity directed toward, and explicable as intended to result in, the killing—what may be characterized as 'planning' activity; (2) facts about the defendant's prior relationship and/or conduct with the victim from which the jury could reasonably infer a 'motive' to kill the victim, which inference of motive, together with facts of type (1) or (3), would in turn support an inference that the killing was the result of a 'pre-existing reflection' and 'careful thought and weighing of considerations' rather than 'mere unconsidered or rash impulse hastily executed' [citation]; (3) facts about the nature of the killing from which the jury could infer that the manner of killing was so particular and exacting that the defendant must have intentionally killed according to a 'preconceived design' to take his victim's life in a particular way for a 'reason' which the jury can reasonably infer from facts of type (1) or (2)." (Id. at pp. 26-27.) The court concluded that a verdict for deliberate or premeditated murder should be upheld where there is "evidence of all three types" or "at least extremely strong evidence of (1) [planning activity] or evidence of (2) [motive] in conjunction with either (1) [planning activity] or (3) [manner of killing]." (Id. at p. 27.)

" ' Anderson did not purport to establish an exhaustive list that would exclude all other types and combinations of evidence that could support a finding of premeditation and deliberation.' " [Citations.] (People v. Solomon (2010) 49 Cal.4th 792, 812 (Solomon).) "However, '[w]hen the record discloses evidence in all three categories, the verdict generally will be sustained.' " (People v. Stitely (2005) 35 Cal.4th 514, 543 (Stitely), quoting People v. Proctor (1992) 4 Cal.4th 499, 529.) When evidence of all three categories is not present, appellate courts look for very strong...