People v. Drew

222 Cal.Rptr.3d 541

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.Charles Patrick DREW, Defendant and Appellant.

G052949

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 3, California.

Filed August 29, 2017

David M. McKinney, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Alan L. Amann, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

BEDSWORTH, ACTING P.J.

This case requires us to examine the causation requirement for felony murder.

The underlying facts are grim. Appellant Charles Patrick Drew sexually assaulted Amber Oceja while she was in a diabetic coma, and within two hours of the assault, Oceja died from diabetic ketoacidosis. The experts all agreed that since Oceja was already unconscious when the sex crimes occurred, they did not materially contribute to her death. Indeed, it appears she would have died when she did even if appellant had not sexually assaulted her. However, appellant did not just sexually assault Oceja while she was unconscious, he failed to seek medical assistance for her knowing she was in dire physical condition—a fact which would remain hidden as long as she was confined in his motel room.

We hold there was a sufficient causal relationship between this fatal omission and appellant's sex crimes to support his conviction for first degree felony murder. We also uphold the jury's true finding on the felony murder special circumstance allegations. While appellant contends that finding must be reversed for lack of evidence he killed Oceja to advance his sex crimes, such evidence was not required—either as a matter of state law or constitutional principle—to warrant a true finding on that allegation. We therefore affirm the judgment sentencing appellant to life in prison without parole for committing special circumstance felony murder.

FACTS

At the time this case arose in 2012, appellant was 62 years old and Oceja was 29. They were both homeless and struggling with drug and alcohol issues, and Oceja was severely diabetic. Appellant knew Oceja needed to take her insulin medicine on a regular basis. He often looked after her and accompanied her to the hospital when her diabetes flared up. Thus, Oceja came to trust and rely on appellant. She viewed him as a caregiver and even listed him with her medical providers as an emergency contact person. Oceja was not interested in appellant from a sexual standpoint, however. She looked at him as a father figure and a friend, not as a romantic partner. Although appellant knew this, it did not stop him from taking advantage of Oceja in the hour of her deepest need.¹

Being homeless, appellant and Oceja did not have a lot of extra money for private lodging. But from time to time they received motel vouchers from local charities. On Thursday, March 15, 2012, they stayed at a motel in Anaheim, and the next day, they checked into the Motel 6 in Stanton for two nights. Contrary to her health needs, Oceja was not taking her insulin medication during this time. She had stopped doing so because a spiritual healer had advised her prayer, not medicine, was the best way to keep her body healthy. Appellant knew this was not the case and that it was actually very dangerous for Oceja to forego her medication. Yet, over the course of the weekend, he ignored the signs she was becoming increasingly ill due to her lack of insulin.

As it happened, two of appellant's other friends—Gina Culp and Bennie Kuhn—also stayed at the Stanton Motel 6 that weekend. On Saturday the 17th, at about 6 p.m., Culp stopped by appellant's room for a brief visit. At that time, Oceja was filing her nails on the bed and seemed fine. Nothing about her, appellant, or the room struck Culp as being odd or of concern.

But when Culp stopped by the next morning, she sensed a different vibe in the room. Oceja was sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. She did not appear to be physically injured, but her pants were sagging around her hips, and she seemed to be drunk or high. When Culp asked her if she was okay, Oceja said she was fine, but her speech was extremely slurred, and Culp could tell something was wrong with her. At Culp's suggestion, appellant called Kuhn to help him get Oceja up and moving so they could check out of the motel. However, that plan proved fruitless.

When Kuhn arrived at the room, he and appellant tried to get Oceja on her feet, but as soon as they propped her up, she slumped down onto the bed like a "limp noodle." Her eyes were rolling back in her head, and Kuhn thought she was drunk or on something. Suspecting Oceja just needed time to sober up, he told appellant he should think about staying in the room another night. Appellant took up the suggestion and booked the room for Sunday evening.

That night at about 5:30, appellant left Oceja in the room and went to a nearby store, where he purchased paper towels, tape, skin cream, a douche kit and a bottle of ammonia. He then went to a liquor store and bought a sexual performance enhancement pill before returning to the motel room. A short time later, at around 7:00 p.m., Culp called appellant's room and spoke to him on the phone. During the call, Culp could hear Oceja talking or mumbling in the background. When she asked appellant if Oceja was okay, he said she was doing fine.

Later that evening, appellant had a brief encounter with the motel manager. The manager was inspecting a broken window on a car that was parked at the motel when appellant stepped out of his room to let the manager know the car was his and that everything was okay. Appellant did not say a word to the manager about Oceja. However, she was so gravely ill she did not make it through the night.

The following morning, on Monday the 19th, appellant told a patron at the motel to call 911. When the police arrived at appellant's room, they found Oceja lying dead on the bed. Although she was not wearing any pants and had obvious trauma around her genital area, appellant denied having any sexual contact with her. He also appeared as though he was trying to make himself cry. Inside the room, investigators found bloody razors and an empty bottle of vodka. They also noticed the curtains were drawn and covered by bedsheets; there was blood on a pillow and the bathroom doorjamb; and the bed mattress, which was wet and bloody, had been flipped over. In a trashcan outside the room, they found an empty ammonia bottle, cleansing cream and two douche kits. And in appellant's car in the parking lot they found Oceja's backpack, which contained several syringes that were filled with insulin.

Oceja's body was cold to the touch, indicating she had been dead for some time. Her autopsy revealed she died from acute diabetic ketoacidosis. That condition develops when the body lacks sufficient insulin to convert sugar into energy. When that happens, the person's glucose and ketone levels will begin to increase, and if they do not receive medical treatment, they will eventually lapse into a diabetic coma and die.

At the time of Oceja's death, her glucose level was 520 milligrams per deciliter, which is roughly five times greater than normal. She also had alcohol, methamphetamine and trazodone (an antidepressant) in her system, but those substances did not materially contribute to her death.

Rather, it was Oceja's high glucose and ketone levels that rendered her unconscious and caused her to die. Oceja's death was not inevitable, however. An expert witness for the defense testified diabetic ketoacidosis is treatable, and even people with glucose levels much higher than Oceja's have been saved by emergency medical services. Thus, if appellant had called 911 when Oceja became unconscious, she could very well have lived.

Instead of trying to help Oceja, appellant sexually assaulted her in a brutal manner. Her autopsy revealed multiple injuries around her genital area, which was shaven clean, and a large swath of skin running from her outer labia to her anus had been denuded, i.e., "sloughed off." In addition, her inner labia was lacerated, and there were abrasions and a small tear around her anus. She also had bite marks on her thighs and breasts, and her nipples were mutilated. Given the absence of an inflammatory response to Oceja's wounds, the medical examiner determined they were inflicted within two hours of her death, while she was in the throes of a diabetic coma.

The police interviewed appellant multiple times about his relationship with Oceja and their activities at the motel on the weekend she died. Appellant admitted Oceja had never shown any romantic or sexual interest in him prior to then. However, he claimed she wanted to have sex with him after they smoked methamphetamine in their room on Saturday night, so he orally copulated her and penetrated her vagina and anus with his fingers and his penis. Afterwards, he noticed she did not seem quite right; she had a blank and lethargic look. Knowing Oceja had not been taking her insulin, he asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital. At the time, she was involved in a dependency case and trying to reunify with her children. Appellant said she told him she did not want to go to the hospital because her social worker would find out she had been doing drugs, which would hamper her ability to regain custody of her children, so he just let it go.²

The next day, Sunday, appellant said he noticed Oceja was "kind of out of it" when Culp and Kahn were at his room. However, when appellant came back from the store later that evening, Oceja wanted to have more sex, and he obliged. Appellant admitted shaving Oceja's pubic hair beforehand and seeing blood coming out of her vagina. He also admitted being a little rough with her during their sexual activity. However, he insisted Oceja was fully conscious and into having sex with him; he never heard her complain about...