People v. Gonzalez-Buttner

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THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ANNETTE GONZALEZ-BUTTNER, Defendant and Appellant.

D079065, D079435

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, First Division

May 18, 2023

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Imperial County Super. Ct. No. JCF001818, Christopher J. Plourd, Judge. Reversed and remanded.

Aurora Elizabeth Bewicke, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistance Attorney General, Robin H. Urbanksi and Alana Cohen Butler, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BUCHANAN, J.

Annette Gonzalez-Buttner appeals from a judgment after a jury convicted her on four separate charges involving her use of an allegedly false address to qualify as a candidate for a position on the governing board of the Imperial County Office of Education (ICOE). The charges, and the appeal, turn primarily on the elusive and variable legal meaning of the word "residence."

To run for a position on the ICOE board, Buttner had to maintain a "residence" within the designated trustee area in Imperial County. Although "residence" often means something broader, in this specific context, the relevant statutes defined "residence" to mean "domicile." Buttner did live with her parents in Imperial County when she was first elected in November 2013 but, about a year later, she obtained a temporary job in Santa Clara and, thereafter, she signed a lease on an apartment and enrolled three of her four children in public schools in Santa Clara. Meanwhile, Buttner kept her old room at her parents' apartment, and continued to receive mail and maintain her voter's registration there. Buttner ran again for the same position in November 2017 and used her parents' apartment address on her candidacy forms. She also used that same address on an application for a driver's license she submitted around the same time.

The District Attorney for Imperial County filed a complaint against Buttner in 2019, charging her with two counts of perjury by declaration (Counts 1 and 4), one count of false declaration of candidacy (Count 2), and one count of grand theft by fraudulent misappropriation (Count 3), based on allegations that she knowingly used a false address on the various forms. Buttner did not testify at trial, but the defense asserted she had-or at least honestly believed she had-maintained her domicile at her parents' apartment and therefore did not knowingly provide a false address on any of the forms. The jury convicted Buttner on all four counts.

On appeal, Buttner argues the trial court made numerous instructional, evidentiary, and other errors, including several related to the definitions of "residence" and "domicile," and that the verdicts were not supported by substantial evidence. We agree that the trial court did not adequately instruct the jury as to the meaning of "residence" and "domicile." And we conclude, further, that the error was prejudicial and requires reversal of all four counts. At the same time, we conclude there was sufficient evidence to support the verdicts. We therefore reverse the convictions and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

In a second, now consolidated appeal, Buttner asserts that she is entitled to resentencing under recent changes to Penal Code section 654, enacted by Assembly Bill No. 518 (Stats. 2021, ch. 441, § 1) (Assembly Bill 518), and that the trial court erred in ordering her to pay substantial sums in restitution.^[1] Because we reverse the convictions based on the instructional error, we need not address these additional arguments. If Buttner is retried and convicted on remand, she shall be entitled to new hearings on sentencing and restitution and amended Penal Code section 654 will necessarily apply.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Evidence Presented at Trial^[2]

Buttner grew up in the city of Calexico, in Imperial County, California. Buttner's parents, Juan and Yolanda Gonzalez, moved into a three-bedroom apartment on Rockwood Avenue (the Rockwood Apartment) in the early 1980's. The Gonzalez's had three children, including Buttner, and each lived at the Rockwood Apartment at various times over the years. But, for the majority of the time they lived there, including at the time of trial, Juan and Yolanda Gonzalez were the only ones listed on the lease agreement. The Gonzalez's received federal housing assistance, and met with a representative from the Housing Authority annually to verify their income and confirm that they continued to qualify for subsidized housing.

Buttner graduated from high school in Calexico in 1983. She attended college at the University of California, Santa Cruz for about three years, but continued to "come and go" at the Rockwood Apartment. Buttner moved back to Calexico sometime around 2010, to be closer to her parents. By that time, Buttner had four children of her own, and, at least initially, they all stayed at the Rockwood Apartment with Buttner's parents.

Buttner asked to be added to the lease for the Rockwood Apartment, but her request was denied. The maximum number of residents for the apartment was six. If Buttner and her four children lived there along with her two parents, there would be seven, and the apartment manager would consider the apartment overcrowded. As a result, Buttner and her children were not legally allowed to live at the Rockwood Apartment. The manager testified the complex was "pretty lenient," but if the tenants did not follow the rules, they could be evicted.

Buttner and her children moved into their own apartment on McKinley Street, also in Calexico, for a year or two, but then moved back to the Rockwood Apartment sometime around 2012 or 2013. When they left the McKinley Street apartment, they moved all their things, including their furniture, to the Rockwood Apartment. Buttner's parents kept their same bedroom, Buttner and her two daughters shared the second bedroom, and Buttner's two sons shared the third.

Buttner worked for the Calexico Unified School District at the time, and her four children all went to Calexico Unified School District schools. Her oldest daughter, Analise, attended a home school program for one year in 7th grade, but returned to Calexico public schools for her 8th grade year.

Buttner registered to vote using the Rockwood Apartment address in May 2013. The Registrar of Voters mailed voter registration documents to Buttner at the Rockwood Apartment, which Buttner signed and returned.

The 2013 Election

Buttner first ran for a position on the ICOE board, as a representative from Trustee Area One, in the November 2013 election. To be placed on the ballot, Buttner had to be a resident of Trustee Area One and had to submit several forms to the Registrar of Voters verifying her residency and other details about her candidacy.

Buttner filed a California Form 460, Recipient Committee Campaign Statement, identifying loans her campaign had received from July 1 to December 31, 2013. Buttner listed herself as a lender to her own campaign and listed the apartment on McKinley Street as her "street address." The form itself was not dated, but Buttner listed August 20, 2013 as the date the loan was incurred. Buttner also filed a form 410, Statement of Organization Recipient Committee, which was dated, December 30, 2013. On that form Buttner listed the Rockwood Apartment as her "street address." The parties stipulated that both the McKinley Street apartment and the Rockwood Apartment fell within Trustee Area One.

Buttner won the election, and obtained a seat on the ICOE governing board. As a board member, she was eligible to receive health and welfare benefits at the same rate as certificated management employees of the ICOE. She also received a stipend of $210 a month for attending board meetings and compensation for the cost of travel to qualifying conferences. However, the position created a conflict that disqualified her from maintaining her job with the Calexico Unified School District.

Buttner Begins Spending Time in Santa Clara

Meanwhile Buttner's partner, Christopher Stampolis was living in Santa Clara. Stampolis applied for a post office box in Santa Clara on October 9, 2012. He put Buttner's name on the application and listed an apartment on Kiely Boulevard in Santa Clara as his address.

Buttner obtained a temporary job working for a local labor union in Santa Clara and, in the summer of 2014, she took her two daughters to Santa Clara and enrolled them in a "College for Kids" summer program. They stayed with Stampolis and his two children at his apartment on Kiely Boulevard. At first, the girls thought they were just visiting for the summer, but, eventually, Buttner enrolled them and their brother, Julian, in public school in Santa Clara. Lenise started 6th grade, Analise started 9th grade, and Julian started 11th grade, all in Santa Clara, in the fall of 2014. Buttner believed the public schools in Santa Clara were better than those in Calexico.

Not long after, on October 8, 2014, Buttner and Stampolis submitted a rental application for a different, larger apartment in the same apartment complex on Kiely Boulevard in Santa Clara. Buttner stated she was working for the Laborer's Union in San Jose on the application. Buttner and Stampolis each signed a one-year lease for an apartment on Kiely Boulevard, from October 2014 to October 2015.

Buttner's oldest son, Christian, stayed in Calexico to finish high school. Certified records from Calexico High School listed Christian's home and mailing address as 1149 Cabana Street. Buttner's brother, Ruben Gonzalez, lived at the Cabana...