People v. Haydarov

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MERDAN HAYDAROV, Defendant and Appellant.

B281565

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

November 22, 2019

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. BA418786)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Lisa B. Lench, Judge. Affirmed.

David D. Carico, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Margaret E. Maxwell and Nancy Lii Ladner, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

____________________ A jury convicted defendant and appellant Merdan Haydarov of second degree murder. Haydarov contends his conviction must be reversed because the trial court failed to provide him with a competent interpreter at his preliminary hearing and at trial, thereby violating his state and federal constitutional rights. In supplemental briefing, Haydarov urges that the imposition of restitution fines and two assessments, without a determination of his ability to pay, violated his due process and equal protection rights, and must be stricken. We affirm the judgment.¹

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. People's evidence

Appellant Haydarov, who was 19 years old when he committed the murder, was born in Turkmenistan. He had moved to the United States approximately two years earlier, aspiring to be an actor. He lived in a Hollywood apartment with three American roommates. In November 2013, Haydarov was in financial straits. He was unable to pay his rent and had borrowed money from one of his roommates for necessities. He had attempted to cash a $12,000 check from his checking account, but it bounced. His father was scheduled to arrive from Turkmenistan to visit him on November 24.

a. The victim's disappearance

The victim, 49-year-old Randy Kreeger, lived in a condominium in Los Angeles. In early November 2013, Haydarov and Kreeger began texting each other. Haydarov used an alias, "Eric Demetri." On November 13, 2013, "Demetri" texted Kreeger, asking how he was and why he had not returned Demetri's text. Kreeger responded, "I felt like you may not be ready for all this yet, and it may be better for you to have experience with someone your own age that you have strong feelings for." Haydarov responded that he was "fine," and Kreeger should "teach" him. Kreeger reiterated, "Your first time should be with someone your age that you're crazy for." Haydarov answered, "I don't have nobody on my age." Thereafter, Haydarov sent repeated text messages asking to meet with Kreeger. Eventually, Haydarov and Kreeger arranged for Haydarov to visit Kreeger at Kreeger's condominium on November 23, 2013.

Kreeger missed an appointment with a friend on the evening of November 23, 2013, and did not arrive for a morning meeting with another friend on November 24, conduct which was out of character for him. Alarmed, on November 24, several of Kreeger's friends went to his condominium to check on him. A neighbor of Kreeger's assisted them in reviewing videotape from the complex's video surveillance system, which showed a man they did not recognize driving away in Kreeger's green Mini Cooper. Entering Kreeger's residence with a locksmith's help, the friends found his bedroom in disarray. The bed had been "pushed askew," the sheets were stripped from the bed, and a bloodstained rug was rolled up and placed behind a door. Several large black trash bags and a Home Depot bag containing bungeecords and black latex gloves was in the bedroom. Inside the trash bags were, inter alia, scissors, a bloody knife with a four- and three-quarter-inch-long blade, and bloody towels. Police were summoned.

An officer reviewed the condominium's video footage. It showed that Kreeger entered his building, after a visit to the gym, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on November 23. At 12:27 p.m., Haydarov arrived and entered the building. At 2:24 p.m., Haydarov, carrying a duffle bag he had not had when he entered earlier, went to the subterranean parking garage. He drove away in Kreeger's car shortly thereafter. At approximately 6:13 p.m., Haydarov returned to Kreeger's garage. He removed a large suitcase from the car, put plastic bags into it, and went inside the building. At 9:34 p.m., Haydarov moved the Mini Cooper onto the street, just outside the garage. At 9:45 p.m., he placed the suitcase, which now appeared to be heavy and full and had plastic bags sticking out of the ends, into the Mini Cooper's trunk. Haydarov reentered the building one more time and returned with a plastic trash bag, which he also placed into the car. He then drove away in the Mini Cooper.

By tracking the location of Kreeger's cellular telephone, at 7:30 p.m. on November 24, 2013, officers located Haydarov, who was driving the Mini Cooper in Hollywood. Quickly recognizing him as the person seen in the video footage, officers arrested Haydarov. He had Kreeger's credit cards in his wallet, as well as two of Kreeger's checks. One, filled out in handwriting other than Kreeger's, was made out to Haydarov, in the amount of $3,000.

b. Haydarov's confession

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives interviewed Haydarov on the morning of November 25, 2013, in English. Haydarov initially denied any involvement in Kreeger's disappearance. He claimed Kreeger had given him $200 in cash and the $3,000 check to help him out, and allowed him to borrow the Mini Cooper to pick up his father from the airport. After detectives displayed photographs of Haydarov loading the suitcase into the Mini Cooper, Haydarov confessed to killing Kreeger. According to him, after Kreeger gave him the check, Kreeger gave him a glass of water that tasted strange. Kreeger then made unwanted sexual advances. When Haydarov repeatedly rebuffed him, Kreeger pushed him. They tussled, kicking and punching each other. Kreeger purportedly picked up a glass ashtray and it broke. Haydarov grabbed it and punched Kreeger with it, cutting Kreeger's neck. Haydarov attempted to render medical aid, but to no avail. Kreeger died.

Haydarov thereafter went to Home Depot and purchased items to dispose of the body, with cash he took from Kreeger's wallet.² He wrapped Kreeger's body in plastic and other materials, forced it into a suitcase, drove to an apartment where he had previously lived, and threw the suitcase in a dumpster. He claimed that he threw the glass ashtray in a trash bin on the sidewalk on the street where Kreeger's condominium was located.

c. Discovery of Kreeger's body and the investigation

On the afternoon of November 25, 2013, officers and an LAPD criminalist discovered the suitcase, which contained Kreeger's body, in the dumpster at the location Haydarov described. The body was bent in half at the waist, backwards. It was wrapped in a blanket, a towel, plastic bags, and other materials, and was tied with various items, including plastic bags, belts, a scarf, bungee cords, and an orange ratcheting strap.

An autopsy showed that Kreeger's throat had been cut with a sharp object, such as a knife blade. The neck wound was "very large," spanning the entire neck and severing the trachea, esophagus, carotid artery, and internal jugular vein. Premortem wounds included a three and three-quarters-inch stab wound to Kreeger's back; a stab wound to the back of his head that went from back to front, down and forward; a defensive stab wound to his hand that penetrated to the bone; and stab wounds to his face. The wounds were all consistent with a knife being used as the murder weapon. The kitchen knife found in Kreeger's bedroom could have caused his injuries. It was highly unlikely that a glass ashtray, even if broken, could have caused the neck wound; the weapon had to have been "very, very sharp." Had the perpetrator used a very sharp piece of glass to inflict the injuries, he would have suffered deep cuts to his hands.

When interviewed and booked on November 25, 2013, Haydarov had scratches on his right leg and knee, ankle, and right buttocks. He did not have injuries to his fingers or hands.

Red stains on the knife found in Kreeger's bedroom matched Kreeger's DNA profile. The black gloves found in Kreeger's bedroom contained a mixture of Kreeger's and Haydarov's DNA. A red stain found on the heel of the shoeHaydarov was wearing when he was arrested also matched Kreeger's DNA profile. Blood and an orange tie-down strap were found in the Mini Cooper.

A glass cup found on Kreeger's bedside table was tested for controlled substances. None were detected.

Police found Kreeger's possessions, including his cellular telephone, key fob, passport, laptop, and checkbook, in Haydarov's apartment.

Officers searched in trash cans for the glass ashtray Haydarov had described, in the area where he said he had disposed of it. No such item was found.

On November 23, at 3:28 p.m.—after he had killed Kreeger—Haydarov sent a text message to Kreeger's cell phone, apologizing that he had been unable to visit Kreeger's home. On November 24, Haydarov texted Kreeger, asking how his night had been.

d. The defense

The defense presented no evidence.³ During argument, defense counsel conceded that Haydarov was the killer, but argued that the crime was, at most, manslaughter, and that the People had failed to prove the killing was carried out during the commission of a robbery.

2. Procedure

A jury convicted Haydarov of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)),⁴ and found he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon in the commission of the crime (§ 12022, subd. (...