People v. Proctor

1

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CASEY ADAM PROCTOR, Defendant and Appellant.

C096239

California Court of Appeals, Third District, Placer

April 9, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Super Ct. No. 62-181106

HULL Acting P. J.

Summary of the Appeal

A jury found defendant Casey Adam Proctor guilty of the assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer within the meaning of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (c), and assault with a deadly weapon within the meaning of Penal Code section 245 subdivision (a)(1). (Statutory section citations that follow are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.) The trial was bifurcated regarding prior convictions and, following the jury's verdicts, the trial court found true the allegation that defendant had two prior strike convictions making the instant conviction a third strike. The trial court denied defendant's request to dismiss prior strike convictions in the interest of justice under section 1385 and People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497. The trial court then sentenced defendant to a term of 25 years to life in prison.

On appeal, defendant challenges his conviction and sentence on five grounds. First, defendant argues his assault convictions are not supported by sufficient evidence. Second, he argues that the trial court erred in failing to provide the jury instructions on the lesser included offenses of simple assault and simple assault on a peace officer. Third, he argues the trial court abused its discretion in denying his request to strike one or more of his prior strike convictions. Fourth, he argues that recent amendments to section 1385 required the trial court to dismiss the allegations that he suffered prior strike convictions. Fifth he argues the sentence the trial court imposed amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the United States and California Constitutions.

We affirm the judgment.

Facts and History of the Proceedings

The Prosecution Evidence

At trial, Captain Douglas Alan Blake testified that on August 20, 2021, at around 2:20 p.m., he left the police department in Roseville to drive to a charity golf tournament in Auburn organized by members of the SWAT team.

Blake was wearing a short-sleeved olive-green polo shirt with the SWAT emblem on the left chest. His pants were tan BDU-style tactical pants, which resemble cargo pants. He wore his firearm on his belt to the right side and, next to that on his belt, his badge and badge holder. His badge holder is a black circle with the department badge, which has an emblem of the State of California in the center, and the banner around that says, "Roseville Police." There is a banner at the top of the badge that says "Captain."

The badge is shiny gold and the writing on it is dark blue. Blake wore a lanyard around his neck that had "Roseville Police" written on it in bright yellow capitalized letters. The lanyard held a laminated copy of his police department identification.

Blake was driving a police-assigned 2021 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor which was an SUV-style car with no police insignias on it. The car was not equipped with emergency lights or sirens. The door panels below the windows are white and the rest of the vehicle is painted black. The car had spotlights, or takedown lights, on the "A-pillars."

Blake drove east on Pleasant Grove towards south Highway 65. As he entered the highway, a traffic metering light was active. He stopped in the left lane at the red light, and to his right was a silver pickup truck, driven by defendant. The truck received a green light first and entered the highway. Blake then followed when he had a green light. There were two southbound lanes at that stretch of Highway 65, and Blake moved into the left lane. Just before the Stanford Ranch Road exit, defendant's truck was immediately to his right though just slightly ahead of him. Without using a signal, defendant began to move into Blake's lane. Blake stepped on his brakes, and defendant swerved back into the right lane.

Defendant held up his hand indicating he saw Blake's car, and Blake held up his hand acknowledging defendant's reaction. At this point, they were nearing an interchange to Highway 80.

When defendant looked over and saw Blake's vehicle, his demeanor changed, and he became very animated. Defendant's hands began to move, he slowed the truck down, and he began to shout in an angry tone. Defendant's reaction was so out of the ordinary that Blake was concerned about defendant's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Defendant slowed to a complete stop in the right lane of the highway, and Blake stopped his vehicle alongside the truck. Traffic behind them came to a stop, except one vehicle that passed Blake on the left shoulder.

At this point, defendant was leaning out the open window of the truck, waving both his hands in a sharp, angry, menacing manner, and was yelling angry words towards Blake. Defendant's face looked angry. Blake could not catch everything defendant said, but it included, "fuck you." Defendant was looking directly at Blake and Blake was looking through the front passenger side window which was rolled up.

Blake held his badge out the window and told defendant to pull over. Blake and defendant were about 15 feet apart, and Blake could see defendant clearly. Blake yelled slowly for defendant to pull over, hoping defendant would hear and understand, or at least see Blake mouth the words.

Defendant responded by becoming even more animated. Defendant clearly and loudly yelled, "Fuck you. I don't care. Fuck you." Defendant continued to wave his arms and make angry gestures. Blake then very loudly and very slowly told defendant to pull over a second time, while still showing his badge. Blake estimates he showed the badge for about 10 seconds. He did not identify himself verbally as a police officer.

When defendant did not move despite Blake's commands, Blake sought help from a patrol unit in Roseville. He used his police radio and radioed while keeping eye contact with defendant who was facing him.

As Blake was calling for backup, defendant very suddenly sped off.

Blake accelerated and got behind the truck. Defendant began weaving around other cars without signaling as the highway approached the split for the interchange onto east and west Highway 80. Because his vehicle was not equipped with lights and a siren, Blake stayed within the speed limit.

Defendant's truck was about 75 to 100 yards ahead of Blake, weaving around cars at a high rate of speed. Because he saw plumes of dust billowing in the air as the truck drove along the highway, Blake believed the truck drove on the shoulder which is surfaced by gravel and dirt. The truck was travelling faster than Blake safely could because of traffic and Blake lost sight of the truck.

Blake entered east Highway 80 driving the posted speed limit. He was not "in pursuit" of the truck but, as he entered Highway 80, Blake saw the truck about 100 yards ahead of him. He moved into the fourth, or far right lane, and was able to accelerate and get behind the truck. Traffic was traveling at a moderate speed of about 40 to 50 miles an hour, but Blake was able to drive 60 to 65 miles per hour and close the distance to the truck because there were not many cars in his lane.

As the fourth lane merged with the lane to its left, Blake stayed behind the truck. Blake closed to about two-and-one-half car lengths directly behind defendant's truck in lane 3 and was travelling about 40 to 50 miles per hour. He read the license plate on the car and radioed the number to dispatch and gave them his location. He also took photos using his cell phone.

As Blake was radioing, the truck moved into the middle lane and began to slow down to where it matched Blake's speed and was immediately to his left. As Blake was finishing his broadcast, he looked over, and the truck sharply and suddenly turned in his direction and started moving into Blake's lane of traffic. The vehicles almost collided and they started going off the road. Defendant was making angry facial gestures and sharp moving hand gestures.

The truck came within a foot, possibly inches, of Blake's vehicle. Blake had to sharply jerk his steering wheel to the right and slow down to avoid being struck. He had to move his car all the way out of the slow lane and onto the shoulder. The truck made it all the way into the slow lane and was partially off the road by the time the vehicles stopped. The shoulder is asphalt with dirt and gravel to the right of the pavement. The front end of Blake's car was on the gravel. The truck stopped to Blake's left with its back end partially in the lane of traffic but mostly occupying the paved shoulder.

Blake had been traveling between 40 and 45 miles per hour but, as the two vehicles moved to the shoulder they quickly came to a stop. Once they were stopped, Blake was unsure if he would be able to open his door given the closeness of the truck.

Defendant still had an angry look on his face, and he was yelling in an angry tone. His hands and gestures were moving up and down again. Blake and defendant were stopped for approximately 20 seconds; 30 at most. At trial, Blake had difficulty accurately recalling where on Highway 80 he and defendant were.

Blake again used his radio to broadcast the incident and to call for priority over whatever else officers listening at the time might be doing. The truck then accelerated back into traffic, crossing all three lanes of traffic into lane one. Blake drove back onto the freeway but stayed in lane three, the far-right lane.

The highway went past an off ramp, then, after the off-ramp ended, again went back to three lanes. The truck moved into the middle lane. Blake remained in...