People v. Singh

Page 644

44 Cal.Rptr.2d 644

37 Cal.App.4th 1343, 95 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,372

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Shamsher SINGH et al., Defendants and Appellants In re Alan L. BURKE, on Habeas Corpus In re Shamsher SINGH, on Habeas Corpus.

Nos. A056838, A060943 and A063570.

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

July 20, 1995.

Certified for Partial Publication ^*.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing

Aug. 21, 1995.

Review Denied Oct. 26, 1995.

David Sundelson, Berkeley, James Jay Seltzer, William Mahannah, Timothy D. Murphy, Emeryville, for defendants and appellants.

Daniel E. Lungren, Atty. Gen., George Williamson, Ronald A. Bass, Asst. Attys. Gen., Thomas A. Brady, Rene A. Chacn, Deputies Atty. Gen., San Francisco, for plaintiff and respondent.

CORRIGAN, Associate Justice.

Defendants were convicted by jury of multiple felonies. They have raised various claims on appeal and by petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Their primary complaints involve challenges to the sufficiency of evidence; inadequacy of jury instructions; admission of expert testimony, "profile" and "other crimes" evidence; the failure to sever the cases against each for trial; and matters of sentencing. We reject all claims except those relating to sentencing and restitution, which will require preparation of amended abstracts of judgment by the trial court. Otherwise, the judgments are affirmed, and the petitions are denied. Those issues requiring the preparation of an amended abstract are addressed in the unpublished portion of this opinion.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Defendants Shamsher Singh and Alan Burke were charged in a fifteen-count indictment with three counts of grand theft (Pen.Code, § 487), one count of attempted grand theft (Pen. Code, §§ 487, 664), three counts of presentation of a false insurance claim (Ins. Code, former § 556, subd. (a)(1)), ¹ three counts of fraudulently causing an automobile accident for the purpose of filing a false insurance claim (Ins. Code, former § 556, subd. (a)(3)), one count of preparing a fraudulent writing in support of a false insurance claim (Ins. Code, former § 556, subd. (a)(4)), and four counts of illegal referrals for care without valid medical need (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 650). ² Some of the charges were against one defendant alone, while others were jointly brought. The case arose from a series of automobile accidents, in which Singh was a driver, and the subsequent chiropractic care and insurance billings by Burke, a licensed chiropractor. We set out the charges at length:

The jury found Singh guilty of counts three to five and seven to eleven, and not guilty of counts one and two. The jury found Burke guilty of counts three and six to eight, and not guilty of counts one, two, five, and twelve to fifteen. The court denied probation to both defendants and sentenced both to state prison. This appeal followed.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Because of the issues raised on appeal, we must set out the evidence adduced at some length.

The Collisions and the Chiropractic Care

1. The Rear-end Collision (Counts One to Three)

Just before 6 p.m. on October 15, 1986, Judith Petersen was driving on Alpine Road in San Pablo. She was traveling 15 to 18 miles per hour; it was daylight. As she drove into a blind curve, she struck the rear of Singh's car, which was stopped in the lane in front of her with no brake lights on. Petersen approached Singh's car and knocked on the window, but he would not respond to her. There were four other occupants in the car. Petersen testified to causing minor damage to the right-rear fender of Singh's car.

When Officer Mayes arrived on the scene, Singh and his passengers all indicated they were not injured. Mayes determined that Petersen had been at fault and there was only minor damage to Singh's car.

As a result of this collision, Shamsher, Amarjit, Daler, Ranjodh, and Satnam Singh ⁵ all sought treatment at Burke's Hilltop Chiropractic Accident and Industrial Injury Clinic and his Bay Area Medical-Legal Thermographic Laboratory. ⁶

Singh had 44 chiropractic appointments between October 20, 1986, and February 17, 1987; 11 of these were billed as "routine brief treatment." The total billing was $3,438.86. He was also given two thermograms, ⁷ billed at a total of $920.

Amarjit had 28 chiropractic appointments between October 20, 1986, and March 25, 1987; 7 were billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $2,692.20. He received two thermograms, billed at $920.

Daler had 25 chiropractic appointments between October 20, 1986, and December 12, 1986; 4 were billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $2,475.34. He received two thermograms, billed at $920.

Ranjodh had 25 chiropractic appointments between October 20, 1986, and December 22, 1986; 3 were billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $2,927.12. He received two thermograms, billed at $920.

Satnam had 12 chiropractic appointments between October 20, 1986, and November 14, 1986; 3 were billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $1,705.04. He received one thermogram, billed at $770.

2. The Truck Collision (Counts Four to Eight and Twelve to Fifteen)

At approximately 3 p.m. on April 28, 1987, Michael Prefling was driving an 18-wheeled truck and trailer on Interstate 80 in Berkeley. In preparation for merging into the lane to his right, Prefling looked in his rearview mirror and saw no cars in that lane. Another truck driver flashed his own lights at Prefling, signaling that the right-hand lane was clear for Prefling's merge. Prefling activated his right-turn signal and began the merge. When he was three-quarters of the way into the right-hand lane, Prefling felt a bump. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw a Volkswagen, driven by Singh, swerving as if the driver were attempting to gain control of the car. Both drivers pulled to the shoulder immediately.

Although Singh's car appeared to have been in several previous accidents, the only new damage Prefling saw was two scratches on the left side of the Volkswagen. This damage apparently had been caused by the lug nuts on the truck's right wheels. No one appeared injured. Singh told Prefling that he and his passengers were okay. They waited several minutes, anticipating a highway patrol car might pass. When none did, Singh and Prefling exchanged license and insurance information and left the scene.

Approximately one hour later, Officer Mathias of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was dispatched to Herrick Hospital in Berkeley. He arrived to find Singh and his passengers in the emergency room, lying on gurneys moaning in pain. A fifth individual, Ben Maharaj, told Mathias that the injured people were his friends, that they had been in a car accident and then driven to his auto body shop, and he had driven them all to the hospital. Singh initially claimed to have been rear-ended by a large truck. He complained of pain in his right leg, back, neck, and left thumb. His three passengers were Daler, Harjit, and Amarjit Singh. Daler complained of rib pain, Amarjit of back and neck pain, and Harjit of pain in his left shoulder.

Following this collision, Singh, as well as Amarjit, Daler, and Harjit Singh, received treatment from Burke.

After this collision, Singh had 54 appointments at Burke's clinic between May 1, 1987, and August 17, 1987; 10 were billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $4,597.80. He received two thermograms, billed at $1,120.

Amarjit had 33 appointments between May 1, 1987, and October 6, 1987; 6 were billed as "routine brief treatment," ⁸ for a total bill of $3,061.55. The record is unclear as to how many thermograms Amarjit received; however, his thermography bill for this collision was $1,240.

Daler had 28 appointments between May 1, 1987, and October 6, 1987, with 3 billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $3,065.05. His thermography bill for this collision was $1,190.

Harjit had 44 appointments between May 1, 1987, and August 11, 1987, with 10 billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $3,955.11. He received two thermograms, billed at $1,120.

3. The Intersection Collision (Counts Nine to Eleven)

At approximately 4:45 p.m. on January 4, 1988, Mary Briar was driving northbound on College Avenue in Berkeley. She drove into the intersection at Durant Avenue, with a green light. Singh, who had been stopped at the red light for eastbound traffic on Durant, suddenly accelerated into the intersection, striking Briar's car. Neither Singh nor his three passengers appeared or claimed to be injured.

Following this collision, Singh and Sardol Kwatra received treatment from Burke. Singh had 41 appointments between January 9, 1988, and April 25, 1988, with 8 billed as "routine brief treatment," for a total bill of $2,967.01.

4. Other Collisions

Evidence of other collisions, not the basis of any of the charges in the information, was also admitted. On February 26, 1985, Singh was rear-ended on an exit ramp of Interstate 80. Jaspal Singh was in the car with him. Both men were later treated by Burke.

On November 11, 1985, Singh purchased his original insurance policy from Farmers Insurance (Farmers). The next day, Singh sideswiped a truck on Interstate 80. Singh's passenger, Malkit Singh, sued him and recovered a settlement. Both men were treated by Burke following this collision.

On August 5, 1986, Singh ran a stop sign in Berkeley and hit another car. He was not injured and did not see Burke.

On April 20, 1988, Singh drove into an intersection through a flashing red light and was struck by another car. Singh received his last treatment from Burke for the intersection collision on April 25, 1988. On that date, Burke prepared a return-to-work form, clearing Singh to return to work on April 28. Also on that date, Singh completed a new patient questionnaire relating to the April 20 collision. On that questionnaire, he indicate...