People v. Wildman

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. VALERIE WILDMAN, Defendant and Appellant.

D078745

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, First Division

December 23, 2022

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County No. FVI1301535-3 Debra Harris, Judge. Affirmed.

Steven A. Torres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters and Charles C Ragland, Assistant Attorneys General, Melissa Mandel, Lynne McGinnis and Nora S. Weyl, Deputy Attorneys General for Plaintiff and Respondent.

O'ROURKE, Acting P. J.

Valerie Wildman is currently incarcerated following her conviction for first degree murder. She appeals the trial court's order denying her petition for resentencing under Penal Code,^[1] section 1172.6. She argues insufficient evidence supports the court's finding she acted as a major participant in the robbery with reckless indifference to human life. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This court's unpublished opinion People v. Ronell Frederick Bolden et al. (July 30, 2019, D074574) (Bolden) sets forth the procedural background, and we supplement it with other trial evidence.

Separate juries convicted Ronell Frederick Bolden and Wildman of first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1), attempted robbery (§§ 664, 211; count 2), and robbery (§ 211; counts 5 and 6). The crimes were committed in the early morning hours of October 7, 2012. The victim of the attempted robbery and murder was Duane Murley.

The People's original complaint also charged LaShawn Hay (Bolden's mother) and Phillip Peterson (Bolden's cousin and Hay's nephew) with murder and attempted robbery. A later-filed information charged Peterson with counts 1, 2, 5, and 6, and charged Hay of being an accessory after the fact (count 4). Peterson and Hay entered into plea agreements and testified at trial. (Bolden supra, D074574.)

Wildman's jury found three firearm use allegations true as to each of counts 1 and 2 (§ 12022.53, subds. (b-e)), and one firearm use allegation true as to each of counts 5 and 6 (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)). As to all four counts, the jury found that Wildman committed the crimes for the benefit of or in association with a criminal street gang. (§ 186.22 subd. (b)(1).) The court sentenced her to a determinate prison term of 26 years and an indeterminate term of 50 years to life. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)^[2]

Prosecution Case

On October 6, 2012, Bolden's and Peterson's grandmother hosted a barbeque to celebrate Bolden's 21st birthday, which Bolden, Peterson, Hay, and Wildman attended. It ended between 10:00 p.m. and midnight.

Peterson testified at trial that Wildman subsequently drove him, Bolden, and Hay to a nightclub. There, Wildman bought alcohol for the group, and they all were drinking a lot. In the club, Wildman started talking to Bolden and Peterson about committing a robbery in order to recoup the money she spent on drinks. She urged Bolden and Peterson to commit a robbery at a nearby restaurant.

Police interviewed Peterson, who was 18 years old at the time the crimes were committed. Police asked him why Wildman talked about committing the robberies. He replied, "Because she wanted some more liquor and stuff." Police asked whether Bolden "was good to do that?" Peterson answered, "Well, he didn't want to do it at first, but, [Wildman] . . . it was kind of like she forced people, like, not really forced, but ...." The police interjected, "Pushing the issue?" Peterson answered, "Yeah."

Peterson testified Wildman drove the group to the restaurant, saw some people in the parking lot and said they "could get those people right there." Bolden and Peterson left the vehicle. Peterson saw Bolden take a gun from his waistband. They walked up to two men, and Bolden "had words" with the men, and Peterson frisked them, took one's cell phone and the other's chain. Peterson testified that he heard Bolden say "gang stuff" like "Rolling 60 Crip." Bolden and Peterson then got back into Wildman's vehicle and she drove away. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

Police in the interview asked Peterson if Wildman saw Bolden's gun, and he answered, "Yeah."

A San Bernardino County Deputy Sheriff responded to the restaurant robberies in the early morning of October 7, 2012, and contacted one of the victims, who said a man, later identified as Bolden, pulled a revolver from his waistband and pointed it at the victims, saying he was from a gang. Bolden's companion, later identified as Peterson, frisked them for their property. That victim gave Peterson $60 and a silver watch. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

Peterson testified that after he and Bolden committed the first robberies, they got back into Wildman's vehicle with Wildman and Hay and Wildman drove away. They drove for a while looking for more people to rob. Eventually, Wildman decided to drive to a bank. A truck was parked in front of it, and Peterson saw a man exit the truck and walk toward an ATM in front of the bank. Wildman backed her vehicle into a parking space at the side of the bank and told Bolden and Peterson to "get out and go get him." A detective testified that when he interviewed Hay, she said Wildman had ordered a "lick"-meaning a robbery-at the bank. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

Peterson said when he and Bolden exited Wildman's vehicle, Bolden walked ahead, holding the same gun. Peterson stopped and lost sight of Bolden, who walked to the front of the bank. Peterson eventually heard two shots. Immediately afterwards, Bolden ran back toward Peterson and the two ran to Wildman's vehicle. Inside the vehicle, Bolden said he "messed up." Wildman rapidly drove away. She dropped Peterson off at his grandmother's house. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

A taxi driver testified that around 4:00 a.m. that day, she turned onto the street where the bank was located, and saw a truck stopped partially on the sidewalk with its engine running. She called 911, saying she could not tell if the victim inside the truck was breathing. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

Defense Case

Wildman did not testify at trial, but her police interview was admitted into evidence. (Bolden, supra, D074574.) She was 47 years old when the crimes were committed. As we summarized in Bolden, "Wildman told detectives that on the night of Bolden's birthday, she drove to [the club] with Hay and from there went to [the restaurant] to get a cup of coffee because she was not feeling good. She drove [there], parked, and went inside . . . to get coffee and use the bathroom. When she came out of the restaurant, 'there was some commotion or what not' but she did not know what it was about. She had been in the restaurant about 10 to 15 minutes. When she returned to her vehicle, Bolden and Peterson were present, and Hay asked Wildman to give them a ride to the bank so Peterson could withdraw some money from an ATM. Wildman did not know a robbery had occurred while she was inside the restaurant." (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

"Wildman told detectives that she drove to [the bank] with Hay, Bolden, and Peterson, and that Bolden and Peterson got out of her vehicle at the bank and she heard shots after they exited. After Bolden and Peterson ran back to the vehicle, she drove away from the scene and dropped Hay, Bolden, and Peterson off at Hay's apartment. She repeatedly told the detectives throughout the interview that she did not see the shooting at the bank and did not see a gun or know that Bolden had a gun." (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

Wildman described for police Bolden's violent conduct, and what she called his "crazy" tendencies. She admitted being afraid of Bolden's temper and what he "could do." She agreed that Bolden was "violent," and twice stated that he "would beat his mother up for a dollar." Wildman said she had seen Bolden beat up his stepfather. She also said that after the attempted bank robbery, she just wanted to get Bolden "home because I know that [he] is . . . [s]cary." She added, "honestly, [Bolden has] never given me any problems. I know he is a problem, because [his mother] has told me he's a problem. Like, I know he's beat up his girlfriend, went to jail for it, certain things like that."

Wildman explained her immediate conclusion when Bolden and Peterson returned to her vehicle after the bank shooting: "I thought, in my mind, that if [Bolden] doesn't get his way, shit hits the fan. Windshields get broke, things happen. That's what I figured, 'Oh he didn't get the money, here we go again. We're gonna go through the broken windshield or the car getting thrown in to park.' Things like that. That's exactly what I thought." Wildman said that when Bolden gets into one of his rage spells, "You almost have to have like a taser."

As we stated in Bolden, Wildman knew about Bolden's gang membership because in her police interview, she "initially denied attending the barbecue, stating she did not go because she heard it would be attended by people from Inglewood and she knew 'they're gang bangers.' She later stated that Hay had told her Bolden was 'a Crip' in Los Angeles and that Hay and Bolden had moved to Victorville because Bolden 'had gotten himself in some trouble[.]' Wildman added that Bolden 'always wears a stupid rag on his head.' When asked to describe the rag, she said she thought it was blue and that her boyfriend said it was 'Crip.'" (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

This court affirmed that judgment on direct appeal. (Bolden, supra, D074574.)

The Resentencing Petition

Wildman filed a petition for resentencing. At the contested hearing on Wildman's section 1172.6 resentencing petition neither party presented any witness or new evidence. The same judge who had presided at trial ruled on this petition...