Sanchez v. The Superior Court

1

GILBERT B. SANCHEZ, Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Respondent;

THE PEOPLE, Real Party in Interest.

E080826

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division

April 16, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS; petition for extraordinary writ. Super.Ct.No. FVA701267. Michael A. Smith, Judge. (Retired judge of the San Bernardino Super. Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Petition granted in part; denied in part.

Mary K. McComb, State Public Defender, Andrea G. Asaro, Deputy State Defender for Petitioner.

Jason Anderson, District Attorney, Grover Merritt and Kyle M Karnes, Deputy District Attorneys for Real Party in Interest.

No appearance for Respondent.

OPINION

MILLER Acting P. J.

Petitioner Gilbert B. Sanchez, has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His automatic appeal is pending in the California Supreme Court (People v. Sanchez S239380, app. pending), and he is awaiting appointment of counsel for habeas corpus proceedings. Petitioner filed a motion to preserve and retain physical and documentary materials (Motion) seeking an order from the trial court to all agencies possessing evidence relevant to his case and prior convictions to preserve evidence and records in his case. The trial court granted the Motion in part but denied his request as to several requests to preserve evidence.

Petitioner petitions this court for a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate that part of its order denying petitioner's requests for preservation of records. We issued an order to show cause (OSC) in order for real party in interest, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office (the People) to address the denial of the Motion as to the Sheriff's Departments of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties; the District Attorney's Offices of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. We grant the petition and issue the writ, directing the trial court to order preservation of discovery materials "in the possession of the prosecution and law enforcement authorities to which [petitioner] would have been entitled at time of trial" (§ 1054.9, subd. (c)) as detailed in this opinion.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. FACTS, CHARGES AND PRIOR CONVICTIONS

The parties presented the following facts in the Motion, petition and return:

The victim in this case was raped and strangled to death in Fontana on October 18, 2001. In 2006, petitioner's DNA was matched by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's crime lab (Crime Lab) to DNA in sperm that was found on the victim. Petitioner was charged by the People with one count of murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(15)).^[1] At trial and during the penalty phase, the prosecution presented evidence of petitioner's prior convictions from Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Petitioner was found guilty on January 28, 2016, and the jury fixed the punishment at death.

B. MOTION TO PRESERVE EVIDENCE

Petitioner was appointed counsel from the Office of the State Public Defender to handle his automatic appeal in the California Supreme Court and the Motion was filed by his appellate counsel. Petitioner has not been appointed counsel to investigate and handle the filing of a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner alleged in the Motion that habeas counsel would not be appointed for a significant amount of years and that it was imperative to preserve the evidence related to the case, which could potentially be available to appointed counsel when filing the habeas petition. Petitioner contended that he was entitled to preservation of the records pursuant to section 1054.9.

In the Motion, petitioner listed the materials he sought to preserve from each agency. From the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office (SBCDA): (1) petitioner sought all material related to the capital case as follows: (a) petitioner's statements before and after arrest along with the names of witnesses who heard the statements and recordings; (b) law enforcement writings pertaining to the amended" 'Notice[s] of Aggravation'" filed by the People pursuant to section 190.3; (c) all witness statements related to the penalty phase; (d) all of his custodial records including jail, booking, housing, movement, transfer, classification, disciplinary, medical, and visitor logs; (e) his adult and juvenile probation records; (f) all physical evidence, including biological materials; (g) full and complete versions of law enforcement reports; (h) all writings by experts, including criminalists and the coroner from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (SBCSD); (i) all scientific and forensic writings including autopsy reports, cell phone records, DNA files, and many others; (j) all written background information on all persons who participated in any forensic or scientific work, especially including evidence of possible disciplinary action taken against one of the forensic specialists; (k) photographs and audio equipment; (1) digital versions of the Power Point presentation given by the prosecutor in both the guilt and penalty phases; (m) any evidence of payments to witnesses for testimony; (n) all custodial records of any cooperating witnesses or informants from October 18, 2001, to present; (o) any record of visits by law enforcement to witnesses or informants in custody from October 18, 2001, to present; and (p) all other impeachment evidence relating to witnesses or informants.^[2]

Additionally from the SBCDA, petitioner sought (2) all exculpatory evidence; (3) all writings related to the decision by the prosecutor to seek the death penalty; (4) all policy manuals or guidelines used by the People to make the decision to charge a special circumstance or seek the death penalty; (5) all information about investigation or notations made in jury voir dire and selection; (6) all policy manuals or guidelines used by the People to aid in jury selection; (7) materials related to "Sunshine Bishop," "Mr. Bishop," and/or "Mr. Sunshine; (8) all materials related to San Bernardino County Municipal Court cases against petitioner, including (a) law enforcement writings, (b) statements by petitioner, (c) physical evidence, (d) scientific evidence and reports, (e) background information on persons participating in forensic or scientific work, and (f) photographs and audio recordings; (9) materials related to an incident occurring in Montebello on June 16, 2001, involving petitioner; (10) all information on Fernando Renteria; (11) materials provided to the prosecution by any member of the defense team; (12) all impeachment evidence concerning law enforcement officers involved in the investigation of the case including (a) arrests or convictions, (b) internal investigations, (c) all records of any disciplinary actions, (d) misrepresented findings or reported findings later refuted by DNA evidence, (e) allegations of false statements or reports, (f) all mental health reports, (g) disciplinary actions based on the above conduct, (h) records related to discharge of a firearm by one of the officers or any incidents involving force used by a district attorney investigator, (i) any sexual assault investigations, and (j) reports of perjury or concealing of evidence; (13) all reports or hearings related to destruction of evidence in any case from October 18, 2001, to present; (14) policies and procedures related to evidence collection and preservation from October 18, 2001, to present; and (15) all audits or investigations conducted into evidence preservation and destruction from October 18, 2001, to present.

From the SBCSD, petitioner sought the following materials: (1) All material related to the investigation as follows: (a) defendant's statements before and after becoming a suspect along with names of witnesses who heard the statements and recordings; (b) full and complete versions of all law enforcement reports; (c) all witness statements; (d) his adult and juvenile probation records; (e) all physical evidence, including biological materials; (f) all scientific and forensic writings including autopsy reports and DNA testing; (g) all writings by experts, including criminalists and the coroner from the SBCSD; (h) all written background information on all person who participated in any forensic or scientific work; (i) photographs and recordings; (j) evidence of any payment to a non-law-enforcement witness or informant (k) all custodial records of any cooperating witnesses or informants from October 18, 2001 to present; (1) any record of visits by law enforcement to witnesses or informants in custody from October 18, 2001, to present. In addition, petitioner sought (2) all law enforcement writings pertaining to the prior incidents identified in the section 190.3 motion; (3) all custodial materials related to "Sunshine Bishop," "Mr. Bishop," and/or "Mr. Sunshine; (4) all materials relating to visits by a law enforcement officer to "Sunshine Bishop," "Mr. Bishop," and/or "Mr. Sunshine" while he was in custody; (5) all exculpatory evidence; (6) all materials related to any prior arrests or detentions of petitioner, including (a) all writings, (b) statements by petitioner, (c) physical evidence, (d) scientific evidence and reports, (e) background information of all persons who participated in any forensic or scientific work, and (f) photographs and video; (7) all custodial materials while petitioner was in the custody at the West Valley Detention Center and Central Detention Center; (8) all of his adult and juvenile probation records; (9) all files pertaining to an...