P. v. Taylor
Filed 5/12/06 P. v. Taylor CA4/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. FRANK LEE TAYLOR et al., Defendants and Appellants. | E036472 (Super.Ct.No. RIF109125) OPINION |
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Christian F. Thierbach, Judge. Affirmed with directions.
Patricia J. Ulibarri, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Frank Lee Taylor.
Conrad Petermann for Defendant and Appellant Michael Steven Ellison.
Barbara A. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Thomas Camenga.
Stephen M. Lathrop, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Jeremy Phillip Hitchens.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Pamela A. Ratner Sobeck, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Bradley A. Weinreb, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendants and appellants Frank Taylor, Michael Ellison, Jeremy Hitchens, and Thomas Camenga (collectively, defendants) were charged with the murder of Dale Link (the victim) under Penal Code[1] section 187, subdivision (a). Three separate juries were empanelled: (1) Blue Jury for Camenga; (2) Green Jury for Taylor; and (3) Red Jury for Hitchens and Ellison. The Blue Jury found Camenga guilty of first degree murder; the other juries returned second degree murder convictions for the other three defendants – Taylor, Hitchens and Ellison. Thereafter, the trial court granted Camenga's motion to reduce his sentence to second degree murder. The court imposed a prison term of 15 years to life for each defendant.
On appeal, defendants contend that their convictions are not supported by substantial evidence, and the trial court erred in instructing the jury. Moreover, Camenga contends that various instructional and evidentiary errors deprived him of a fair trial. Furthermore, Taylor contends that the trial court erred in delegating the calculation of his presentence custody credits to the probation department. We agree with Taylor that the court erred in delegating the calculation of custody credits. In all other respects, we affirm the judgments against the four defendants.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On the morning of February 21, 2003, the victim approached Hitchens, his fiancée Darcy Slater, and their newborn daughter. The victim became angry when Hitchens refused to give him a cigarette. The victim, therefore, brandished a knife and threatened to kill them. Hitchens then held up a can of pepper spray and said that he would use it. The victim left.
Hitchens and Slater also walked away. They soon met with the other three defendants, as well as another friend named Bobby Thole. All of them, including the victim, were homeless. Slater and Hitchens told the others about what had occurred with the victim. They went over to a McDonald's restaurant. There, Hitchens said, â€
