People v. Reynoza, H047594

Defendant Raymond Reynoza was tried for dissuading a witness under Penal Code §136.1(b)(2) after an altercation outside a San Jose bar in June 2017 in which Rafael Cornejo was confronted, told to “drop the charges” and shortly thereafter was punched and died.
Cornejo, Reynoza’s brother, and another man had been arrested in February 2017 for misdemeanor firearm possession; a complaint had been filed in that underlying Gilroy prosecution before the June incident.
At trial Reynoza was acquitted of murder but convicted of witness dissuasion (§136.1(b)(2)); the jury found a conspiracy enhancement true and the force allegation not true.
On appeal Reynoza argued the evidence was insufficient because §136.1(b)(2) punishes attempts to prevent a complaint from being filed, and here a complaint had already been filed.
The appellate court held the statutory phrase “causing a complaint . . . to be sought and prosecuted” refers to preventing or dissuading the filing of a charging document (or a subsequent/amended charging document when the defendant intends that), and found no evidence Reynoza was unaware a complaint was filed or intended to prevent an amended filing.
Because the prosecution failed to prove an essential element of §136.1(b)(2), the conviction was reversed for insufficient evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether §136.1(b)(2) criminalizes attempts to dissuade a witness after a charging document has already been filed	The Attorney General: §136.1(b)(2) covers attempts to dissuade assisting in prosecution even post-filing	Reynoza: §136.1(b)(2) targets efforts to prevent a complaint from being filed; conviction improper where complaint already filed	The court: §136.1(b)(2) requires an attempt to prevent or dissuade the filing of a complaint (or an amended/subsequent filing, or where defendant is unaware a filing already occurred); conviction reversed for insufficient evidence

People v. Fernandez, 106 Cal.App.4th 943 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003) (construed §136.1(b) as punishing pre-arrest efforts to prevent reporting)
People v. Hallock, 208 Cal.App.3d 595 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989) (distinguished subdivisions; supported pre-filing construction)
People v. Brown, 6 Cal.App.5th 1074 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016) (read §136.1(b)(2) to require prevention before filing; noted exception if defendant unaware a complaint was filed)
People v. Velazquez, 201 Cal.App.4th 219 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011) (concluded §136.1(b)(2) could apply post-filing; appellate court here rejected that reading)
People v. Leiva, 56 Cal.4th 498 (Cal. 2013) (statutory-construction canon: give effect to every word in a statute)