People v. MendivalPeople v. Mendival
Opinion
On December 26, 1989, codefendants Alfredo Meza, Trinidad Angulo Mendival, and Juan Rodriguez were charged with transporting cocaine in count one (
On March 13, 1990, after jury trial, Meza was found guilty on all counts and the enhаncements were found to be true. Rodriguez was found guilty on counts one and two (he was not charged in count three), and the enhancements were found to be true. Mendival was found guilty on all counts and the enhancements were found to be true.
On April 12, 1990, Mendival received the same sentence as Meza, for a total of 11 years in state prison.
On April 26,1990, Rodriguez was sentenced to the midterm of four years on count one, with three yеars consecutively on the weight enhancement and one year consecutively on the arming enhancement. On count two, he received a concurrent sentence of four years, with three years on the weight enhancement. Thus, his total sentence was eight years.
All three defendants now appeal.
Facts
Ascension Duran was a paid police informant.
On November 1, 1989, Duran went to Express Auto Body in Fresno and met Rodriguez, who worked there. Duran subsequently reported to his police contact, Officer Alex Flores, that Rodriguez said he could obtain cocaine.
On November 3, 1989, Duran, in rеsponse to a call he had received the night before from Rodriguez, went back to Express Auto Body. Rodriguez showed Duran a kilo of cocaine, and the two discussed purchase of the kilo by Duran. Duran did not, however, purchase the kilo, because Officer Flores was not prepared to make an arrest.
On November 6,1990, Duran again went to Express Auto Body and again talked with Rodriguez. Rodriguez told Duran there was a likelihood of 50 kilograms of cocaine arriving in Fresno that evening or the next morning. If that occurred, Rodriguez continued, perhaps two kilos could be brought to Express Auto Body so that Duran could see them.
The next day, Duran went again to Express Auto Body. Rodriguez reported that the expected shipment had not arrived, and promised to get in touch with Duran when it did.
The following day, November 9, 1990, Duran went to Express Auto Body and tаlked with both Rodriguez and Rodriguez’s brother, Alfredo Meza. Meza told Duran that a kilo or more of cocaine could be delivered to the Stockton area; in fact, on previous occasions, he (Meza) and Rodriguez had made kilo quantity deliveries to Stockton and even further north than Stockton.
On November 20,1989, Duran contacted Officer Flores, stated that he had spoken with Rodriguez, and expressed optimism that a sale of three to five kilograms could take place that afternoon or evening. Later the same day, Duran went to Express Auto Body. Rodriguez was there, and told Duran that Meza was out conducting business but would be back soon. When Meza got back, Rodriguez continued, Duran could be shown the cocaine. Duran could either stay at the shop and wait for Meza, or leave and call back later.
Duran left Express Auto Body and returned a short time later. This time Meza was present at Express Auto Body. Meza said to Duran: “Follow me. Let’s go over and see it.” Meza pulled out in a car, and Duran immediately followed in his own car.
Meza led Duran to a residence on Iowa Street, and the pair went inside the residence. There Meza showed Duran three brick kilos. Meza and Duran discussed the possibility of Duran buying more than three kilos, and Meza said he could come up with two more within a day. Meza quoted Duran a price of $17,000 per kilo. This was the same price Rodriguez had quoted Duran earlier. Meza gave Duran his number, and told Duran to call him whenever he was ready. Duran left and contactеd Officer Flores. He then called the number Meza had given him and arranged to meet Meza at Highway 99 and Olive.
Mendival arrived at the Iowa Street residence while Meza was there. The two of them went in Meza’s white Toyota to a gas station. They then went to a house on Fourth Street. The Fourth Street house was Meza’s uncle’s house. Meza called Duran on the telephone from Meza’s uncle’s house after Duran had called Meza’s beeper. During this telephone conversation Meza and Duran аgreed to meet at Olive and Highway 99 at 6 p.m. Meza then returned to the Iowa Street residence with Mendival. Meza testified at first that he placed the three kilos of cocaine in the trunk of the car before he and Mendival went to the gas station and to Meza’s uncle’s house. Later he
Meza and Mendival then left the Iowa Street rеsidence in the Toyota and met Duran at Olive and Highway 99. After three or four minutes, Duran’s car and Meza’s car headed north on 99. Shortly before the Meza vehicle was stopped by police, passenger Mendival was observed tossing a small object out the window. It was retrieved by police and was found to be a folded dollar bill containing a small amount of cocaine.
On Highway 99 the police stopped Meza’s car. In the car were the driver, Meza, and the passenger, Mendival. Lying on the frоnt floorboard of the car was an unloaded handgun. In the trunk of the car, inside a backpack, the police found 6.8 pounds of cocaine.
Discussion
/. Appellant Meza
Appellant Meza, the driver of the car in which the 6.8 pounds of cocaine were found, admitted the substantive offenses and the weight enhancement. He contested only the allegation that he was personally armed with a firearm. On appeal, he contends that (1) the trial court improperly instructed the jury on the allegation that he was personally armed with a firearm, and (2) the imposition of a concurrent sentence on count two (offering to sell cocaine) is prohibited by Penal Code section 654.
A. The “personally armed” enhancement
Both count one (transportation of cocaine) and count three (possession of cocaine for sale) included the allegation that defendants Meza and Mendival (the passenger) “in the commission of the . . . offense . . . were personally armed with a firearm, within the meaning of
“Notwithstanding the enhanceméñt set forth in subdivision (a), any person who is personally armed with a firearm in the commission or attempted commission of a violation ofSection 11351 . . . 11352 . . . of the Health and Safety Code, shall, upon conviction of that offense and in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the offense of which he or shehas been convicted, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for three, four, or five years in the court’s discretion.”
The trial judge instructed the jury as follows:
“It is alleged in Counts One and Three that in the commission of the crimes therein described that the defendants Alfredo Cuevas Meza and Trinidad Angulo Mendival were each personally armed with a firearm.
“If you find either defendant Alfredo Cuevas Meza or Trinidad Angulo Mendival guilty of either or both of the crimes thus charged, you must then determine whether or not such defendant was personally armed with a firearm during the commission of such crimes.
“A person is ‘armed with a firearm’ when he simply carries a firearm or knowingly has it available for use in either offense or defense.
“The word ‘firearm’ includes handguns.
“The People have thе burden of proving the truth of this allegation. If you have a reasonable doubt that it is true, you must find it to be not true.
“As to defendant Trinidad Angulo Mendival, you will include a special finding on that question on the verdict form that will be supplied for that purpose.
“As to defendant Alfredo Cuevas Meza, if you unanimously agree that he was personally armed with a firearm during the commission of such crimes, you will have your foreperson so indicate on the verdict form. Nothing further will be then required of you as to those crimes.
“If you unanimously agrеe that Alfredo Cuevas Meza was not personally armed with a firearm during the commission of such crimes, you will so indicate on the verdict form. However, you must then determine if Alfredo Cuevas Meza knew that another principal was personally armed with a firearm during the commission of such crimes. You will include a special finding on that question on the verdict form supplied for that purpose.”
The jury found that Meza was personally armed during the commission of the transportation and possession for sale сrimes, and also found that he knew that Mendival was personally armed during the commission of these crimes. 3 The jury also found that passenger Mendival was personally armed with a firearm during the commission of these crimes. There was only one gun, the gun found on the floorboard of the car on the passenger side.
The trial court’s instruction on personally armed
Meza argues that the trial court’s instruction that “a person is ‘armed with a firearm’ when he simply carries a firearm or knowingly has it available for use in either offense or defense” is erroneous. He contends that one is “armed with a firearm” only when he knowingly carries a firearm. Meza maintains that simply carrying the firearm is not sufficient without a finding that the firearm was knowingly carried, and that knowingly having a firearm аvailable for use in either offense or defense is never sufficient.
Since no evidence was presented that Meza ever touched the gun, Meza’s contention that “simply carrying” is insufficient and that a defendant must “knowingly carry” to be personally armed is academic. We are faced with a situation where either (1) Meza knowingly had the gun available for use in either offense or defense, and this is legally sufficient (as the People contend), (2) Meza knowingly had the gun available for use in either offensе or defense, but this is not legally sufficient, or (3) Meza did not knowingly have the gun available for use in either offense or defense.
Penal Code
In
People
v.
Pheaster
(1963)
In
People
v.
Reaves
(1974)
In
People
v.
Stiltner
(1982)
“A person is ‘armed’ with a deadly weapon when he simply carries a weapon or has it available for use in either offense or defense.
(People
v.
Reaves
(1974)
In
People
v.
Martinez
(1984)
In
People
v.
Miley
(1984)
In
People
v.
Hays
(1983)
In
People
v.
Garcia
(1986)
“In theCalifornia Rules of Court, rule 421(a)(2) provides that if ‘[t]he defendant was armed with or used a weapon at the time of the commission of the crime,’ that fact is an aggravating circumstance whether it is charged or not. We know of no case which has construed this rule to mean that a burglar must have a weapon on his person in order to be ‘armed ... at the time of the commission of the crime.’ The fact that a burglar may temporarily divest himself of a weapon, leaving it ready to hand, does not make him any less ‘armed.’ ‘A person is “armed” with a deadly weapon when he simply carries a weapon or has it available for use in either offense or defense.’ (People v. Stiltner (1982)132 Cal.App.3d 216 , 230 [182 Cal.Rptr. 790 ], italics added; People v. Reaves (1974)42 Cal.App.3d 852 , 856-857 [117 Cal.Rptr. 163 ].)” (People v. Garcia, supra, at p. 350, italics in original.)
In
People
v.
Searle
(1989)
“In
People
v.
Garcia
(1986)
In
People
v.
Wandick
(1991)
In each of the cited cases, the defendant was the only individual involved; therefore, the distinction between being “armed” personally and being “armed” vicariously was not addressed. However, clearly an individual would be “personally” armed if he carried a gun on him such as in his waistband. Appellant does not dispute this and argues that one is only personally armed when one has the weapon on his person.
Appellant reaches this conclusion based on an analogy to Penal Code section 1203.06 which provides in pertinent part:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1203:
“(a) Probation shall not be granted to, nor shall the execution or imposition of sentence be suspended for, any of the following persons:
“(2) Any person previously convicted of a felony specifiеd in paragraphs (i) through (viii) of paragraph (1), or assault with intent to commit murder under former Section 217, who is convicted of a subsequent felony and who was personally armed with a firearm at any time timing its commission or attempted commission or was unlawfully armed with a firearm at the time of his or her arrest for the subsequent felony.
“(4) As used in subdivision (a) ‘armed with a firearm’ means to knowingly carry a firearm as a means of offense or defense.”
Thus appellant equates personally armed with knowingly
carry.
However, we conclude Meza imposes on Penal Code
“The desire of the Legislature to prevent death and injury as a result of the involvement of firearms in the commission of crime is manifest from the various provisions for increased punishment for crimes where firearms are in some way involved. The underlying intent of the Legislature is to deter persons from creating a potential for death or injury resulting from the very presence of a firearm at the scene of the crime. Thus there is aggravated punishment for a person who is armed with a deadly weapon even though no use is made of the weapon. A person is armed with a deadly weapon when he simply carries such weapon
or has it available for use
in either offense or defense.”
(People
v.
Wandick, supra,
Wе discern the threat presented by a firearm increases in direct proportion to its accessibility. Obviously, a firearm that is available for use as a weapon creates the very real danger it will be used. Thus, punishment increases in terms of the relative danger—from availability to actual use. (
We view the term “personally armed” as used in Penal Code
In
People
v.
Cole
(1982)
Thus, we conclude the prohibited conduct is carrying the firearm or having it available for offensive or defensive use. “Personally” refers to the person who engages in this prohibited conduct. Under Penal Code
Therefore, we reject Meza’s first contention that “personally armed” does not include one who has a firearm available for offensive or defensive use but does not have it on his person.
Two people can be personally armed with one firearm
Under the facts before us, Mendival does not challenge that aspect of the jury’s findings that he was personally armed. The jury, however, concluded Meza was personally armed with the same firearm. Meza challenges the proposition that two people can be personally armed with the same wеapon. Can two people be personally armed with the same firearm? Certainly they cannot both carry it on their person at the same time. However, we see no basis to limit applicability of the Penal Code
The instruction used the term “available” which has a commonly held meaning.
“ ‘Available’. . . adj. 1. that one can avail himself of; that can be used; usable.
“2. that can be got, had, or reached; handy; accessible . . . .” (Webster’s New World Diet. (2d college ed. 1982) p. 96.)
We conclude the instruction adequately informed the jury in readily understandable terms that to find Meza was personally armed they had to conclude:
1. That he had knowledge the firearm was there, and
2. That the firearm was in a position that he (Meza) had access to it for offensive or defensive use.
The jury resolved these issues against Meza and we find no evidentiary basis to conclude that the jury’s resolution was unsupported by the record.
I. B.-III. *
Disposition
As to appellant Meza, the judgment is affirmed save and except that the concurrent sentences on counts two and three are ordered stayed. As to appellant Rodriguez, the judgment is affirmed save and except that the concurrent sentence on count two is stayed. As to appellant Mendival the
Harris, J., and Buckley, J., concurred.
Appellants’ pеtition for review by the Supreme Court was denied March 26, 1992.
Notes
The information incorrectly lists the code section for being personally armed with a firearm as Penal Code
See footnote 1, ante. The “personally armed” enhancement is actually found in subdivision (c), not subdivision (b).
The jury also found Meza knew that Mendival, a principal, was “personally armed.” Such a finding would relate to Penal Code
We are aware that the Fourth District reached this issue in
People
v.
Superior Court (Pomilla)
(1991)
See footnote, ante, page 562.