People v. Taylor CA3

Filed 8/21/24 P. v. Taylor CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C099370

v. (Super. Ct. No. 22FE014561)

JAMES EDWARD TAYLOR,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant James Edward Taylor guilty of assault, infliction of corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, and false imprisonment by violence or menace. The trial court sentenced defendant to five years in prison. Defendant now contends (1) insufficient evidence supports the conviction for false imprisonment by violence or menace, and (2) the trial court should have instructed on the lesser included offense of misdemeanor false imprisonment. Finding no merit in the contentions, we will affirm the judgment.

1

BACKGROUND N.D. had a dating relationship with defendant for 13 or 14 years. The relationship ended in 2018. In June of that year, defendant picked up a coffee table and used it to hit N.D. in the head. In a separate altercation, defendant threw N.D. down a flight of stairs. Nevertheless, at the time of the offenses in this case, the two had started to talk again. One morning in August 2022, N.D. awoke and found defendant sitting at her dining room table. She had not invited him. Defendant requested money, they argued, and defendant refused to leave. When N.D. went to the door, defendant put her keys and cell phone in his pocket. He closed the door and held on to it. She asked for her phone and keys but defendant refused to give them back. Although N.D. tried to leave at least two times, defendant would not let her out. He followed her around her home, grabbed her robe, threw her down, straddled her, took her by the hair, hit her head on the floor about four times, and also hit her in the back of the head. Defendant used a washcloth to wipe the blood on her face and then stuffed the washcloth in her mouth. He choked her, yelled at her, and hit her in the face with an open hand. He also struck her with his cane. N.D. ultimately managed to run to her bedroom, climbed out a window, ran to a neighbor, and asked the neighbor to call police. The jury found defendant not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon (the cane), but guilty of the lesser charge of simple assault. (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1).)1 It also found defendant guilty of inflicting corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition (§ 273.5, subds. (a) & (f)(1)), and false imprisonment by violence or menace (§ 236). In addition, it found true various allegations related to those convictions, including a prior strike conviction. (§§ 243, subd. (d), 667, subds. (b)-(i), 11702.12; Cal. Rules of Court,