People v. Slaughter CA3

Filed 2/28/25 P. v. Slaughter CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C100057

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 22FE000018)

v.

KEVIN DENNIS SLAUGHTER,

Defendant and Appellant.

While attempting to flee from sheriff’s deputies, defendant Kevin Dennis Slaughter fired his gun at Deputy Sheriff Jaycob Garrison, first during an attempted carjacking and again seconds later in a nearby parking lot. A jury found defendant guilty of several crimes, including the attempted murder of Deputy Garrison. On appeal, defendant claims the trial court erred by failing to issue a unanimity instruction as to that single attempted murder charge. The People argue that the trial court properly declined to issue the jury instruction because the continuous course of conduct exception applied. We agree with the People and affirm.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND At about 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Michael C.1 was walking to his car in a parking lot after leaving work. Defendant ran toward Michael C., pointed a gun at him, and demanded Michael C.’s wallet and car. After Michael C. complied, defendant drove away in Michael C.’s SUV. Michael C. ran to a nearby restaurant and called 911 with his cellphone to report the carjacking at approximately 6:05 p.m. At around 6:40 p.m., Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies found the stolen SUV abandoned in an apartment complex, and Deputy James Avalos reported seeing defendant running away from the apartment complex. Deputy Garrison immediately responded to the report, drove out of the apartment complex, turned onto the street, and immediately saw defendant holding a gun while attempting to get into a car stopped at the intersection. Defendant continued to attempt to get into the car, but the driver refused to get out. Deputy Garrison turned on his lights and siren, stopped his patrol car in the street, and defendant shot at him at least three times. Unable to get into the car, defendant ran to another nearby sedan. As defendant approached the sedan, he pointed his gun at S.B. and three passengers, demanding they get out of the car. Deputy Garrison grabbed his rifle and called out to defendant to stop. S.B. and the passengers got out of the sedan, ran away, and defendant got into the car. When defendant began to drive away, Deputy Garrison fired four shots at him. Sheriff’s Deputies Casey Pitto, Michael Keegan, and Matthew Lorigan arrived at the intersection in two separate patrol cars as defendant drove away. Deputy Keegan fired two shots at defendant as defendant drove into the center divider and through the intersection.