People v. Stables CA1/3

Filed 6/11/25 P. v. Stables CA1/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A170961 v. (City & County of San Francisco MICHAEL JAMES STABLES, Super. Ct. No. CRI20010968) Defendant and Appellant.

After a jury found Michael James Stables guilty of voluntary manslaughter while personally using a deadly and dangerous weapon, the trial court sentenced him to an aggregate term of 12 years in prison — the upper term of 11 years for the manslaughter conviction and one year for the weapon enhancement. On appeal, Stables argues his childhood and adult trauma were contributing factors to his offense, and the court abused its discretion by imposing the upper term. He also contends the court improperly made dual use of the jury’s weapon enhancement finding to impose the upper term. We affirm. BACKGROUND Stables’s conviction arises from a single event that occurred during an early morning in October 2020. He and his wife were sitting in their parked car in San Francisco — his wife sat in the front passenger seat, and he was in the rear. C.S.J. and Orlando Echeagaray Rios, both drunk, walked towards

1

the car. Using his elbow, C.S.J. broke the front passenger side car window and reached inside. He then broke the rear right passenger window and walked away. Stables grabbed a hatchet from his tool bag, exited the car, and chased after him. Twice he swung the hatchet at C.S.J., who ran away. Stables ran back toward the car and struck Rios — who was moving away from the car — with the hatchet. After Rios fell to the ground, Stables struck him again. Stables got back into the car and told his wife to drive away. Rios, who had a large laceration on the back of his head, died. An information was filed charging Stables with murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), undesignated statutory references are to this code), and attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664). It also alleged the offenses were committed with a deadly and dangerous weapon (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and that various circumstances aggravated both offenses. The jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of voluntary manslaughter. It also found true several aggravating factors — that the crime involved great violence (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.421(a)(1)), use of a weapon (id., rule 4.421(a)(2)), and the victim was particularly vulnerable (id., rule 4.421(a)(3)). The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the attempted murder charge, which the trial court subsequently dismissed. In a sentencing brief, Stables requested the lower term of three years for his manslaughter conviction based in part on childhood and adult trauma, and one consecutive year for the weapon enhancement. The brief recounted Stables’s history — beginning at the age of 12 — of witnessing his mother’s victimization in an abusive relationship. Counsel also discussed Stables surviving a gunshot wound in May 2020, which required major surgery for abdominal and pelvic injuries and a colostomy bag. Since being shot, counsel noted, Stables had repeated unwanted memories, hypervigilance, trouble