People v. Guest

Opinion

BACKUS, J.

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The defendant, not living up to his name, was found guilty of being a state prison inmate who assaulted the person of another with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. (Pen. Code, § 4501; all future undesignated statutory references will be to the Penal Code.) He was also found to have intentionally inflicted great bodily injury. (§ 12022.7.) The court sentenced him to the upper term of six years with a three-year enhancement for the infliction of great bodily injury, the nine years to be served consecutive to the term he was serving at the time. The court also assessed a $1,000 restitution fine.

On appeal, the defendant sows the seeds of a number of arguments. In the published portion of this decision, we reject his claim that section 12022.7 is unconstitutionally vague. Similarly fruitless are his arguments (1) expert testimony is required to support a section 12022.7 enhancement; (2) his cross-examination was improperly limited as to the permanent nature of the victim’s great bodily injury; (3) photographs of the wounds were

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improperly admitted; (4) the prosecutor committed misconduct in his opening statement; (5) instructional error negated his theory of self-defense; and (6) the sentencing court failed to consider factors in mitigation, all six of which we find barren in the unpublished portion of this opinion. Thus, his conviction will be affirmed.

Facts

The defendant admitted stabbing inmate Ricky Reese six or seven times with a knife while assisted by several other inmates at the Susanville Correctional Center. The victim, whose testimony we are bound to accept on appeal following a judgment of conviction, stated he was the object of an unprovoked attack by the other men. The defendant claimed he acted in self-defense. Among other facts upon which this defense was predicated was his testimony the victim allegedly had been harassing him for several months and had warned the defendant to arm himself before the confrontation. Further, during the melee, the victim supposedly attempted to hit him by swinging a “lock in a sock” at him.