Goodman v. Superior Court

Opinion

NEWSOM, J.

This case presents the question of whether the intentional disfigurement of a person’s face permits prosecution for the statutory crime of mayhem. It arises under the following circumstances, extracted from the preliminary transcript and presumed to be true for the purpose of resolving the legal issue before us.

Petitioner Numa Goodman had lived with the victim, Ms. Belcher, for about five years. On December 26, 1977, after a separation of several weeks, petitioner visited Ms. Belcher at her apartment. An argument ensued; petitioner, drawing a kitchen knife from under his jacket, stabbed Ms. Belcher twice in the left chest area, twice on the arm, and once on the face.

It is the latter wound with which we are concerned, since it forms the basis for the mayhem charge.

Petitioner was held to answer on a charge of violating Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a), assault with a deadly weapon, and entered a plea of guilty to that count. When the People moved the mayhem charge

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to trial, petitioner sought, and we issued, an alternative writ of mandamus to consider the question whether, as a matter of law, a five-inch wound inflicted on the victim’s face, resulting in no functional impairment, but in probable permanent disfigurement, could support a charge of mayhem. In the discussion which follows, a precise description of the wound in question should be kept in mind. The hearing judge’s description, based upon his observation, is as follows: “The Court: And then the witness is indicating—is this scar that I am looking at, a scar about three to three and a half inches long, right at the end of the right eyebrow, running from about two inches above the eyebrow to below the eye. As a matter of fact, it’s about four or five inches long. It runs into the cheek. [Deputy District Attorney]: And down almost parallel to the mouth? The Court: Not parallel. Does it go parallel to the mouth? Oh, it does, it swings in there. All right. Thank you.”

The statutory definition of mayhem is given in Penal Code section 203 as follows: “Every person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of his body, or disables, disfigures, or renders it useless, or cuts or disables the tongue, or puts out an eye, or slits the nose, ear, or lip, is guilty of mayhem.”