People v. St. Pierre CA2/8

Filed 11/21/13 P. v. St. Pierre CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B244725

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. MA05517) v.

CASTOR M. ST. PIERRE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. David Walgren, Judge. Affirmed.

Daniel R. McCarthy, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Victoria B. Wilson and Jonathan J. Kline, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

__________________________

Castor M. St. Pierre appeals from the judgment entered after a jury convicted him of resisting a police officer, contending that the trial court erred by allowing the arresting officer to testify that an internal investigation had cleared him of making an unlawful arrest through the use of excessive force. We agree, but conclude the error was harmless and therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Shortly before 6:00 p.m. on December 10, 2011, Castor M. St. Pierre was detained by two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after they saw him riding his bike in an unsafe and erratic manner while the deputies conducted a traffic stop in Palmdale. Deputy Donald Chavez stopped St. Pierre because St. Pierre committed traffic violations and because he believed St. Pierre might be intoxicated. St. Pierre agreed to be searched and Chavez found a wallet containing no form of identification except for a bankcard in St. Pierre’s name. Chavez told St. Pierre he would cite him for the traffic violations and asked St. Pierre to sit in the rear of the sheriff’s patrol car while he checked to see if St. Pierre was the subject of any warrants. St. Pierre sat down but let his feet dangle outside the patrol car. Chavez asked St. Pierre to put his feet inside the car. When St. Pierre refused to do so, Chavez pulled out a pepper spray canister and told St. Pierre he would use it on him unless he complied. St. Pierre slapped the canister out of Chavez’s hand and began to stand up. A brief scuffle ensued, which ended after Chavez pushed St. Pierre back into the car and punched him twice in the nose. The motorist detained by Chavez was also seated in the back of the patrol car at the time. He testified that St. Pierre had not been combative or uncooperative, and had merely left his feet outside the car because he was tall and his feet were large. The motorist also denied that St. Pierre had slapped the pepper spray canister out of Chavez’s hand. Instead, he thought St. Pierre might have raised his hands to defend against the pepper spray. However, the motorist was impeached by evidence of a contrary statement that he made to another deputy sheriff that confirmed Chavez’s version of events.