California Court of Appeal Mar 18, 2014 No. E057152Unpublished
Filed 3/17/14 P. v. Belmontez CA4/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
THE PEOPLE,
Plaintiff and Respondent, E057152
v. (Super.Ct.No. FVA1101852)
ISAAC RAY BELMONTEZ, OPINION
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Cara D. Hutson,
Judge. Affirmed.
Charles E. Mullis for Defendant and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney
General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Melissa Mandel, Stephanie H.
Chow and Donald W. Ostertag, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and
Respondent.
1
A jury found defendant and appellant Isaac Ray Belmontez, guilty of
(1) attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664, 187, subd. (a)),1 and (2) two counts of assault
with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2)). As to the attempted murder, the jury found true the
following allegations (1) the crime was committed to benefit a criminal street gang
(a)), (3) defendant used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)), (4) defendant discharged a
firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)), and (5) defendant discharged a firearm causing great
bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). As to both assault convictions, the jury found true
the allegations (1) defendant committed the crimes to benefit a criminal street gang
(§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(B)), and (2) defendant used a firearm (§ 12022.5, subds. (a) &
(d)). In the Count 4 assault conviction, the jury also found true the allegation defendant
inflicted great bodily injury. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a).)
The trial court sentenced defendant to prison for a determinate term of seven
years, four months, and an indeterminate term of 40 years to life.2 Defendant contends
his convictions should be reversed because the prosecutor committed misconduct by
improperly cross-examining the only defense witness. We affirm the judgment.
1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
2 The trial court incorrectly pronounced defendant’s total determinate sentence as 10 years, 4 months. The determinate abstract judgment reflects defendant’s determinate sentence is seven years, four months. The parties agree defendant’s determinate sentence is seven years, four months.
2
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A. PROSECUTION’S CASE
On December 2, 2011, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Jesus N. (N.), Jorge A. (A.),
and Victor Miramontes were in Fontana walking to a bus stop. All three were members
of, or affiliated with, the Latin Kings gang. While they were walking, N. and A. were
shot. It appeared N. was shot in the knee, while A. was shot in the stomach and back of
his head.
N. was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, and A. was 15 years old. A
police officer asked N. to identify the shooter, but N. “kept saying, ‘I don’t know.’” It
appeared N. did not want to speak to the officer. The area where the shooting occurred
was part of a territorial dispute between the Latin Kings gang and the South Fontana
gang.
A.’s sister, Lydia S. (S.) visited A. in the hospital. Three or four days after the
shooting, A. was able to talk, and S. asked who shot him. A. said the shooter had “spiky
hair, darkish, he was tall,” he drove a black Saturn, lived on Blanchard Street, and used
the moniker “Vibe.” S. asked N. who shot him, and N. said “Vibe.” S. told police
officers about the information identifying the shooter.
3
A. told a police officer that, prior to being shot, he heard a gun rack or cock, and
he turned around. A. saw the shooter. A. said the shooter’s name was Isaac, he drove a
black Saturn, and he lived “just around the corner from where the shooting took place.”
A. also told the officer he believed the shooter was a member of the South Fontana
gang.
Defendant lived approximately 100 yards from the location where the shooting
occurred. During the booking process, defendant told Fontana Police Officer Miller that
his nickname was Vibe. During an interview, Officer Miller asked defendant where he
was at the time of the shooting. Defendant initially said he was at football practice.
Defendant then gave Officer Miller additional places where he may have been during
the shooting: (1) driving home from football practice; (2) at home; and (3) at home, but
barbecuing with his girlfriend, their baby, and a friend.
At trial, N. said he did not see the shooter because “[i]t was kind of dark” and N.
“was like drunk and stuff.” At trial, A. said he did not remember being shot or a person
shooting at him. A. testified he was under the influence of morphine when he described
the shooter to police, if he did provide a description. A. said he was also under the
influence of medication at the preliminary hearing. A. denied knowing defendant.
B. DEFENSE’S CASE
The defense presented a single witness at trial: defendant’s girlfriend of five
years, Margaret Aguirre (Aguirre). Aguirre said she was at the home where defendant
lived with his parents on December 2, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. Defendant and Aguirre were
watching television. Aguirre said defendant did not leave the house that night.
4
C. CROSS-EXAMINATION
During the prosecutor’s cross-examination of Aguirre, the prosecutor asked,
“Prior to your testimony here today, have you talked to [defendant] about where he was
on December 2nd, 2011?” Aguirre responded, “No.” Shortly thereafter, the following
exchange took place:
“[Prosecutor:] Now, when you spoke to [defendant], was one of the possible
locations of where he was on December 2nd, 2011, did he tell you he might be coaching
a flag football team?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Prosecutor:] And he told you that there was also the possibility that he might
have been home; correct?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Prosecutor:] And he gave you different possibilities of where he might have
been that day; correct?
“[Aguirre:] No.
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. Relevance. Calls for hearsay.
“The Court: Overruled.”
“[Prosecutor:] Did defendant tell you that he remembers being with his friend
Jonathan Mora on December 2nd, 2011?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
5
“[Prosecutor:] So first he remembers being home; correct? That was one of the
things you testified, that [defendant] told you I might have been home as a possibility;
right? [¶] . . . [¶]
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Prosecutor:] Okay. And then he also said a second possibility, I might have
been at a football game on December 2nd, 2011; right?
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. Vague as to time on December 2nd.
“The Court: Sustained.
“[Prosecutor:] That evening at 8:00 o’clock, [defendant] gave you different
possibilities of where he might have been; correct?
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. Again, vague as to time and ‘where he might
have been.’
“The Court: Overruled. [¶] You may answer, if you know, ma’am. Do you
understand the question, or do you need her to repeat it for you?
“[Aguirre:] She’s confusing me.
“The Court: Okay. Could you repeat the question, [prosecutor]?
“[Prosecutor:] Yes, I will. [¶] On—when you spoke to [defendant]—
“[Aguirre:] Uh-huh.
“[Prosecutor:] —one of the things he said to you was, I might have been home
on December 2nd, 2011, about 8:00 o’clock that evening; right?
“[Aguirre:] He was home.
“[Prosecutor:] Okay. I’m asking you about his words to you.
6
“[Aguirre:] Okay.
“[Prosecutor:] One of the things he told you—[defendant] to you—is I might
have been home at about 8:00 o’clock on December 2nd?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Prosecutor:] Okay. Another thing that he told you is, well, I might have been
at a football game on December 2nd, 2011, about 8:00 o’clock. That was another
possibility; right?
“[Aguirre:] No. That was earlier. The football was before he came home—
“[Prosecutor:] Motion to strike as nonresponsive. It’s calling for a yes or no
answer.
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“The Court: Everything after ‘No. That was earlier’ will be stricken.
“[Prosecutor:] Thank you. [¶] Now, another possibility [defendant] gave you, at
about 8:00 o’clock on December 2nd, 2011, is he was possibly with his friend Jonathan
Mora; correct?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Prosecutor:] Was Jonathan Mora at your house on December 2nd, 2011, at
about 8:00 o’clock?
“[Aguirre:] No.
“[Prosecutor:] However, [defendant] did tell you that he remembered on
December 2nd, 2011, Jonathan Mora being over at your home; correct?
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. Vague as to time.
7
“The Court: Could you rephrase? Sustained.
“[Prosecutor:] [Defendant] did tell you that he remembers his friend Jonathan
Mora maybe possibly being home at about 8:00 o’clock on December 2nd; correct?
“[Aguirre:] No.
“[Prosecutor:] Did [defendant] tell you another possibility was I had practice, I
was probably at practice, maybe coming home about 8:00, 8:20, 8:30? Did he tell you
that?
“[Aguirre:] No.”
D. TRIAL COURT DISCUSSION
At the time Aguirre testified, Officer Miller had not yet testified about
defendant’s statement concerning the different possible locations where he may have
been during the shooting—the information came out in rebuttal. Outside the presence
of the jury, defendant’s trial counsel said the prosecutor was “looking at a transcript
while she’s asking those questions [of Aguirre]. . . . And [defense counsel was]
thinking perhaps the People were quoting from a transcript of a jailhouse conversation,
and there was going to be just an explosion in the courtroom here because [defense
counsel] didn’t have that [transcript].”
The prosecutor explained that she used defendant’s statement to Officer Miller
“when he said different possible places of where he may have been” when questioning
Aguirre. Defense counsel asserted that was improper impeachment because “nobody
ever said those [statements] were said to the girlfriend. They were said to the officers.”
Defense counsel asserted a remedy was needed for the improper impeachment.
8
The trial court asked if there was any indication defendant had discussed the
various possibilities with Aguirre. The prosecutor responded, “The reason I questioned
her is I’d asked her whether she talked about this case with him before testifying. She
said yes. So I went into having—I didn’t just make up where he might have been. I
took his statement and said, ‘Did he say to you whether he was at this place?’ and ‘Did
he say to you whether he was at this place?’ [¶] Those are defendant’s statements to an
officer. It’s admissible. And I simply wanted to know if he had made these statements
to her or not.”
The trial court noted Aguirre had testified she did not discuss the case with
defendant. The prosecutor said she believed Aguirre testified she did speak with
defendant about the case. Defense counsel asserted Aguirre said she never spoke with
defendant about the case. Defense counsel argued, “[T]his is very improper
impeachment because there is—there’s an infinity of—or at least a myriad of things that
[defendant] has never said to Aguirre. It just doesn’t make any sense. There’s no basis
in logic to ask her those questions. All it does is give the false impression that—that
[defendant] has said things that may or may not have been said.”
The prosecutor asserted there was no law indicating the questions were improper.
The prosecutor argued she had “a right” to question Aguirre about the possible
statements defendant could have made. The prosecutor explained, “I’m not making up
my line of questioning. I’m basing my line of questioning on possible locations where
the defendant told the officers he may have been.”
9
The trial court said, “My issue is the following: Ms. Aguirre is getting confused
because she doesn’t know where all these things are coming from. She has already
stated where [defendant] was December 2nd. In asking all of these other possibilities,
my issue is it did sound like you had some kind of transcript of some jail call or
something which would put those two in some sort of posture of making up alternatives.
Well, maybe I was here, maybe I was there, maybe I was here. [¶] And I don’t have
any indication that she is aware of [defendant’s] version of December 2nd events to the
police. So it’s kind of putting this witness in a posture where . . . she doesn’t know
where you’re coming from and she’s saying no and it sounds like perhaps she should be
saying yes because those two had discussed alternate scenarios for where he might have
been the night of the incident.”
The prosecutor conceded she should have phrased the questions to Aguirre as,
“Are you aware of that?” The prosecutor asserted the problem could be “clean[ed] up”
by the defense during “cross-examination”—the prosecutor should have said “redirect
examination.” The prosecutor then faulted defense counsel for not raising the objection
“vague as phrased,” if the questions were confusing. The prosecutor asserted the
information elicited was admissible. The prosecutor said she planned to call a police
officer to impeach Aguirre’s testimony that defendant was at home at the time of the
shooting.
10
Defense counsel argued the cross-examination testimony was not admissible as
impeachment because Aguirre testified defendant was at home watching television with
her at the time of the shooting. Defense counsel argued there was no basis for using
defendant’s statement to another person against Aguirre. Defense counsel asked for a
mistrial, or at the very least a pinpoint instruction informing the jury to disregard the
disputed testimony. Defense counsel argued the problem could not be “clear[ed] up” on
redirect examination.
The trial court said, “Well, now I’m hearing from [the prosecutor] that it’s not
really even impeachment. It’s more of an inquiry so that she can bring on a later
witness to show that these things were actually said and that this witness didn’t have a
clue as to any of that.” The trial court said the prosecutor intended the testimony “to lay
a foundation for later bringing in an officer.” The trial court questioned why the
testimony was not presented during the prosecutor’s case-in-chief. The court said, “[I]t
doesn’t sound like it was rebuttal testimony from the outset.”
Defense counsel asserted the prosecutor was looking at a transcript while
questioning Aguirre, which gave the “very prejudicial” false impression that Aguirre
was lying about a past conversation. The trial court said, “I’m going to let the
questioning continue as to what this witness is aware of. But I will caution [the
prosecutor] to phrase questions in such a way so as not to give the jury the false
impression that there’s some kind of transcript—or give the witness the false
impression, for that matter.” The court continued, “And my initial concern was that this
witness was being questioned about something that might have been in a jail call.
11
That’s what I thought. I thought maybe she and he did talk together. And now I’m
worried about what the jury might think.” The trial court denied the request for a
mistrial.
When questioning resumed, the prosecutor asked, “Is your testimony that you
have never spoken to the defendant, Isaac Belmontez, about what happened on
December 2nd, 2011?” Aguirre responded, “No.” As the questioning continued, the
following exchange occurred:
“[Prosecutor:] [I]f you were made aware that the defendant indicated he might
have been with Jonathan Mora on December 2nd, 2011, would that change your
testimony about where [defendant] was?
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. Calls for speculation.
“The Court: It will be sustained as vague as to time.
“[Prosecutor:] Are you aware that [defendant] indicated he might have been
with—
“[Defense Counsel:] Objection. States facts not in evidence.”
The court asked for defense counsel to wait for the prosecutor to finish the
question. The prosecutor said she had no further questions.
During redirect examination, the following discussion occurred:
“[Defense Counsel:] Earlier when you were testifying, [the prosecutor] was
asking various questions about various things. Were you ever confused about your
testimony here today that you were, in fact, with [defendant] around 8:00 o’clock on the
night of the shooting?
12
“[Aguirre:] Yes.
“[Defense Counsel:] When you say ‘yes,’ were you confused or are you sure
that you were with [defendant] on the night of the shooting?
“[Aguirre:] I was with him so—
“[Defense Counsel:] Were you with him around 8:00 o’clock?
“[Aguirre:] Yes.”
In rebuttal, the prosecutor called Officer Miller, who testified defendant gave
various locations as his possible whereabouts for the time of the murder: (1) at football
practice, (2) driving home from football practice, and (3) at home.
DISCUSSION
Defendant asserts the prosecutor committed misconduct by improperly cross-
examining Aguirre, who was the only defense witness.
“[A]n appellate court reviews a trial court’s ruling on prosecutorial misconduct
for abuse of discretion. [Citation.]” (People v. Alvarez (1996) 14 Cal.4th 155, 213.)
“‘“The applicable federal and state standards regarding prosecutorial misconduct are
well established. ‘“A prosecutor’s . . . intemperate behavior violates the federal
Constitution when it comprises a pattern of conduct ‘so egregious that it infects the trial
with such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due process.’”’ [Citations.]
Conduct by a prosecutor that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is
prosecutorial misconduct under state law only if it involves ‘“‘the use of deceptive or
reprehensible methods to attempt to persuade either the court or the jury.’”’ [Citation.]”
“[A] determination of bad faith or wrongful intent by the prosecutor is not
required for a finding of prosecutorial misconduct. [Citation.]” (People v. Crew (2003)
31 Cal.4th 822, 839.) Rather, the issue is whether the defendant’s right to fair trial was
impacted by the prosecutor’s conduct. (People v. Epps (1981) 122 Cal.App.3d 691,
706.) “It is improper for a prosecutor to ask questions of a witness that suggest facts
harmful to a defendant, absent a good faith belief that such facts exist. [Citations.]”
(People v. Warren (1988) 45 Cal.3d 471, 480-481.) Stated differently, if a prosecutor
has evidence, which provides a good faith belief in the existence of a preliminary fact,
then the prosecutor is entitled to question the witness in an attempt to establish a
foundation for further evidence related to the good faith belief. (People v. Lucas (1995)
12 Cal.4th 415, 467.)
The problem we encounter in this case is the prosecutor made almost no attempt
to establish a foundation for the supposed conversation between defendant and Aguirre.
The prosecutor asked if defendant and Aguirre had ever discussed defendant’s
whereabouts at the time of the shooting. Aguirre denied any such conversation
occurred, but the prosecutor probed further and, without immediate objection, asked
questions about a conversation that supposedly took place. The prosecutor failed to ask
foundational questions that would have (1) explicitly established a basis for a good faith
belief in the theory that defendant and Aguirre discussed his whereabouts at the time of
the murder, and (2) clarified exactly what conversation was being discussed with
14
Aguirre. For example, (1) when did the conversation with defendant take place;
(2) where did that conversation take place; and (3) were other people present during the
conversation. (People v. Singh (1912) 20 Cal.App. 146, 149 [foundation requires the
circumstances of the time and place the statement was made and the people present, so a
defendant or witness may intelligently deny, affirm, or explain the statements].)
The prosecutor leapt haphazardly into a cross-examination that had no
foundation. The results were confusing, as stated by Aguirre, the trial court, and
defendant’s trial counsel. While we agree the cross-examination may have been
confusing, we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding the
prosecutor’s conduct did not rise to the level of misconduct.
The flaw in defendant’s argument lies with Aguirre’s response to the
prosecutor’s second question about the supposed conversation. The prosecutor asked,
“Now, when you spoke to [defendant], was one of the possible locations of where he
was on December 2nd, 2011, did he tell you he might be coaching a flag football team?”
Aguirre responded, “Yes.” At that point, Aguirre contradicted her earlier testimony that
she had not spoken to defendant about his possible whereabouts on the night of the
shooting, thus opening the door to further questions about the alleged conversation. The
prosecutor then went on to question Aguirre about various possible locations defendant
may have told Aguirre he could have been during the shooting. The locations
mentioned by the prosecutor were consistent with the locations defendant mentioned to
Officer Miller.
15
The logic behind the cross-examination questions appears to be that defendant
made statements concerning his whereabouts to Officer Miller, so defendant may have
made similar statements to Aguirre. The trial court could view this as valid reasoning
for a good faith belief because: (1) Aguirre gave contradictory testimony concerning
whether she had spoken to defendant about his possible location at the time of the
shooting, and (2) it is within the realm of reasonable possibilities that defendant gave
the same information to Aguirre that he gave to Officer Miller, since it was essentially
only a timeline of his evening (football practice, driving home, and home). Since there
is a logical means of concluding the prosecutor had a good faith belief behind the line of
questioning, and the questions were connected to the potential evidence related to
Officer Miller’s and defendant’s conversation,3 we must conclude the trial court did not
abuse its discretion in finding the prosecutor did not commit misconduct.
We are not concluding the prosecutor’s questions were artful or well worded. As
explained ante, the lack of foundation could be viewed as confusing. We are only
concluding that it was within the bounds of reason for the trial court to conclude the
prosecutor had a good faith belief defendant discussed the same possible locations with
Aguirre that he did with Officer Miller (once Aguirre contradicted herself about
speaking to defendant), thus causing the line of questioning to not be prosecutorial
misconduct, i.e. it was not reprehensible or deceptive.
3 We refer to defendant’s conversation with Officer Miller about the possible locations as “potential evidence” because Officer Miller had not testified about the conversation at the time Aguirre testified.
16
Defendant asserts the combination of the improper questions and use of the
transcript caused the prosecutor’s behavior to be reprehensible. We are limited to
looking for an abuse of discretion, which means we must affirm if the trial court’s
decision was rational. (People v. Carmony (2004) 33 Cal.4th 367, 376 [an abuse of
discretion occurs when a decision is irrational or arbitrary].)
In the circumstances of this case, given the prosecutor’s lack of foundational
questions, the use of the transcript could be viewed as a reasonable means of ensuring
the prosecutor kept the questions to Aguirre consistent with the information defendant
gave to Officer Miller. In other words, rather than viewing the use of the transcript as a
reprehensible or deceptive tactic, the trial court could reasonably view the use of the
transcript as a beneficial tool to keep the questions connected to the evidence, which
was necessary given the lack of foundation. For example, the transcript likely reminded
the prosecutor of the locations defendant mentioned to Officer Miller, so the
prosecutor’s cross-examination of Aguirre stayed within the bounds of that
information—it kept the questions connected to potential evidence, thus keeping the
examination within the bounds of a good faith belief. Again, we are not endorsing the
prosecutor’s methods. We are only concluding one could reasonably view the conduct
as not being reprehensible. Stated differently, the cross-examination was inartful, but it
did not rise to the level of misconduct.
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DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
MILLER J.
We concur:
RICHLI Acting P. J.
KING J.
18
AI Brief
AI-generated · verify before citing
Holding. The court held that the prosecutor's cross-examination of the defense witness did not constitute prosecutorial misconduct because the questions were based on a good-faith belief derived from the defendant's own statements to police, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a mistrial.
Issues
Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct by improperly cross-examining the sole defense witness regarding the defendant's whereabouts.
Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying a motion for mistrial based on the prosecutor's cross-examination tactics.
Disposition. Affirmed
Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion
“It is improper for a prosecutor to ask questions of a witness that suggest facts harmful to a defendant, absent a good faith belief that such facts exist.”
“The cross-examination was inartful, but it did not rise to the level of misconduct.”