People v. Woody CA2/6

Filed 10/21/14 P. v. Woody CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B246390 (Super. Ct. No. F457894) Plaintiff and Respondent, (San Luis Obispo County)

v.

JOHN FREDERICK WOODY, JR.,

Defendant and Appellant.

John Frederick Woody, Jr. appeals a judgment after conviction by jury of first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. The trial court found he was sane at the time of the murder (in a bifurcated trial). It also found he had a prior strike conviction and a prior serious felony conviction. The court sentenced Woody to 56 years to life in prison, with 645 days of presentence custody credit. Woody experienced auditory hallucinations during the offense. He contends the trial court prejudicially erred when it refused to instruct the jury pursuant to CALCRIM No. 522 that provocation can reduce first degree murder to second degree murder. We conclude CALCRIM No. 522 has no application here. CALCRIM No. 627 adequately informed the jury of the effect of hallucinations on premeditation and deliberation. We correct the judgment to award 655 days of presentence custody credit and otherwise affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDUAL BACKGROUND Woody suffers from a severe mental disorder for which he has been hospitalized numerous times. He experiences auditory hallucinations and delusions. On the evening of May 7, 2011, Woody had not taken his antipsychotic medications for about two weeks. He was driving from Sacramento to Mexico. When he ran out of money, he stopped in Paso Robles and tried to use a credit card in a liquor store without success. He tried to sleep in his truck until he could go to a bank in the morning. Woody heard voices calling him a "crackhead," "junky," and "nigger." He became very agitated and walked around in his socks, looking for the source of the voices. He concluded they came from Martin James McWilliams who was standing inside a laundromat. He walked up to McWilliams and fatally stabbed him 30 times. Woody drove away in his truck. The laundromat's video surveillance camera captured the attack. The liquor store's camera captured an image of Woody's truck. Bloody sock prints led from the laundromat to an empty parking place. At 8:30 a.m. the following morning, Woody called 911 and said, "Yes, I would like to, uh, report an incident that happened the other night. Uh, I'm not really sure where I'm at but I would like to go down to the police station." At about 9:00 a.m., Woody went into a bank in Atascadero and tried to withdraw money from an account at a different bank. An employee called the police. When a police officer responded, Woody told him, "I need to go to jail." Woody's conduct was "bizarre." Woody had changed his clothes. A pair of bloody socks was under the truck's front seat. McWilliams's blood was on Woody's truck. Woody waived his Miranda rights and confessed to killing McWilliams. The jury heard his recorded interview. Woody said he tried to sleep in his truck but heard voices. He said, "[E]veryone on the street was calling me a 'crack head' so I couldn't sleep and I, you know, just fol – just follow the wind." Woody saw McWilliams talking to him. Woody said he went into the laundromat knowing he would stab McWilliams.