People v. Moses CA3

Filed 3/16/15 P. v. Moses CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C076037

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13F00202)

v.

LaSALLE RAMON MOSES,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant LaSalle Ramon Moses appeals from a judgment of conviction following a jury trial, contending the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a mistrial, which was premised on allegations the prosecutor committed misconduct in questioning a defense witness regarding defendant’s prior act of domestic violence. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On November 16, 2012, while Jessica Celmer was walking her dog at her apartment complex, she ran into defendant and a group of his friends. She saw that one

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of the women in the group turned away, and, thinking the woman was afraid of her dog, Celmer said, “ ‘Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.’ ” Defendant approached and challenged Celmer, saying “keep walking your dog, bitch,” “keep going, and get out of here, you bitch.” Celmer apologized, and defendant approached her with his arm raised as if he were going to hit her. Another member of defendant’s group physically intervened but defendant kept calling her “bitch,” told her to keep walking and he would hurt her if he saw her, and spit in Celmer’s face. On the evening of November 19, 2012, Alan Jones, the manager of the apartment complex informed a group of tenants and visitors who were gathered in an exterior stairwell that they had to quiet down and go inside. The group complied and Jones went back to his apartment. He heard noise outside and, through his window, saw defendant1 with an unleashed pit bull. Jones had previously received complaints about a man with an unleashed pit bull at the apartment complex, so Jones went outside and told defendant, who was not a tenant, he would have to leave and take the dog with him. Defendant responded that Jones could not tell him what to do; Jones repeated his instruction to leave and take the dog off the property. Defendant approached Jones and hit him in the face, causing Jones to fall unconscious. Defendant continued to kick Jones after he had fallen. As a result of the encounter, Jones had metal plates surgically attached to his jawbone, had his mouth wired shut, has several broken teeth, has two smashed discs in his back, has loss of hearing in both ears, and has loss of vision in one eye. At the time of the incident, Jones was 62 years old, was five feet five inches tall, and weighed 150 pounds; defendant was 24 years old, was six feet tall, and weighed about 200 pounds.