People v. Williams CA1/1

COPY Filed 3/19/15 P. v. Williams CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A139392 v. RANDEE DEMAR WILLIAMS, (Solano County Super. Ct. No. VCR216462) Defendant and Appellant.

INTRODUCTION A jury convicted defendant Randee Williams of possession of a firearm by a felon. (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1).)1 The principal witness against defendant was his next- door neighbor. Defendant contends the trial court committed reversible error by excluding defense evidence offered to impeach the neighbor’s testimony by suggesting the shots he heard could have come from somewhere other than defendant’s backyard. We affirm. STATEMENT OF THE CASE Defendant was charged by information in Solano County with murder (count 1) and possession of a firearm by a felon on November 25, 2012 (count 2); and possession of a firearm by a felon between August 1 and September 30, 2012 (count 3). (§§ 187, subd. (a), 29800, subd. (a)(1).) The information also alleged a firearm use allegation, a

1 All further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.

prior serious felony conviction, a prior strike conviction and a prior prison term. (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subds. (b)-(d), 667, subds. (a)(1), (b)-(i)/1170.12, subds. (a)-(d), 667.5, subd. (b).) A jury acquitted defendant of counts 1 and 2 and convicted him of count 3. Defendant admitted the prior conviction and prior prison term. The trial court sentenced defendant to seven years in prison, and defendant timely appeals. STATEMENT OF FACTS2 James Manor lived with his wife and young son at 1082 Thelma Avenue in Vallejo, next door to defendant. A four-foot fence divided Manor’s backyard from defendant’s backyard. The night before his son’s first day of kindergarten, around 7:00 or 7:30 as it was getting dark, Manor heard five or six gunshots. Manor knew the incident occurred in late August or early September because “they start [school] a little earlier [in] Vallejo.” Manor was in the living room, at the front of the house, when he heard the shots. His wife and son were in the back bedroom, which adjoins the backyard. Manor ran down the hallway to the back of the house to investigate. After telling his wife to get down on the floor, Manor walked out into the backyard through the sliding glass door in the bedroom. He saw defendant’s son sitting in a chair in defendant’s backyard. Defendant was standing in the sliding glass doorway. Manor said to defendant, “What the hell is going on? [Y]ou can’t be doing that here.” Defendant responded, “[M]y mother has been gone for 20 years.” He also said he was the shooter. Manor left it at that and went back into the house. Manor did not have his hearing aid on because did not need one for conversation unless “it goes into women and children’s voices. I hear low tones. I have high pitch loss.” He was already looking for a new place to live, but the incident “just made it that much more of an emergency to get out of the neighborhood.” Asked by