People v. Williams CA3

Filed 4/8/15 P. v. Williams CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C076584

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13F08114)

v.

ALEX WILLIAMS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Alex Williams appeals his conviction following a jury trial. He contends the trial court prejudicially erred in excluding evidence of third party culpability. We disagree and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 13, 2013, at approximately 7:53 p.m., two police officers on special detail at Hiram Johnson High School for a school dance “heard a rapid succession of what sounded like three shots being fired.” The officers, in separate vehicles,

1

immediately drove in the direction of the shots and, a few minutes later, as one officer drove on Kroy Way (approximately one and a half blocks away from the school), he came across defendant and another person, later identified as John Blount, walking side- by-side down the street. Defendant and Blount were the only people the officer saw in the residential area. He passed them, made a U-turn, and drove up behind them, activating his spotlight in their direction.

On detaining defendant and Blount, the officer noticed defendant appeared nervous and kept putting his hands in his pockets. The officer asked defendant and Blount if they had heard any gunshots, and defendant responded “no,” but they possibly had heard firecrackers. A search of defendant revealed a cell phone and a pair of black gloves in his pocket. Blount also had a pair of gloves. Defendant and Blount were placed in separate patrol cars.1 The officer began to retrace the steps in the direction from which defendant and Blount had been walking, and about three feet from where he contacted defendant and Blount he found a loaded Glock .45-caliber handgun in the gutter. The handgun, which can hold a maximum of 14 bullets, had only 11 bullets inside. And the gun’s trigger was in the rear position, which indicates it had been fired.