People v. Leach CA3

Filed 10/20/15 P. v. Leach CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (San Joaquin) ----

THE PEOPLE, C075967

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. LF012885A)

v.

CHRISTINE ALBERTA LEACH,

Defendant and Appellant.

Suffering from severe delusions, defendant Christine Alberta Leach drove her car, with her young daughter inside, directly into a passing train. A jury found her guilty of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187)1 and child endangerment (§ 273a, subd. (a)). In the second phase of the trial, the jury found defendant not guilty by reason of insanity. (§ 1026.) The trial court ordered defendant

1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

committed to a state hospital for a maximum confinement of life with 676 days of custody credit. On appeal, defendant challenges only the guilt phase of the trial. She contends there was insufficient evidence of an intent to kill to support the attempted murder conviction, and insufficient evidence that the attempt was willful, deliberate, and premeditated. Further, she contends she is entitled to 203 additional days of custody credit. The People concede the last point and we accept the concession. We find sufficient evidence to support the verdict and affirm the commitment order as modified to increase the custody credit. FACTS The Collision At about 1:50 p.m. on October 7, 2011, a number of cars were stopped on Pine Street in Lodi waiting for a train to pass. The crossing arm was down and the warning lights were flashing. Suddenly, a white car driven by defendant with her young daughter inside pulled out from the line of cars, accelerated to 40 miles per hour, and drove straight into the side of the moving train. The car was dragged and then spun around as if the train “spit it out.” Defendant collided with the 42nd of 64 train cars. The train was going about 45 miles per hour and the locomotive engineer was unaware of the collision. Several of those waiting at the railroad crossing got out to help defendant and her daughter. Defendant walked around in a daze. She did not say anything. The child had cuts and bruises and complained her stomach hurt. When medical personnel arrived, defendant told them to leave her daughter alone; her daughter was fine. Police officers arrested her. The police took defendant to the emergency room where she refused to cooperate. She said she did not understand why bad men were chasing her. She said she thought people were following her through town. She stopped for the train, but then tried to get