People v. Taylor CA2/6

Filed 2/16/16 P. v. Taylor CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. B261673 (Super. Ct. No. F485023) Plaintiff and Respondent, (San Luis Obispo County)

v.

GARRETT JOHN TAYLOR,

Defendant and Appellant.

Garrett John Taylor appeals a judgment following conviction of vehicular manslaughter committed with negligence and while intoxicated, and the unlawful taking of a vehicle. (Pen. Code, § 191.5, subd. (b)1; Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a).) We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In the early morning of July 14, 2012, Justin Evans died when the all- terrain vehicle in which he was a passenger struck an oak tree on San Simeon Creek Road. Evans, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and died quickly from blunt force head trauma. Taylor, the driver of the vehicle, suffered serious injuries but received treatment from emergency medical personnel and, later, a hospital. An analysis of blood drawn from Taylor in the hospital revealed a blood alcohol content of 0.18 percent.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise.

Taylor and Evans were members of longtime ranching families in Cambria. The evening before, they attended a birthday party at Winsor Ranch, located in the hills above San Simeon Creek. The Winsor family used an all-terrain vehicle to transport guests and supplies from the ranch house to a pond where the gathering was held. At approximately 3:00 a.m., guests Mark and Nancy Epstein left the ranch. They drove along a private road from Winsor Ranch to San Simeon Creek Road, which leads to Highway 1. As they drove along San Simeon Creek Road, they turned a bend in the roadway and saw lights shining on a tree. They stopped, backed up along the shoulder of the roadway, and investigated the lights. The Epsteins saw that an all-terrain vehicle had collided with the tree and was tilted downward onto an embankment. The tree and the vehicle were damaged. As they approached, the Epsteins saw Evans lying approximately 10 to 15 feet away from the vehicle. They attended to him but found that he had no pulse and appeared to be dead. Inside the vehicle, Taylor lay unconscious across the center console. His upper torso was outside the passenger side of the vehicle and his feet were on the floor of the driver's side. Taylor's face was covered with blood and vomit and he emanated an odor of alcohol. The Epsteins attempted to remove him from the vehicle because he was struggling to breathe. The task was not easy because Taylor's pant cuff was caught by a metal gun rack affixed between the seats. Nancy Epstein "pull[ed] it up as hard as [she] could" to release the pant cuff, as Mark Epstein pulled Taylor through the passenger side of the vehicle. When Nancy Epstein could not access a cellular telephone signal to summon assistance, she decided to return to Winsor Ranch. En route, she met other guests who were able to telephone for emergency assistance. California Highway Patrol Officer John Ybarra arrived at the accident scene at 4:40 a.m. Based upon his investigation of the accident, he opined as to its cause: "The driver of the [vehicle], when negotiating that left curve in the road, didn't keep that vehicle on the paved portion of the road, so he drifted to the right, and as he tried to correct himself and put that vehicle back onto the paved portion of the road, he ran into a