People v. Cabrera CA3

Filed 6/28/16 P. v. Cabrera CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C080055

v. (Super. Ct. No. 13F00954)

GUADALUPE CABRERA,

Defendant and Appellant.

After the trial court denied her motion to suppress evidence, defendant Guadalupe Cabrera pleaded no contest to accessory to murder and arson of an inhabited structure while using an accelerant. (Pen. Code, §§ 32, 451, subd. (b), & 451.1, subd. (a)(5).) The trial court sentenced her to eight years in prison. Defendant now contends the trial court erred in failing to suppress her inculpatory statements because there were no intervening events to dissipate the taint of her unlawful detention. We agree defendant was initially unlawfully detained, but the record shows

1

the subsequent circumstances -- including defendant agreeing to talk with detectives at the police station if she could first deliver a pickup truck to a relative and drive her daughter to school -- were too attenuated to support suppression of the statements she later provided to the detectives. The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress. We will affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND The following factual summary is derived from the factual basis for defendant’s plea and the suppression hearing. On February 1, 2013, defendant drove David Acuna to a gas station where they obtained gasoline. She then drove Acuna to an apartment complex, knowing he intended to set fire to and burn Patrick Kendrick’s apartment to cover up evidence that he had killed Kendrick. Defendant also helped Acuna avoid arrest for the murder of Kendrick, staying with him in his apartment and helping him treat burns he received while setting fire to Kendrick’s apartment. On February 5, 2013, the police executed a search warrant at defendant’s home. The police found in defendant’s bedroom a black plastic garbage bag containing items that smelled like gasoline. They also found bloody clothing, a bloody knife, and items belonging to Kendrick, including his laptop, identity cards, and checkbook. According to defendant’s roommate, defendant brought the black plastic bag into the bedroom. In addition, the police seized defendant’s car, a white Honda Civic. The police had previously learned Acuna had been seen jumping into a small white Honda when leaving Kendrick’s apartment after setting the fire. The police interviewed defendant’s roommate on February 5, 2013. She told police defendant was at Acuna’s apartment treating him for burn wounds to his face and hands. The roommate also said defendant was using Acuna’s red pickup truck while she was caring for him. Defendant told the roommate, “[t]he less you know, the better.”