People v. Aledamat

Filed 3/1/18 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, B282911

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA451225) v.

YAZAN ALEDAMAT,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Stephen A. Marcus, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

Andrea S. Bitar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Steve Mercer, Timothy L. O’Hair and Viet H. Nguyen Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Yazan Aledamat (defendant) thrust the exposed blade of a box-cutter toward a man while threatening, “I’ll kill you.” A jury convicted him of assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. Defendant argues that the assault conviction is invalid because the trial court wrongly instructed the jury that a “deadly weapon” includes an “inherently deadly” weapon when a box cutter is not an inherently deadly weapon as a matter of law. (See People v. McCoy (1944) 25 Cal.2d 177, 188 (McCoy).) Defendant is correct. Further, because this error placed a legally invalid theory before the jury, we are compelled to reverse this conviction as well as the enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon, which used the same inapplicable definition of “deadly weapon.” FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts In October 2016, defendant approached a woman working at a lunch truck parked in downtown Los Angeles. He told her that he found her attractive and asked her for her phone number; she declined, explaining that she was married with children. On October 22, 2016, defendant approached the woman’s husband, who owned the food truck. Defendant asked, “Where’s your wife?” Defendant then told the man that he wanted to “fuck” his wife because she was “very hot” and “had a big ass and all of that.” When the man turned away to remove his apron, defendant pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and extended the blade; from three or four feet away, defendant thrust the blade at the man at waist level, saying “I’ll kill you.” Two nearby police officers on horses intervened and arrested defendant.