People v. Valcarenghi CA3

Filed 12/7/20 P. v. Valcarenghi CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Butte) ----

THE PEOPLE, C087742

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. 17CF03476, 16CF00552) v.

MARC ANDRE VALCARENGHI,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant Marc Andre Valcarenghi guilty of first degree murder and the trial court sentenced him accordingly. On appeal, defendant argues there was insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation to support a verdict of first degree murder. Disagreeing, we affirm.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In July 2017 defendant was staying at a hotel in Chico, California that was frequented by the area’s homeless population. A few days into his stay, he accepted a prostitute as a roommate, permitting his hotel room to be used for the provision of sexual services in exchange for money and/or drugs. When the prostitute had customers, defendant left the room. The prostitute introduced defendant to the victim, Audra Houston, a homeless woman who struggled with drug addiction. The evening before Houston’s death, a small group of people, including defendant and Houston, congregated in defendant’s hotel room, listening to music and smoking methamphetamine together. During the gathering, defendant made a romantic advance toward Houston, who initially reciprocated but ultimately rejected it. The next evening, while defendant’s roommate was with a customer, Houston and defendant socialized in Houston’s hotel room. Houston fell asleep at some point, and while she slept, defendant sold methamphetamine to a female inside the bathroom of the hotel room. The female drug buyer testified that when she entered the hotel room, Houston was snoring on the bed, and that after the transaction in the bathroom, the buyer rejected defendant’s sexual advances and walked by Houston, who was still laying on the bed, then left the room. According to the buyer, the hotel room “looked like . . . a regular room from . . . a female that would be rushing around trying to get ready for something and being [i]ndecisive about what to wear.” In the bathroom, the shower curtain was on the floor of the shower and no rod for the curtain was visible. A male who rented the room next to Houston’s entered his room around 1:27 a.m., drank wine until becoming “a little tipsy,” eventually went to sleep, and woke up at 11:00 a.m., having “slept peacefully” all night.