People v. Phakhin CA3

Filed 7/9/21 P. v. Phakhin CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C090053

v. (Super. Ct. No. 17FE012186)

ANGELA PHAKHIN,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Angela Phakhin buckled her daughter in a car seat and left her in a car for over nine hours in extreme heat, resulting in the death of her daughter. A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder, and the trial court sentenced her to 25 years to life in prison. Among other things, the trial court also imposed but suspended a $300 parole revocation fine. Defendant now contends (1) there is insufficient evidence that she intentionally killed her daughter, and (2) the trial court improperly imposed the parole revocation fine. We will affirm the judgment.

1

BACKGROUND Defendant was tried for one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a))1 under two theories: (1) premeditated murder and (2) felony murder (torture). At the jury trial, the testimony and evidence, including defendant’s testimony, showed that in January 2017 defendant moved to California from Arkansas with Untwan Smith, her boyfriend, and Maiya Phakhin, her three-year-old daughter from another relationship. They came to Sacramento because Smith told defendant he owned a house there, but when this turned out not to be true, they became unhoused and lived out of defendant’s car. In late June 2017, during a heat wave where temperatures reached above 100 degrees, several people encountered the group in various public parking lots. These witnesses testified to seeing Maiya lying on asphalt without a blanket where she could be hit by a car, looking limp and lifeless from the heat, wearing soiled clothes with multiple layers of urine and feces, and wearing long pants and shirts despite the heat. Two witnesses heard Maiya crying as if she was hurt. These witnesses asked defendant if everything was alright, and defendant said Maiya was just throwing a tantrum. Police and fire fighters were called on numerous occasions to check on Maiya and found her with no muscle tone. Fire department personnel gave defendant and Smith information about cooling centers but defendant and Smith declined assistance. The fire department personnel saw Smith treating Maiya more like an object than a child, carrying her limp over his arm like a beach towel with her arms dangling. On June 26, 2017, defendant and Smith locked Maiya in defendant’s car from about 12:00 p.m. to about 3:30 or 4:30 p.m. Two witnesses saw defendant and Smith near the car that day without Maiya, watching the news on their phones and generally