People v. Thorsson CA1/4

Filed 11/15/22 P. v. Thorsson CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publi- cation or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or o r- dered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A164924 v. LOUIS RICHARD THORSSON, (Solano County Super. Ct. No. VCR238953) Defendant and Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION1 Defendant Louis Richard Thorsson was found guilty after a jury trial of possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)), with aggravating circumstance found true by the court, and was sentenced to prison for the midterm of two years. Before trial the court granted defendant’s Pitchess motion (Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531) to review the personnel files of the two police officers involved in defendant’s arrest and in locating the weapon defendant allegedly discarded nearby, and to produce relevant documents located in the files. The motion requested all personnel documents relating to the two officers, including “All complaints and internal affairs inquiries from any and all sources (including but not

1 California Standards of Judicial Administration, section 8.1 provides: “The Courts of Appeal should dispose of causes that raise no substantial issues of law or fact by memorandum or other abbreviated form of opinion.”

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limited to co-worker or inmate complaints, citizen complaints, internal affairs complaints/investigations and criminal investigations) relating [to] false arrest, perjury, dishonesty, writing of false police reports, false or misleading internal reports including but not limited to false overtime or medical reports, reports related to lack of competence/sloppiness/failure to follow department procedures, all records related to the use of excessive force and/or threatening and aggressive behavior/tactics, and any other evidence of misconduct amounting to moral turpitude within the meaning of People v. Wheeler (1992) 4 Cal.4th 284,” and “Any other material which is exculpatory or impeaching within the meaning of Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83.” The sergeant in charge of the police department’s internal affairs, placed under oath, produced the personnel files of both officers, and in camera the court reviewed both files, consisting of “personnel payroll, attendance, evaluations, accommodations, discipline, education certificates and miscellaneous.” As to one officer, the court found “nothing to disclose, . . . not[ing] in particular [in] the evaluations section, there currently is no evaluations in there. And in terms of discipline, again, that section again is empty as well as the evaluations. There is nothing there.” As to the second officer, the court found one irrelevant citizen complaint 2 and otherwise “nothing to disclose out of the personnel file . . . not[ing] in particular [in the]evaluations section, that section is empty. There’s nothing to disclose. As well as the discipline sections, also empty. And there is nothing contained in there. So I’ll find that there is nothing to disclose out of the [officer’s] file.” Defendant’s appeal asserts no errors but simply requests this court “to conduct an independent examination of the sealed proceedings and materials,