People v. Eaves CA2/6

Filed 5/15/24 P. v. Eaves CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B328323 (Super. Ct. No. 2022022285) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Ventura County)

v.

MICHAEL ALLEN EAVES,

Defendant and Appellant.

Michael Allen Eaves appeals from the judgment after a jury convicted him of one count of displaying a deadly weapon to avoid arrest (Pen. Code,1 § 417.8; count 1) and three counts of resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); counts 2-4). The trial court sentenced him to three years in state prison on count 1 and concurrent one-year terms on counts 2 through 4. Eaves contends: (1) the sentences on counts 2 through 4 should have been stayed pursuant to section 654, (2) the matter should be remanded for resentencing pursuant to Assembly Bill No. 518

1 Statutory references are to the Penal Code.

(2021-2022 Reg. Sess.), and (3) the judgment should be reversed because the prosecutor committed misconduct. We agree with Eaves’s first contention, but reject his others. The judgment is modified to stay the execution of the sentences imposed on counts 2 through 4, but is otherwise affirmed. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In May 2022, several sheriff’s deputies and police officers attempted to serve Eaves with an eviction notice. Eaves said that he was armed with a knife and would not come out of his house. He barricaded the front door, and the deputies and officers were unable to enter. Eight days later, police officers attempted to execute an arrest warrant on Eaves. Eaves again refused to leave his house. He threatened to shoot the officers if they did not leave his property, and called 911 to report intruders in his backyard. Six officers entered Eaves’s house and told him he was under arrest. Eaves retreated to a bedroom and lay down on a bed while holding a knife. The officers followed. When Eaves refused to drop the knife, one of the officers fired two rubber bullets and knocked it from his hand. Several of the officers involved in Eaves’s arrest testified at trial. Video footage from their body cameras was played for the jury. The trial court instructed jurors that they must follow the law and defer to the court’s instructions should there be a conflict with any of the attorneys’ comments. (See CALCRIM No. 200.) The court also defined reasonable doubt for the jurors. (See CALCRIM No. 220.) During her closing argument, the prosecutor countered Eaves’s assertion that he did not know that the people who