People v. O'Neal CA4/1

Filed 6/14/24 P. v. O’Neal CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D083180

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD299501)

SAM O’NEAL III,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, David L. Berry, Judge. Affirmed. Reed Webb, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

A jury convicted Sam O’Neal of misdemeanor assault (Pen. Code,1 § 240) and felony possession of a dirk or dagger (§ 21310). The trial court sentenced him to two years in state prison for the felony conviction and ordered execution of the sentence suspended for a period of two years with formal probation.

1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

O’Neal appeals. His appointed appellate counsel filed a brief raising no arguable issues and requesting that we exercise our discretion to review the record for potential issues under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende) and Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders). We have independently reviewed the record and find no arguable issue that would result in a modification or reversal of the judgment. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In June 2023, Roderick C. was walking his small dog in downtown San Diego when he noticed O’Neal on the other side of the intersection walking in his direction. O’Neal politely asked Roderick to move his dog to his side because O’Neal is allergic to dogs. Roderick responded, “Sure,” and pulled his dog from his right to his left side as he began crossing the intersection. As the two men passed each other, O’Neal yelled, “Fuck you” to Roderick. Roderick turned to face O’Neal and asked, “What the fuck?” When Roderick turned to face O’Neal about two and a half to three feet away from him, O’Neal pulled out a knife from the sleeve of his jacket and swung it in a diagonal motion in both directions, making an “X” in the air. The knife “[k]ind of looked like a steak knife” that was about eight inches long and had a curved tip. Roderick started backing up and said, “Fuck you to you, too.” O’Neal said, “Come on,” had a “mean look, like he -- wanted to go at it with [Roderick],” and he was staring Roderick down. Roderick testified at the preliminary hearing that he had “postured up” to communicate to O’Neal, “Don’t mess with me.” Roderick then backed up to the far side of the street because he was afraid of being stabbed. O’Neal continued to wave the knife in a circular motion while facing Roderick and saying, “Come on.” Roderick