People v. Kingery CA4/1

Filed 7/3/24 P. v. Kingery CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D082519, D082706

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCN415759)

JAMES CHARLES KINGERY,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Michael D. Washington, Judge. Affirmed. Justin Behravesh, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION In October 1987, the partially nude and lifeless body of 26-year-old Julia Hernandez Santiago was found under an Acacia tree on an ivy-covered hillside in Carlsbad. She had been raped and strangled. Her murder remained unsolved for more than 30 years until a hit in the Combined DNA

Index System (CODIS) matched James Charles Kingery’s DNA to sperm collected from Santiago’s body. In May 2023, a jury convicted Kingery of the

first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)) and forcible rape (§ 261, former subd. (2)) of Santiago. He was sentenced to a prison term of 25 years to life. Kingery appeals. His appointed appellate counsel filed an opening 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 issued an order giving Kingery an opportunity to file his own supplemental brief, but he has not done so. 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. BACKGROUND I. Trial Evidence At the time of her murder, Santiago worked as a live-in housekeeper at the home of Nessie and Norton Cooper, off Alga Road in the city of Carlsbad. She had been introduced to the Coopers by Celine Asano, an acupuncturist who treated Santiago, free of charge, from time to time for her severe rheumatoid arthritis. Asano described Santiago as a very personable and gentle person, “very discreet, very quiet, [and] very private.” Santiago was also, in Asano’s view, “handicapped.” She had deformities to her hands and joints because of her significant arthritis, which caused her to walk “very slowly” and “very deliberately.”