P. v. Elmore 10/27/10 CA2/7

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State: California

Court: 1st District Court of Appeal 1st District Court of Appeal

Docket No: B216917

Case Date: 02/03/2011

Preview:Filed 10/27/10 P. v. Elmore CA2/7

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CHARLES ELMORE, Defendant and Appellant.

B216917 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA090607)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Arthur Lew, Judge. Vacated and remanded with instructions. Eric R. Larson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Paul M. Roadarmel, Jr. and Rama R. Maline, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Charles Elmore stabbed Ella Suggs to death at a bus stop. He appeals his conviction for first degree murder on the ground that the jury should have had the option of convicting him of voluntary manslaughter based on imperfect self-defense arising from psychotic delusions. He further claims that the trial court should have instructed the jury concerning the effects of hallucinations on the elements of premeditation and deliberation. Because there was substantial evidence that Elmore was hallucinating at the time of the killing, we vacate the judgment and remand the matter to the trial court with instructions.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Charles Elmore was, by all accounts, mentally ill. He had been institutionalized on several occasions and diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis. As of April 2007, Elmore was living in a rehabilitation center. On April 29, he visited his grandmother in the late morning. Witnesses estimated his arrival as occurring between 10:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. or between 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Elmore was fidgety and anxious. He did not seem like himself and was animated, antsy, and wild. His uncle, Sheldon Daniels, thought that Elmore appeared as if he were on PCP. Daniels girlfriend observed that Elmore did not sound rational. At one point, Elmore began to crawl under cars when his family and friend were trying to speak with him. Elmore left his grandmothers home at 12:30 p.m. or perhaps as late as 1:00 p.m. The same day, Ella Suggs was going about her weekend routine: shopping at a local thrift store and a grocery store. When she shopped, she wore a necklace with a charm in the shape of a turtle with a small magnifying glass in the place of the turtle shell; this allowed her to examine closely potential purchases. She also wore reading glasses on a chain around her neck.1
1

Neither Suggs turtle necklace nor her reading glasses were recovered from the scene or found among her possessions. 2

Brandon Wilson was looking out the window in a restaurant around 1:00 p.m. and saw Suggs seated with a bag and a purse at a bus stop across the street. As he watched, Elmore walked past Suggs without stopping. Elmore stopped a distance away and looked in both directions, then returned to the bus stop. Elmore was not walking normally: he seemed to be holding up his pants. He did not appear to be talking to himself or to someone who was not there. Elmore grabbed Suggs around the chest area and appeared to be pulling on something--Wilson thought he was pulling at a necklace. Suggs put her hands up to defend herself and then stood and tried to walk away. Elmore pushed her back down to a seated position. Elmore raised his hands together over his head and brought them down at Suggss chest area around the collarbone. After five to 10 seconds of this movement, Elmore fled, with a slow limp, looking around as he ran. Suggs stood, then fell immediately to the ground. Suggs had been stabbed in the lower neck area with a paintbrush2 sharpened to a point. The weapon penetrated six to seven inches, perforating one lung, puncturing her aorta, and entering her heart. This injury was fatal. Police responded to a call about the incident at approximately 1:00 p.m. Wilson called the attention of his sister, Brittany Todd, to the bus stop. Todd saw Elmore running away with a limp in his run. Fifteen to 30 minutes later, they saw Elmore returning to the scene. Elmore approached the area of the bus stop with a puzzled look on his face, then ran in the other direction. Wilson alerted a security officer, who told the police that Wilson had seen Elmore, and Elmore was apprehended. Elmore resisted arrest, requiring four officers to subdue him. As Elmore struggled with the police officers--and before Elmore had been advised of why he was being detained-- Elmore said, "I didnt do it." Elmores behavior at the time of his arrest was sufficiently bizarre that he was placed on a psychiatric hold for evaluation. He was diagnosed as psychotic. As of early
2

Paintbrushes of this sort, although not sharpened to a point, were available to the residents of Elmores residential program. 3

May Elmore continued to display bizarre behavior and affect, was uncooperative and illogical, and demanded two lemonades and a pair of dress shoes and socks before he would answer doctors questions. Elmore was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. At trial, forensic psychiatrist Jack Rothberg opined that Elmore was schizophrenic and was psychotic at the time he stabbed Suggs. Rothberg based this conclusion on the incident itself, an interview of Elmore, and psychiatric records dating back to 2001. Rothberg believed that Elmores conduct in committing the crime demonstrated that he was psychotic at the time: "[T]he victim was a complete stranger, someone he had never met before. The attack, by all accounts, was totally unprovoked. [

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