Wednesday, April 29, 2015

People v. Delacerda (Cal. Ct. App. - April 29, 2015)

It's an ugly story.  Made even uglier by the fact that the perpetrator was a sheriff with L.A. County:

"The victim, Emily R., testified she and defendant, a deputy sheriff, began dating in the summer of 2009. At first, their relationship was stable, but after awhile defendant became very possessive. Every time Emily tried to do something on her own, defendant became depressed, told her he could not live without her, and wanted to commit suicide.

In the fall of 2009, Emily told defendant she wanted to end their relationship. He continued to call and send her text messages, in which he threatened to kill himself. Emily was worried about defendant, and she remained friends with him. They had sexual relations twice in November and twice in December 2009.

In April 2010, Emily spent the night with an ex-boyfriend. About 4:00 a.m., Emily awakened to her cell phone vibrating. There were several text and voicemail messages from defendant asking where she was. Emily sent him a text message saying she was fine and would call him in the morning.

Defendant responded that she needed to call him immediately. She did call, but she refused to tell him where she was. Defendant said, 'I need to know where you are right now. Why aren‘t you telling me the truth right now?' She replied, 'We are not together anymore. Doesn‘t matter where I am. It‘s none of your business. You need to stop this. You need to knock it off. You need to stop.'

The next afternoon, Emily returned to her apartment. She was concerned defendant might be there, so she drove around looking for his car. Not seeing it, she parked and went in. When she unlocked her door, she saw defendant lying on the floor with a blood stain on his shirt, petting her cat.

Emily asked defendant, 'What are you doing here?‖ He told her he wanted to talk. Emily responded, 'I don‘t want you here. You need to leave.' Defendant said he was upset and depressed. Defendant accused Emily of cheating on him. Emily reminded him they were no longer dating. She told him her whereabouts were none of his business, and he should stop trying to keep track of her.

After Emily told him several times to leave, he said, Not yet,' and added, 'I wanted you to be here to see this.' He took a revolver from his pocket, put one bullet in it, and stood between her and the front door. Emily walked towards the front door, and asked, 'What are you doing?' Defendant blocked the door and said, 'No. I‘m not going to hurt you' and 'I just want to talk.'

Defendant removed the bullet from the gun, placed it on a table by the front door and said, 'I want to read your e-mails.' Emily asked, 'If I let you read my e-mails will you leave me alone forever?' He said, 'I promise. I won‘t bother you again.'

Emily went in the bathroom and locked the door. Defendant banged on the door and asked her what she was doing. When Emily came out, defendant was standing by the bathroom door. He said, 'Let‘s read your e-mails. Let‘s do this.' They both went into her bedroom and sat down on the bed.

Emily opened her laptop computer. Defendant ordered her to show him her e-mails. Emily threw the laptop at him and tried to run away. When she was halfway across the apartment, he tackled her and they both fell to the floor.

Emily tried to scream but defendant put his hands over her mouth and nose so it was difficult for her to breathe. Defendant picked Emily up, and marched her back to the bedroom. He put the laptop on her lap and said, 'Let‘s keep looking. I want to see.' He pointed to the e-mails he wanted Emily to open.

As defendant was reading one of them, Emily threw the computer at him again and ran toward the front door. Defendant again tackled her, put his hands over her nose and mouth, dragged her back to the bedroom, and put her back on the bed. This time, defendant held onto the computer, and told Emily to sit down and shut up.

While defendant was reading her e-mails, Emily ran for a third time. She was near the front door when defendant tackled her to the ground once more. Defendant rolled her onto her back. Emily screamed. Defendant got on top of her. He put his hands over her mouth, and said, 'Shut the fuck up' and 'Okay, I‘ve got to do this.'

Defendant grabbed the gun with his right hand while holding Emily down with his left. He opened the cylinder, put the bullet back in the gun, snapped it shut, and put the gun in his mouth. Emily begged defendant not to do anything. Defendant put his hands over her mouth again and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked but nothing happened. Emily screamed."

There's more and more.  Ending up with the victim escaping from the apartment and getting into her car, the defendant jumping on its hood as it was moving, etc.  Suffice it to say that these additional events don't make the story any less ugly (or sad).

P.S. - For what it's worth, here's the mug shot of the defendant.  Who's looking more like a perp than a sheriff: