Defendant left threatening messages on his ex-girlfriends answering machine, including a threat to burn her home down and that he did not care who was home (another woman shared the apartment with her). He did set a fire in her apartment about an hour after the last message, with most of the damage in her bedroom. The court rejected routine trial issues. The court agreed that an enhancement could not be imposed under both Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a)(1) and section 667.5, subdivision (b) for the same prior conviction. The court also rejected the argument that Penal Code section 654 prevented punishment for multiple counts of terrorist threats. It also rejected the argument that section 654 prohited punishment for arson and terrorist threats. A terrorist threat is a crime of violence and thus the multiple-victim exception to section 654.
Case Summaries