People v. Wallace

123 Cal.App.4th 144 (2004)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D's wife of two months, Arlissa Pointer Wallace, caught him smoking crack cocaine, called him a crack head, and told him to leave the house she had bought six or seven years before the marriage and had refinanced shortly after the marriage. D began tearing up the house. D left before the police arrived. Eventually, police officers found D inside the house breaking things again. Only after he challenged three armed and uniformed officers to fight, did they subdue him with a taser and arrest him. An expert witness testified to over $15,000 of damage to the house, furniture, and furnishings. A jury found D guilty of felony vandalism and a host of other crimes. The court sentenced him to a 25-year-to-life term for felony vandalism. D appealed. D argues that as a matter of law, he cannot be guilty of vandalizing either community property or his spouse's separate property inside the marital home.