OC DA wins 3rd-strike enhancement in hate crime appeal

Criminal defendants often ask appellate courts to reduced sentences, but Orange County District Attorney Todd A. Spitzer turned the tables in a big way this week.

Spitzer's deputies convinced a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal to allow a third-strike enhancement against a white man who chased a pregnant black woman and threatened to kill her unborn child. People v. Mayfield, 2020 DJDAR 6174 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. June 23, 2020).

"The district attorney contends the dismissal constitutes an abuse of discretion, and we agree," wrote Justice William W. Bedsworth in a unanimous opinion issued Tuesday. "Completely. Everything about respondent's crime and his record shouts for application of the three strikes law."

According to court documents, Theodore Mayfield, 45, approached the woman at a Fullerton bus stop in 2018 and began yelling racial slurs. These included a threat to "drop" her unborn child. Mayfield then chased the woman and stole her backpack -- than later chased her again when police were initially unable to locate him.

Mayfield has multiple past convictions, including for mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon.

According to a news release from Spitzer's office, Mayfield also "has multiple tattoos of symbols associated with white supremacy."

Orange County Superior Court Judge Roger B. Robbins rejected a three strikes enhancement, noting it had been 13 years since Mayfield's last violent felony, and that he used no weapon and caused no physical injuries. He sentenced him to five years.

This did not sit well with Spitzer, who personally attended some of Mayfield's hearings. The case will now be remanded to the trial court, where Mayfield could face a sentence of more than 38 years with enhancements.

Bedsworth dismissed Robbins' reasoning, noting Mayfield "did not refrain from criminal activity" in recent years, including committing "multiple misdemeanor and felony offenses, including one involving actual violence, and he performed poorly on probation and parole."

Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth O. Molfetta argued that Mayfield was the exact sort of offender the three strikes law was intended to affect, even after voters narrowed its scope by passing Proposition 36 in 2000. She also argued the trial court failed to consider Mayfield's past behavior, as demanded in People v. Williams17 Cal. 4th 148, 161 (1998) .

Mayfield was represented by Texas-based attorney Gerald J. Miller. He largely sought to challenge the burden of proof standards and evidence against his client.