California v. Leonard
Annotate this Case
A jury convicted Louis Van Leonard and Charles Dwayne Walser of two counts each of pimping, two counts each of pandering, and one count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. The jury also convicted Leonard of one count of making a criminal threat. Following a bench trial, the court found Leonard had a prior prison term, a prior serious felony conviction, and a "[s]trike prior" conviction. The court ordered that Leonard's prison prior be stricken for purposes of sentencing. Furthermore, the court stayed punishment on Leonard's and Walser's convictions for pimping. Leonard was ultimately sentenced to 23 years in prison, and Walser was sentenced to eight years four months. Both Leonard and Walser appealed, contending: (1) the operative amended information at trial was not properly filed; (2) the evidence was insufficient to support the defendants' convictions on certain counts; (3) the court erred in not giving a unanimity instruction on pandering; (4) the court erred in admitting expert testimony regarding the culture of pimping and pandering; (5) the court erred in limiting cross-examination of the victims regarding their bias and credibility; (6) the defendants' sentences on their assault convictions and on Leonard's criminal threat conviction should have been stayed under section 654 [of the Penal Code]; (7) the court abused its discretion by declining to dismiss Leonard's "strike prior" under "California v. Superior Court (Romero)" (13 Cal.4th 497 (1996)); and (8) the judgment against Leonard erroneously stated that his prison prior was stayed by the court. The Court of Appeal modified the judgment against Leonard to provide that his prison prior was stricken by the court, rather than stayed, and affirmed it as modified. The Court affirmed the judgment against Walser in full.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.