People v. Zaczkiewicz CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

After a night of socializing, Alana G. spurned the romantic advances of Suavea Anthony Zaczkiewicz, a community college classmate who suffers from delusional disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse issues. Over the next month, Zaczkiewicz sent hundreds of troubling text messages, e-mails, and social media communications to Alana, including messages threatening to slit her throat, make her bleed out, throw her body in a ditch, kill her four-year-old son, and kill himself. He also accosted Alana in public. Based on this conduct, a jury found Zaczkiewicz guilty of one count of felony stalking and two counts of making criminal threats. On appeal from the judgment of conviction, Zaczkiewicz presents two claims of error. First, he contends the trial court erred by denying his motion for pretrial mental-health diversion because substantial evidence does not support the court’s factual finding that he posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. Second, he argues Penal Code section 654 required the trial court to stay the punishment for two of his three convictions because they all arose from the same physical act or, alternatively, he…